Trebor wrote on Jul 26, 2008 7:04 PM:Sounds like a good plan, well thought out, and probably the last chance. Tri-City saved my life 25 years ago after a Doctors mistake in a near by Doctor's office. The ER was fast, and efficient, and I am here today. Thank You Tri-City...

Larry wrote on Jul 26, 2008 9:10 PM:The hospital re-bonding attempt is becoming an annual event in our area. It is an annual phenomenon that is defining our civilization in North County. To keep this cultural event alive to be celebrated in future years, it behooves the electorate to continue voting it down.

Not now wrote on Jul 26, 2008 10:11 PM:We simply can't afford this bond measure now. We are getting hit from all sides on energy costs, food costs and housing costs. Plus we just voted for a large school bond. Enough is enough. I'm voting "NO".

Mr. Roboto wrote on Jul 26, 2008 11:50 PM:This hospital was already given an answer to this. The answer was no!

Oops... my big toe wrote on Jul 26, 2008 11:54 PM:With all of the expenditures of Tri-City has for consultants for HR, PR. Health, couldn't the board vote to fire them, and the CEO for his inability to hire efficient staff, where they need consultants, and just have a consultant as a head administrator? I think then and only then, the people will follow the board in wise decisions.

I think they are pulling my... toe.

Mad Granny wrote on Jul 27, 2008 12:08 AM:Am I the only one who doesn't believe the CEO walks on water? Though I would pay less, because the assessed value of my home is low (bought it in the 70s), I hate to see people make what they do, and then ask us for money. That Brown is right, them having all of that money scares me too. I think if I were to give, I am going to the NO Web site, and start there.

Gil wrote on Jul 27, 2008 6:54 AM:Let the Mexican government pay for it!!!

Oceanside Taxpayer wrote on Jul 27, 2008 7:55 AM:What a scam! They waste $300,000 in taxpayer money on the election when there are three statewide elections this year -- all because the voters said "no" the last two times. Of course, the bigger question is whether we should pay a billion dollars (in interest and principal) for the decades for this expansion and renovation.

This does nothing to dispel the longstanding reputation that TCH is a fiefdom that doesn't believe in transparency and openness.

lady wrote on Jul 27, 2008 8:07 AM:NO WAY. NO HOW Enough is enough. Just DO NOT let the PEOPLE in that can not pay their bill That easy!! Period. WE are ALL hurting right now. Who are these people who think WE can afford MORE taxes WAKE UP!!

John wrote on Jul 27, 2008 9:03 AM:WHo ARE the idiots that got this measure on the ballot in the middle of the summer? Let's figure this out-rather then have the measure on the NOVEMBER, regular election ballot, they would rather have it done via mail, and at a time when people are not thinking about an election? Then it's a BOND ISSUE! How much more of a reason to vote NO do you need! If this is a public hospital, and there are elected trustees, they should all be VOTED OUT at the next election-assuming it isn't at an obscure time as well!

Bren wrote on Jul 27, 2008 9:22 AM:A bond is a tax folks plain and simple. Tri City should be funding its project through its own means rather than having the public pay for their efforts.
On a personal note - Tri City Hospital tried to overcharge me three times on the same issue. This was due to their inability to manage finances....only $3300.00. They would not stop even after their "wrongs" were explained to them by both myself and the insurance company. I had to retain a lawyer, get a restraining order and threaten legal action to get them to stop. Think about it; if they cannot manage a simple hospital bill and try to overbill someone, how can they manage a $598 million dollar budget?

Sorry folks, this guy is voting no and encouraging you all to do the same.

Sam Hutt wrote on Jul 27, 2008 10:02 AM:How many times do we have to say, No! Too, pay taxes on a place we try to avoid, no way!

Domo wrote on Jul 27, 2008 10:27 AM:What is the average age of those who do NOT want the TCMC bond?

I don't want to have to drive to Encinitas or Escondido for an emergency.

Gil is right. Too bad the Mexican government WON'T pay.

My question is this: what will happen to TCMC if the bond doesn't pass?

Will the government step in, like the are doing for the housing market, and give the hospital $$$$ to fix the problem?

Should the government do it?

San Diego County is a sanctuary city, full of ILlegal people. Therefore, by default, the government should pay to fix TCMC. I doubt they will.

