Judge Agrees Truth Not Necessary in District Elections; ‘Nurse’ Will Get Board Seat

The hearing of a Poway woman accused of misleading voters to win a seat on a local hospital district board had promised to be an involved debate over election law, but instead it ended Thursday on a technicality.

“A technicality? That’s the nature of the law. . . . I won on a loophole,” said attorney Timothy Rutherford after successfully defending Nancy Scofield.

Scofield won a seat on the Escondido-based Palomar Pomerado Health District board in November after describing herself as a nurse on the ballot, even though she is not licensed as one.

Superior Court Judge S. Charles Wickersham ruled Thursday that it is legal for candidates in district elections to not put their true occupation on the ballot. Candidates in general elections, such as City Council, statewide or national elections, are required under penalty of perjury to list their true occupation.

The hospital district board in November brought legal action to prevent Scofield from taking office. Wickersham’s ruling paves the way for her to be sworn in Tuesday, attorneys for the district said.

“I’m definitely looking forward to getting to work,” Scofield said after the hearing. “There’s too much to do, and there’s been too much delay.”

Rutherford told the court during the 1 1/2-hour hearing that laws governing elections for hospital, school, water and fire districts are separate from those regarding balloting for statewide or City Council elections.

“A declaration of candidacy in a district election only requires that you say you live in the district, your name is such and such, and you desire to run for office and you are a registered voter,” Rutherford told the court.

The law does not prevent people from lying about their occupation on the ballot, he said.

“I’m not saying that it’s right, I’m just saying that it’s not a crime,” Rutherford told the court.

Wickersham agreed with Rutherford’s interpretation, saying he was constrained to accept a strict definition of a declaration of candidacy, the form a candidate signs to become a candidate for district office.

“The Legislature dropped it out of the definition. . . . They chose not to include the occupational designation,” Wickersham said. “They just didn’t think it all the way through.”

Jim Kalyvas, attorney for the hospital district, disagreed with Wickersham.

“To say that the Legislature intended that a person could sign a declaration of candidacy under penalty of perjury that says she is a nurse when she is not a nurse . . . I think is wrong,” Kalyvas argued.

Left undebated was the issue of whether Scofield had actually lied to or misled voters in listing herself as a nurse. Scofield has argued that it was an accurate description because she “nursed” people as a home health aide, where her duties include changing beds and preparing food, but where no licensing was required.

“This is not a vendetta or anything,” Kalyvas said after the hearing. “The real concern is what’s to stop someone from putting on the ballot that they are a physician or something. There needs to be some integrity in the process.”

Kalyvas would not say whether the district will appeal the judge’s ruling, but said that action is still pending before the state attorney general’s office

Rutherford, however, said he did not expect any action from the attorney general.

“If they were going to do something, they would have done something by now,” he said.

The ruling left some members of the hospital board stunned.

“I’m in shock,” said Evelyn Madison, who has been on the board for three years. “I think it’s a devastating blow to the district and to the community.”

Madison said the taint of Scofield’s election will follow her and every decision she makes as a board member.

“Apparently, she’s misrepresented herself up to this point, so how could you believe anything that she would say or do as a board member?” Madison said.

Board member Ed Lyon, who is a merchant, said “there is a failing in the public” understanding of what the board of directors of a hospital district does, and that people should not vote for a person merely because they belong to the medical profession.

A hospital district serves as the administrative arm of one or more hospitals--in this case Palomar Medical Center in Escondido and Pomerado Hospital in Poway.

“The community elected her, the community made a mistake, and so they are going to pay for their mistake by having someone on the board that shouldn’t be there,” Lyon said.

Wickersham’s ruling was the district board’s second loss in as many weeks. The district attorney also found that Scofield had not violated any criminal statutes.