It’s the Money

When pro and con arguments about Measure O reached the Ventura County elections office for inclusion in the Nov. 7 sample ballot, both sides cried foul.

A judge sorted out the complaints last week but the issue looks real simple to us:

Who will spend $260 million in public money--the officials we elect to do that sort of thing or a collection of private businesspeople who say they can do it better?

Measure O, written by Community Memorial Hospital, would take Ventura County’s share of the $246 billion settlement that 46 states won by suing the big tobacco companies and hand it over to Community Memorial and seven other local private hospitals.

Why would voters agree to do something that dumb?

Largely because, by law, the people pushing this scheme are free to spend as much as they want on their campaign but the Board of Supervisors can’t spend a dime to oppose it. That’s why the sample-ballot language is so crucial: It’s the only chance the county will have to officially state its case.

Meanwhile, Community Memorial and friends have already spent well over $500,000--and the election is still two months away. (When the same hospital decided to block a proposed outpatient center at rival Ventura County Medical Center in 1996, it spent $1.6 million.)

A coalition of concerned citizens has organized to try to stop this steamroller but has no hope of outspending the hospitals.

The quibble over the sample ballot wording was just one skirmish of many. Attorneys for Community Memorial challenged the fairness of what is supposed to be impartial wording on the ballot statement. At the same time, both parties claimed that each other’s arguments, as they appear on the sample ballot, are untrue.

Ventura County Superior Court Judge Henry Walsh issued three separate rulings. He struck down some key statements but left others intact. He inserted the words “health care” in one place and changed the word “transfer” to “appropriate” and “forever” to “now and in the future.”

Whatever. We’re all for precise language--no matter how many lawyers it takes to achieve that. But this much has always been clear: The tobacco companies agreed to pay this money because--and only because--governments sued them at taxpayer expense. The goal was to begin reimbursing the billions that taxpayers have spent over the years to care for poor and uninsured residents who got sick because they smoked.

Now that Ventura County stands to collect $260 million over the next 25 years, should that money go into public health programs such as Ventura County Medical Center--which treats 83% of the county’s uninsured but would not get one cent of the settlement money if Measure O passes--or should it be handed over to private companies?

It is true that the Board of Supervisors considered using part of the money for purposes not directly related to health care, and that the threat of Measure O has forced them to commit to spend it on that alone. But leaving the spending of this money in the hands of elected officials means keeping it under the scrutiny of the voters. If it were turned over to Community Memorial and the other hospitals there would be no way to monitor how they spend the money.

The right way for Ventura County to ensure that this money is spent appropriately is to elect officials who commit to do so. Public money should not be funneled to private parties simply because they are willing to spend whatever it takes to cash in on voter distrust.

By law, the people pushing Measure O are free to spend as much as they want on their campaign, but the Board of Supervisors can’t spend a dime to oppose it. That’s why the sample-ballot language is crucial.