Really, tho', will $21/100,000 hurt people?

That's less than a pack of smokes that I see people buy daily.

That's way less than going out to a good restaurant each month.

One other question -- with Scripps buying Sharp-Mission Park, do you think they may buy TCMC?

Anita wrote on Jul 27, 2008 11:02 AM:All of the Tri-City area is not included in the voting district, for instance Shadowridge of Vista. Why weren't they annexed before this vote? Why should we pay when they don't? Why the sneaky mail-in vote after we have said NO twice? $1,000,000 per month writeoff for nonpayers? Fire Gonzalez and save money.

renter wrote on Jul 27, 2008 11:42 AM:My landlord will vote "No" to an extra $60 on his taxes. TriCity made a lot of profit the last 5-6 years. Why wasn't this profit applied to the remodel? Their finance dept. is not good, per above commenter. My friend has had issues with them also. The ER has been over-crowded since the 1980's. Why has'nt anything been done in the meantime? Management gets paid too much.

Hilarious wrote on Jul 27, 2008 12:04 PM:Love the people who said they would 'drive to the ER'. They are part of the problem. If you can drive, you don't need to be in the ER. Go to the Urgent Care of your own health plan.
No No No a thousand times no on this bond. If they wanted to fix up ER I'd vote for it. But not for all the other pie in the sky stuff that is included here.

OCEANSIDER wrote on Jul 27, 2008 1:10 PM:I did a blog on here earlier, but it wasn't posted. It was pro Prop A. Apparently the blog editor is allowing only anti Prop A blogs even though the NCT editorial is pro. I criticized some of the blogs on here as well as the guy who is orchestrating the drive against it. Nothing was slanderous or untrue, yet it wasn't posted. ALL of these blogs are ANTI, yet in the last two bond elections, almost 67% of the voters were pro. Surely some of them have been censored on here too. I also noticed that in the print edition, I rebutted somebody who said lots of false stuff about the TriCity ER, yet her's was printed, mine wasn't. What gives?

Just Say NO wrote on Jul 27, 2008 1:50 PM:We need a measure that says they can't ever ask this again! When I needed them most - they said NO to me. Appears insurance coverage meant more to them than helping me! I have said NO twice before and the three voters in this house will say NO again!!! Perhaps if they need cash bad, ART will work for free!

OCEANSIDER wrote on Jul 27, 2008 2:39 PM:I count 18 blogs so far on here, and only 2 are pro bond issue. That's more than a coincidence. I believe that many of the blogs are from the same person using different blogonyms. Joe Brown is orchestrating the drive against the bond issue, yet this NCT story SAYS THIS ABOUT HIM: He is an ex-TCMC orderly who doesn't even live in the TCMC District! Is this the kind of guy you'd take advice from? I hope not. Many of the ANTI blogs are purportedly from people who have a petty grievance or grudge against the TCMC while others bemoan paying a relatively small tax to greatly improve the facility. They imply that an overwhelming number of District voters oppose the bond, BUT almost 67% voted FOR it in the TWO prior elections! Go to the TCMC web site to find out some of the REAL facts. Go look at the hospital yourself. Don't be influenced by arguments tinged with racism or some story about somebody's allegedly bad experiences! VOTE YES ON PROP A.

Mike wrote on Jul 27, 2008 2:39 PM:Hell, sell the damm place to Scripps or Sharp. The seem to know how to operate without taxing the neighbors. Also, why do we have to pay for non-resident uninsured people. If Tri City limited its patients to residents of the district it woud be a different matter. If there is a bond issue it should be paid bt all the residents of San Diego County.

OCEANSIDER wrote on Jul 27, 2008 3:54 PM:I would bet that MOST of the blogs on here are from people who don't even own property in the Hospital District, nor do they live in it. Hey, maybe people like Joe Brown!

Oh Really wrote on Jul 27, 2008 4:01 PM:I wonder how many of us are driving 20+ year old cars? They might have been better to operate, but most have been scrapped and turned into something more efficent. If the bond does not pass, the medical center will probably go away, and anybody else who wants it, will have to do the same retro. I was there last winter and in several places bucket were placed to catch the rainwater. With everything everywhere, it seemed more like the winchester house, then a hospital, but the staff did the best they could with the old parts and new, and my visit was short. For a hundred bucks a year, which is tax duductable, if it goes down, I'm moving to Escondido, so it won't take me 30-40 minutes to get an emergency taken care of. Hopefully Palomar will send all you non residents to somewhere else, becouse they are full. You can then sue Randy or Joe, if they can be found. One has moved already, the other probably has a for sale in his storage shed.

