On April 13th I sent a letter to Peter Bastone President/CEO of Mission Hospital Regionnal Medical Center, a California nonprofit public benefit corporation.
My unanswered letter requested their proof of compliance to a Mission Hospital Master Plan Development Agreement, DA 2003-1, in which, according to their attorneys, Watkins, Blakely & Torgerson, LLP, the city (of Mission Viejo) was to receive roughly $1,880,018.56 of sales/use taxes “during the twenty-five (25) year term of the Development Agreement for the Master Plan” of the hospital expansion. While the project is not completed you can easily see the new, Phase I Critical Care Four Story Tower.
In that November 20, 2003 attorney letter to our Director of Community Development it reads “The hospital estimates that for each construction dollar spent on the Master Plan. $.33 will be for construction materials where sales tax must be paid, and $.67 will be for lablor where sales tax will not be paid.”
This is no small project. Under item #32, as found on page 3 of the March 4, 2004 Development Agreement, it states that “Hospital (as a non profit public benefit corporation) must privately fund the cost of approximately $550,000 for the Project.”
This afternoon I watched a rebroadcast of “CityTalk” on MVTV where councilmember Kelley interviewed Mr. Bastone about our trauma center facility. In that interview Mr. Bastone stated that the hospital can get you “from the front door to the emergency room in eight minutes” while I have waited “six weeks” for a response to my public records request and “over two weeks” for a hospital reply to my letter. I am told that he was aware of my March 16th Public Records request for proof of compliance and surely knows that I have asked about this failure to comply with the Development Agreement at our last two city council meetings.
Some of president Bastone’s words in the MVTV interview hit home such as “competancy” and “caring for our community” yet the hospital ignores a valid request for sale/use tax data. He follows stating that “we want to be a good neighbor” yet from my vantage point he has fallen short when tested.
Perhaps it relates to a comment by Mrs. Kelley who states that Mission Hospital is the largest employer in our city. Are we afraid to request a simple report as called for due to that comment?
Or is it the fact that Peter Bastone is the head of the Mission Viejo Planning Commission, appointed by Mayor Frank Ury. Perhaps that might explain their code of silence with regard to my request.
Having addressed Mayor Ury twice this month he chose not to ask staff to investigate this input nor reply to my concerns regarding sales tax proceeds at a time when we have a revenue shortfall. Perhaps someone can explain that as I cannot!
My March 16, 2009 Public Records Request to the city of Mission Viejo records coordinator requested seeing a copy of all Mission Hospital expansion related sales/use taxes received to date as projected in the Development Agreement.
On March 25th I received a response from Records Coordinator Robert Schick which states: “This email is in response to your Public Records request submitted 3/16/09 for sales/use taxes resulting from the Development Agreement with Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center. I have been informed that there are no records on file applicable to your request.”
After waiting six weeks for a response to my Public Records request, and having waited two weeks for a direct response from Mr Bastone, I am now putting this request on the Internet for all to see. In addition to president Bastone I copied several executives of the hospital in the city of Orange and Mission Viejo along with copies to our mayor, city attorney, city manager and city treasurer.
While most of the nonprofit hospital facilities do not generate property taxes to the city this expansion represents a sizable amount of sales taxes for which specific documentation to the city was an obligation tied to that city council approval.
How simple can we make it. Did the hospital expansion sub contractors shop locally for materials? Were taxable items credited to our coffers?
Let me now cite specific areas from the Agreement that cover this issue:
Page 13 Item #7 (a) Developer’s Faithful Performance
Page 18 Item#10 (a), (b) and (c) Compliance including Prima Facia Compliance and notice of non-compliance: Cure Rights
Pages 29 & 30 Item# 28 (a), (b) and (c). Developer’s Best Efforts Commitment Regarding California Sales/Use Taxes
City Council Resolution 04-14
Mission Hospital Master Plan PDP Resolutions Pages 17 & 18
California Sales/Use Taxes Items #(64), (65) and (66).
In closing. We simply are trying to verify that the city did in fact receive all valid sales/use taxes from this expansion. Perhaps we will now get their attention.
Sounds a lot like the requirement to produce the lawyer bill for 1 million dollars in fees associated with the Honda auto dealer’s multi million dollar gift of taxpayer funds in Santa Ana. I wonder if that bill was ever produce before the envelope of cash was handed over.
Bastone and Ury — the bigger they are, the harder they fall. For a long time, I wondered why Bastone was getting involved in city politics when he has his hands full with the hospital. Now I know.
Waht about Joseph Damore and the town leaders along with FEMA approving over 7.3 million for FEMA overtime. Expecting something big in Asheville?