COMMUNITY OPINION: The duty of elected officials

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This community opinion was contributed by Robert Bernosky. The opinions expressed do not necessarily represent BenitoLink or other affiliated contributors. BenitoLink invites all community members to share their ideas and opinions. By registering as a BenitoLink user in the top right corner of our home page and agreeing to follow our Terms of Use, you can write counter opinions or share your insights on current issues. Lea este artículo en español aquí.

You own your school districts, your hospital, your roads, your courts, your water supplier. How are they doing?

I am running for the Hollister School Board because overall it is not performing for too many children. We know this because of the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress shows that only 23.77% of the students in the Hollister School District met or exceeded the standard for math. Only 33.70% met or exceeded the standard for English Language Arts. The business of the school is to teach children, and with 3 out of 4 students not learning, it gets an F. The school board failed in its primary mission. There is no one else to blame; they make 100% of the decisions or hire the people that do. (Please vote for me for Hollister School Board)

Hawkins Hospital was brought to the brink of death when it ran out of cash when it over billed Medicare for a period of time and the federal government clawed back the funds. There were other misdeeds, including the board authorizing the filing for bankruptcy. To this day the board members refuse to explain the exactly what, who, and why these bad things happened. For what I believe includes the goal of never having to explain what was going on, the board is asking for your permission to sell Hazel Hawkins Hospital at a fire sale price to a private party. (Please Vote No on Measure X). They are transferring your ownership and the cash it generates to an out-of-state company, far away from your reach. Your equity in what you previously owned just disappeared. Is that what you intended?

My point is this: elected leaders and their employees are the stewards of our valuable property, and many are failing us. We own that because of who we elect and then not holding them accountable.

To correct this situation, please vote only for people running for board seats who:

1. Understand and are willing to be held accountable for knowing and being able to articulate the business of the entity of which they will be a part of.
2. Understand their primary role is to hire a competent CEO or otherwise person in charge and then continuously evaluate their performance.
3. Has a curiosity to ask questions and dig further when anything by the administration is being presented, especially if it is a PowerPoint with lots of “feel good” images and statements but little or no relevant data and especially no comparative data.
4. Makes meetings meaningful for themselves and others present.
5. Knows what every acronym is or demands they are stopped from being used in meetings.

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