Larry wrote on Jul 27, 2008 4:27 PM:How about creating two emergency rooms; one for people who either have insurance or can afford the out of pocket expenses and the other for people without insurance. My guess is the waiting time for the ER for people with insurance would be much shorter.

Fallbrook Ray wrote on Jul 27, 2008 4:27 PM:I support the bond measure as stated in this paper every year (interviewed) This issue once again has been clouded by "illegal alien" when in fact the hospital needs the money to repair and replace out dated equipment and to retrofit. I just hope that people who vote "no" just because some website in Carlsbad tags "illegal alien" on everything does not have a child or loved on who needs care, Palomar is a long drive folks.

Mr Moneybags wrote on Jul 27, 2008 4:39 PM:I think all you lower income people should go live in Escondido or maybe Riverside and let us rich people pay for the nice things we deserve to have, just like the rich people in Encinitas and Rancho Santa Fe have a nice hospital with good facilities and good doctors and nurses I want to have a nice one here, so I don't have to take a 30 minute ambulance ride down I-5 (clogged with all you poor people in your junky cars) to get to a good hospital. You say you can't afford it now, well, you'll NEVER be able to afford it so leave town poor people, let's make Oceanside the next great high end SoCal beach town.

proud renter wrote on Jul 27, 2008 6:20 PM:Moneybags, my landlords won't vote "Yes" because they don't live in this area. Why not get funds for remodeling like Scripps and Mission Park did? Mission Park before they merged with Sharp, they just skimmed off the pension plans. Scripps asked patients to come in droves for unnecessary testing to bill the ins. companies. Hence, no homeowners had to take the tax burden.

SAVE IT wrote on Jul 27, 2008 6:44 PM:The truth is if this bond fails the hospital will most likely be closed in a few short years. No other hospital will want to buy Tri-City as they cannot afford the upgrades that are needed to keep the hospital open. If the bond passes, the ER will be expanded and wait times will be reduced. The hospital will be modernized (no more leaks). The people of Vista, Carlsbad and Oceanside deserve this and remember this tax is based on ASSESSED value, not actual value. VOTE YES TO SAVE YOUR HOSPITAL!

Oh Really... Really wrote on Jul 27, 2008 8:59 PM:If you are so wealthy and say that you are going to move, then you are very wealthy, in deed. You would take a bath in the current housing market. So Mr./Mrs./Ms. Wealthy... You are able to move. You may want to move to Mission Hills many houses nearby.

It is funny people try to make a slight towards someone's wealth or poverty to cajole them to vote a certain way. Too funny.

Oh Please wrote on Jul 27, 2008 9:03 PM:The hospital will not close if they fail in the bond. I can't believe all of the BS.

Bren wrote on Jul 27, 2008 9:29 PM:Oceansider -

Your blog(s) was/were not posted earlier possibly due to someone considering your post imflamatory. Perhaps something to consider???

I am all for a bond on this issue so long as it concerns all, not just homeowners. See, TCMC has gone the easy route by going after homeowners when they could have done what Vista did to gain income for a new court house by slightly upping the state income tax. In that manner, the burden is applied to all who may use TCMC.

TCMC also had the opportunity to take state funding but that meant state control, something TCMC did not want. God forbid the board of directors at TCMC give up control on something, especially monetary control.

Also keep in mind this little mail in ballot - $300,000 the hospital spent when they could have waited 3 to 4 months and been added to the general election. Seems a little wasteful to me. That is our money being spent on this special mail in ballot.

Also keep in mind that the bearers of the issued bonds can charge up to 12% interest. Seems rather incredible and costly. It is right there on the TCMC website in the declaration, page 4.

Also on page four is the fact that the bonds are controlled by the TCMC board, they can issue them as they see fit. There is no control of that and seems somewhat concerning to me. There is oversight but that is only on costs of the project and direct expenditures, nothing tied to control and issuance of bonds, something a third party should be appointed to manage and control.

