Romo, Valdez deny wrongdoing
Following two separate articles published by Adelante Valle, two members of the Heffernan Memorial Healthcare District defended their actions and criticized the reports made regarding a special meeting the board had in La Jolla in mid-July.
The board called for a special meeting Monday at their office in Calexico, however, only two of its members — Board Vice President Gloria Romo and Board Secretary Rodolfo Valdez — attended, therefore, failed to meet a quorum.
The scheduled special meeting was canceled, but both board members took the opportunity to share their displeasure and point out what they believe to be misleading information by information contained in the articles.
The first article published in Adelante Valle on Nov. 17, which was translated and published in the Imperial Valley Press two days later, reported the Heffernan Memorial Healthcare District spent more than $13,000 of public funds to pay for a retreat at Hilton Torrey Pines in La Jolla, a four-star hotel.
The members insisted those that ordered high-end food and beverages — including octopus, lobster, and scallops — reimbursed the district for the charges.
In a second article, HMHD Board President Sylvia Bernal told Adelante Valle, the food and beverage expenses were not authorized and had to be reimbursed to the district, but were reimbursed in October, three months after the retreat.
Also, in that article, Adelante Valle reported it obtained additional documents that showed all expenses, including the reimbursed items, surpassed $20,000. After the unauthorized expenses were reconciled, the total amount spent by the district topped $13,000.
On Monday, Romo said the reason those expenses were initially charged to Heffernan was due to a billing mistake by the hotel, which charged Heffernan rather than the individuals who placed those charges. Romo said the board didn’t receive the entire hotel bill until sometime in September. The full hotel bill was then presented during a regular public meeting on Sept. 20.
Romo argued that there wasn’t any misuse of funds because the HMHD board approved a $15,000 budget for the retreat July 10 and the individual expenditures were paid back.
She said she hopes the district can move past the controversy from the retreat and focus on local pressing issues, such as a program to combat an increase in asthma cases due to the receding Salton Sea.
“Those are important things that Heffernan must take into account at this time, not fighting for whether they spent or did not spend, or if they returned or did not return, there are more important things right now that we should focus on,” Romo said in Spanish on Monday.
Valdez, who was also present at the meeting Monday, declined to comment on the retreat but did say the board sent both Adelante Valle and the Imperial Valley Press a letter in which it claimed information to be misleading. He was the board member who requested Monday’s special meeting as well.
In that letter written after the first article published by Adelante Valle, but prior to the second, demanded a retraction and correction, and was signed only by Bernal.
However, the board clarified Monday the letter was sent with the approval from the entire board.
Most of the points made in the letter were addressed in the second article including the fact the board members returned the funds in question and the fact that Bernal was not in attendance at the retreat, something she clarified in the interview with Adelante Valle.
Valdez provided written comments in which he says a handful of comments made by Bernal to Adelante Valle were inaccurate. Bernal told Adelante Valle that she and Norma Apodaca were against the retreat, however, according to the minutes from the July 10 meeting, Apodaca questioned the need to have the retreat in San Diego rather than in Imperial County, but still voted in favor — along with Valdez, Romo and Hector Martinez — while Bernal abstained.
In addition to his comments, the board wanted to direct General Counsel Eduardo Rivera to send a cease and desist letter to the Imperial Valley Press and Adelante Valle in regards to what they felt was unfair news coverage, but the lack of a quorum Monday negated it.
In a document given to the Imperial Valley press after the special meeting regarding the action they wanted to take Monday, Romo and Valdez call on Bernal to be censured and added that her interview with Adelante Valley was “unauthorized” by the HMHD board.
Since there was no quorum, a vote could not take place.
Why in La Jolla?
The idea of the special meeting, which took place from July 14-16 in La Jolla, was brought to the board by former consultant Angelica Tellechea whose contract was terminated earlier this month.
Following the reports, the board has been under fire for staging the retreat outside of the county when it could have taken place in Imperial County at a fraction of the cost.
County Supervisor Ray Castillo, who attended and gave a presentation regarding the current state of affairs at the county at the retreat, said he supported the concept of the retreat but wasn’t aware how the public funds were managed during the trip.
He referred to the situation as “unfortunate” and added had he known, he would’ve asked them to hold the event locally instead.
During an HMHD board meeting Sept. 6, Jurg Heuberger, the executive officer of the Local Agency Formation Commission — which placed HMDH under probation in 2015 due to previous questionable use of funds — told the board that the retreat raised concerns about the functions of the board.
“Torrey Pines (hotel) kind of set me off in the direction of what the heck are you guys doing?” Heuberger said at the time, according to HMHD agenda minutes. “It’s a nice place to go and if you want to go there on vacation it’s a great place to go, but on taxpayer dollars, I have to kind of question that because that doesn’t ring well, and again, I am not trying to be critical, I am just being honest, and again those are the kind of things that right away I flag.”
Three years ago, an Imperial County Civil Grand Jury report found “no practical reason” for the Heffernan District’s continued existence. In 2015, the board had the opportunity to analyze a review of the district done by Braitman & Associates — as part of a five-year review every public agency goes through — which made the same recommendation.
Heuberger was not available for comment on the recent events Tuesday.
Similar concerns have been raised in the community regarding the retreat. Romo said the retreat in La Jolla was the first of two the board had planned, with the second one planned to take place in the Imperial Valley, which has been canceled for the time being.
The goal of the retreat
The main goal behind the retreat was for the board to get more familiar with each other in hopes of being able to work well together moving forward.
“It was convenient to do it outside of the city for the reason of being able to have that space outside and to know ourselves a little better,” Romo said Monday.
She added that herself, Valdez and Martinez — who are the newer members of the board — sought to improve the relationship with board veterans Bernal and Apodaca. Neither Bernal nor Apodaca attended the retreat.
What’s next?
The HMHD is scheduled to give a presentation to LAFCO on Dec. 21. Castillo, who is on the LAFCO board, stated Heuberger is looking for direction from the board as to what are the next steps to be taken and although he doesn’t know what his fellow board members will recommend, Castillo said he would be against a renewed call for the dissolution of the district.