Judge to Decide Next Week on Referendum

A judge said Thursday he will decide by next week the fate of a countywide referendum on a new $51-million outpatient wing at the Ventura County Medical Center.

A county lawsuit seeks to disqualify the ballot measure primarily on the grounds that its sponsor, Community Memorial Hospital, failed to meet a deadline imposed by state elections law.

Lawyers for the county and Community Memorial, which hired professional signature gatherers to help put the referendum on the March ballot, appeared in court Thursday to argue the case before Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Ronald Stevens.

Stating the county’s central argument, Noel Klebaum, assistant county counsel, said Community Memorial missed the date to present its referendum by at least 10 months. Klebaum said county supervisors on Dec. 13, 1994, approved a $51-million financing plan to build the new wing, giving Community Memorial 30 days under elections law to collect the required signatures.

“The financing plan was plainly passed and finally passed,” Klebaum said. “So from that moment, the time started ticking on the 30 days to present a referendum.”

But Community Memorial brought forward its referendum in October after a board decision earlier that month to switch underwriters for the $51-million financing plan. James Parrinello, an attorney representing Community Memorial, cited county documents that asked staff members last December to report back on the financing plan before issuing $51 million in bond-like certificates.

Parrinello argued that county supervisors had not made a final decision on the plan until the October meeting, when they reaffirmed their support for the project.

Parrinello said any question on when the supervisors actually cast their final vote provided a reason not to throw out the ballot measure.

“It’s clear that if there is doubt, than the people should be allowed to go forward,” Parrinello said.