So, I did what you said and went to the TCMC website and in my opinion found a lot of loopholes and issues with the TCMC resolution for this project.

And my last point, there is no limit to total expenditures. It is estimated to cost $598 million dollars to complete this project. Honestly though, when is the last time you saw a government project finish on budget.

And yes, I live right in the middle of the TCMC district.

Vista Watchdog SELL IT wrote on Jul 27, 2008 9:42 PM:To all those who believe a Community Hospital District run hospital (Read: Government Run Hospital) will close simply because a bond fails to pass, you all need to go back to school and learn about California Government!
TCMC is as large and powerful as it is today because there is NO COMPETITON from any Private Hospitals in the area. Why, because they cannot compete with a Hospital that can dip into the local taxpayers' pockets anytime they need money to build or buy or whatever. Granted TCMC has not asked for many in over 30 years (not counting the last two attempts). That is because they did a very good job of setting up a non-profit organization to accept donations and other such things to help finance their operation. But, they got greedy and knowing since 1975 that they needed to retrofit the old tower before 2013 they waited until it was too late rather than do it earlier when they had the funding. Instead they built other projects and squander the funds because they knew they could confuse the voters into believing the hospital might close if the bond does not pass.

BUT, that is a LIE!!! Not only will it not close, but we VOTERS have the final say on the existence of this Hospital and the Hospital District! If we say it is time to disband the District and Sell the Hospital to a Private company We VOTERS can do it! It is OUR Hospital, not theirs!! And, it is time we start looking at our options:
North County's Fire, Police, and Emergency Services need a Major Overhaul. There is talk about raising taxes to provide for these things. Yet, we have a HUGE ASSET in the form of TCMC that is BEGGING to be sold for top dollar to the highest bidder, while the Hospital District is converted to an Emergency Management District. The proceeds from the sale of the Hospital, properly invested, could be used to build out the ER/Trauma Center at TCMC, install new Communication Systems throughout NC, buy new firefighting equipment, contract with private firefighting services for Wild Fires, and augment out local and County Police services, and other Emergency Services. ALL WITHOUT A DIME of Bond Funds or Raising taxes!
Think outside the box and take back OUR Community, use OUR assets WISELY and STOP TAXING people out of their house and home!!!

To Save It wrote on Jul 27, 2008 9:54 PM:The ACTUAL value of my house is well below the ASSESSED Value!!!! Same goes for many people in this area! This Bond will break our backs (financially) and TCMC will NOT provide us any medical care for this injury (except maybe Mental Health care)!
As for TCMC closing: Only one small portion of the facility needs Earthquake renovation. And even that portion may not need it as soon as they are claiming since it was built in 1969. Later Constructed Hospitals were built to greater standards and are allowed to have their engineering reviewed by the State to determine when the retrofit really needs to be done. TCMC has NOT had this review completed.

As for no Company wanting to buy it: How do you know? Have you checked with them? I happen to know of quite a few corporations that run Hospitals that would LOVE to move into San Diego County, but can't currently compete with the many Government Run Community Hospitals in the area. They have already been buying out Community Hospitals in Orange County, Los Angeles County, Riverside County, and are seriously looking at San Diego County's Community Hospitals. TCTM, having the majority of its current structure built after the new earthquake standards of the 1970's is a PRIME target! Over 1 Million people in the area to be served and NO other Hospitals to compete with!
No, you are way off base when you say that TCMC would close simply because a small portion of one building may not pass the 1970's Earthquake standards. Not only will it NOT Close, but it may well be sold to someone who will enlarge it, modernize it, and give the community a Hospital that we can all be proud of!
Not to mention what could be done with the 100's of Millions realized from the sale of the Property to a Private Company!

