OCEANSIDE - A vacancy on Tri-City Medical Center's board of directors went unfilled Monday night after three of the top candidates for the spot dropped out when directors accused each other of circumventing the selection process.

With those candidates no longer in the running, the hospital's board voted 5-1 Monday to let the position vacated by former member Shelia Bryant-Tucker remain open until the November general election.

Dr. Madeline Rodriguez, an obstetrician-gynecologist who previously served as chief of staff at Tri-City, was the first to step to the podium and withdraw after several board members objected to her appointment on grounds that she was not the highest-ranked candidate.

Rodriguez said she would run for the seat in November but would not accept an appointment.

"I don't want to be involved in a board where I do not have the full confidence of the board or the public," she said.

Carlsbad political veteran Julianne Nygaard, who served for 12 years on the Carlsbad Council and for nine years on the city's school board, was next to stand and withdraw her name. Nygaard was ranked third on the board's list.

Blair Benjamin, a retired attorney, member of Oceanside's Redevelopment Project Area Committee, and a person with experience in healthcare and public education in Arizona, was the next to drop out.

Benjamin was ranked first among the five candidates, according to a tally read by board President Larry Schallock.

"I would withdraw my name," Benjamin said.

Also in the mix were certified public accountant Randall Horton, who has vigorously opposed Tri-City's Prop. F ballot measure; healthcare specialist and volunteer Robin Iveson; and community member Jan Wetzel.

Before the mass exodus of top candidates, the board interviewed each, spending three hours asking questions about financial responsibility, leadership and integrity.

Each board member ranked the five candidates.

Schallock and board member RoseMarie Reno added the scores for each candidate, giving Benjamin the top ranking.

Reno immediately made a motion to appoint Benjamin to that spot, but the motion failed on a 3-3 vote, with directors Darlene Garrahy, Ronald Mitchell and David Tweedy voting no.

The board moved on, voting 4-2 to appoint Dr. Rodriguez, the next highest-ranked applicant. But Reno and director Kathleen Sterling cried foul.

"You manipulated your own process," Reno said to Schallock.

"I didn't manipulate anything," Schallock replied, adding that the board had always understood that the ranking was devised as a way of gauging a candidate's general support but was never intended to take the place of a board vote.

Garrahy and Mitchell both said they preferred Dr. Rodriguez because she is a physician and would work well on the hospital board.

- Contact staff writer Paul Sisson at (760) 901-4087 or psisson@nctimes.com