Policy Guy wrote on Jul 27, 2008 9:56 PM:There are very few legitimate arguments against Proposition A. The clear facts, as demonstrated by these blogs, are that the vast majority of Prop A opponents do not understand the challenges of healthcare or the realities faced by the hospital. Here are a few brief answers to their claims:
1) The CEO is not overpaid. He is paid appropriately for someone who manages a $375 million per year organization and has his level of education and experience. I agree that his bonuses are a legitimate point of contention.
2) Illegal aliens are not crowding the emergency room. They are crowding the community clinics. The emergency room is crowded by many legal Americans with little or no insurance and limited access to a primary care physician.
3) Charity care is essentially debt from non-payers that is written off. Every hospital is forced to provide charity care on some level. It is a reality of the hospital industry (see #4).
4) Tri-City can not turn away patients, regardless of their ability to pay, due to a Federal law called EMTALA.
5) There is nowhere near enough revenue generated each year to finance the debt associated with private financing. It is an unrealistic non-option and an idea only put forth by people who clearly don't understand the business.
6) Tri-City is a public hospital, hence the need for a bond to cover the cost. Citizens chose to purchase a home in the healthcare district, therefore it is their responsibility to finance changes to the hospital.
7) This facilities plan is an extremely stripped down version of the last two--only the essentials--mainly because the delay from the last two bond failures has increased the cost of the project significantly.
8) The chance of another healthcare company purchasing the hospital and financing the project themselves is somewhere between slim and none.
9) Neither Palomar nor Scripps Encinitas is prepared to handle all of the patients from Tri-City should Tri-City be shut down. Wait times would skyrocket and people will most definitely die. This is not rhetoric--its reality.
10) Joe Brown, the bonds primary opponent, doesn't even live in the District and has an axe to grind--either based on his own inflated ego and quest for recognition or some perceived injustice related to his dismissal from TCMC years ago. All good reasons to question his logic as it relates to the bond.
11) No money can be spent on salaries, equipment, or operating expenses. Only "bricks and mortar".
12) The hospital will lose its license if upgrades are not made. There will be no government bail out. If for some reason there is a state-wide bail out for hospitals, it would cover dozens of other hospitals and would result in much higher taxes for district residents than would be applied under Prop A.

This is pretty simple, as long as you don't let anti-tax rhetoric and a fundamental misunderstanding of the realities of healthcare get in the way of an educated vote.

Ha Ha wrote on Jul 27, 2008 11:35 PM:Policy guy is just a shill for the yes crowd. You cannot scare us into voting for this bond nor can you bore us with line after line of your opinion only to get us to vote for this. It's too darned expensive and most of the work is desired, not necessary. I'm continuing to vote NO until you bring something to the table that is really necessary and affordable..and that doesn't include building new rooms because the other ones are 'small. Ridiculous!

Larry wrote on Jul 28, 2008 12:11 AM:To Policy Guy-- the opposition has heard all of your arguments before. You have made many points, and we do not agree with your more important ones. If the bond fails, we do not believe that the hospital will close, nor do we believe that the state will "shut it down"-- provide examples where the state has shut down hospitals. Private corporations build hospitals with private money, so why should the public "gift" Tri-City with a billion dollars when these other hospitals get built without bond money? You have no justification for impugning Joe Brown's character or anyone else's who is involved with this bond election; you just discredit your own reputation by doing so. If the hospital administration didn't need to hire consultants to do all their work for them and if they would do simple tasks such as fixing the leaky roofs, then we would have more confidence in them to manage a huge undertaking. As of now, the administration hasn't earned our confidence that they can undertake a large project.

Randy wrote on Jul 28, 2008 6:57 AM:Did you spend your entire $1,500 budget on those cute little "No" signs?

Daniel wrote on Jul 28, 2008 7:22 AM:I hesitated to vote for the school bond due to the influx of illegal immigration in our community now the hospital bond has me feeling the same way. We need it but when is our government going to get the message that we can't afford open borders and illegal immigration. Thank you Congressmen Bilbray, Issa, Hunter, Rorbacher, State Senator Wyland, etc. for working hard to deal with this. If the people would wise up and stop voting in candidates that would keep the flood coming with open borders and amnesty maybe something would get done. People take a look at your state assembly and state senators in California. Why are people allowing Boxer and Feinstein to be lifetime politicians? Stop illegal immigration by securing the border and enforce immigration laws and I'll vote for the hospital bond. Our governor want to reduce State employee wages but not benefits to illegal immigrants.

Right ON Daniel wrote on Jul 28, 2008 10:27 AM:Those claiming TCMC doesn't pander to illegal aliens, 7/24, are lying! They obviously haven't had a need to visit lately. The true emergencies are routed to other hospitals, already. The insurance holder foots the bill for the ambulance and the specialty care needed while the ER panders to those with NO emergency care needed. IF TCMC and ALL American hospitals stopped pandering to illegals and treated only emergency cases maybe the $1 million dollar/month loss would also STOP.

Tired...of the negativity. wrote on Jul 28, 2008 11:24 AM:So "Vote No!" Yada, yada, yada. If this bond measure doesn't pass, the hospital will be shut down beacuse the hospital has to be retrofitted before 2013. No, Scripps and Sharp will not buy because they would still have to rebuild at a significant cost. All the bloggers have the comfort of sitting behind a fake name and cursing Tri-City, but have you all ever been in a situation where your life really depended on every single second that went by? If my life was hanging in the balance and Tri City was the closest place that could save my life? Guess what? Take me there, period! I don't care if it's "TRI CITY, the worst for customer service", If they can save my life then so be it! Yes, they have saved my life, Yes, they have saved my childs life and YES on the bond. What are you going to do if it doesn't pass and they shut the hospital down? God help you when you have a heart attack and Scripps and Sharp are too far and too busy because they have to absorb Tri City's patient load. Lastly, Joe Brown argues tirelessly not because he wants to fight for no taxes, but because he's still sore from being fired as an aid at the hospital. Of course he would do anything he could to give a good hospital a bad name.

-Cents a day wrote on Jul 28, 2008 11:26 AM:The average cost to homeowners will be about 25-cents a day. It’s a lot less than a latte. I can’t believe how stingy and selfish most of you are, shame on you. I’m glad you are in good health and have health coverage right now. Where’s your compassion to those that need this facility? You’re probably the same people who supported Bush for this war that is costing us trillions of dollars. How about those who profited from the housing boom that created the mess that is being bailed out by the government?

I am a long-time Oceanside homeowner. My two daughters were born at these facilities, and yes, I do have medical coverage. I have seen first hand that the TCMC staff does care about the patients. They are trying to get by with outdated equipment and facilities. Voting no is a statement of bigoted selfishness.

To -Cents a day wrote on Jul 28, 2008 12:55 PM:I currently can't even afford the daily latte, let alone another TAX.

Now, before you go any further please explain why only the ogvernment can run TCMC? Why not sell the asset to a private company, then use the funds from the sale to cover the many other serious issues facing tha area with concern for EMS?
Even if TCTM were to declaire BK it would NOT close! It is a Government Run Hospital and these things never close! But, nothiing prevents it from being sold!

Vista Watchdog wrote on Jul 29, 2008 9:50 PM:NCT puts this as an Oceanside article while TCMC serves a whole lot more.

Why?

The Registrar of Voters send teh Ballots out on the same day as most of the Junk Mail.

Why?

TCMC continues to claim they will have to cut services or close down, while they sit on Billions of Dollars in Assets (the Hospital itself).

Why?

Finally, TCMC has known since the mid 1970's that the Earthquake Retrofit needed to be done, yet instead they built new buildings and waited until the last minute to try to get teh taxpayers to foot the bill for this known problem.

Why?

Because they think (and in fact know) that most people are fools and don't know any better! The Government is now running the People as opposed to the People running the Government. Sure hope you don't need an expensive life saving surgery once the Government fully takes over the medical system: Ever wonder why so many People come to America for their Medical Needs? Because they can't get them in their Government run medical systems back home!

NONONO wrote on Jul 30, 2008 4:22 PM:I just voted NO and so did my wife!!!

Cesar from Oceanside wrote on Aug 18, 2008 5:57 AM:This amounts to a bail out of NOT the hospital but its VERY POOR management. We hired them to do a job and they are doing a VERY POOR one... and asking us THREE times for money, and spending more money in the process.

Here is the solution: Fire the management and get some decent management in there once and for all. Much smaller hospitals, with a less important market position find the way to make it from operations. This hospitals is poorly run and we are being asked to bail them out.

Plus I do not buy the argument that they will close. What will happen is that a network (like Scripps, Sharp, Tenet or some other) will buy them and straighten them out... and do what is truly sorely needed which is to change the management and get some competence in there for once.

I am voting NO on this proposition ... for the THIRD time and getting madder every time.