Candidate for
Director, 4 Year; Southwest Health Care District

The Southwest Health Care District currently disburses two-thirds of its budget in a grant to the El Tejon Unified School District. This grant ($50,000.00) is to be used for the school nurse.

The law requires the district to have a school nurse. Therefore, the redirection of this grant from the ETUSD into other areas of the community would have no impact as far as the school nurse position goes.

It is important to realize that both the SWHCD and the ETUSD are government taxing agencies. I consider it a misuse of tax dollars for one taxing agency to give money to another. This is similar to the federal government's practice of using Social Security dollars for other purposes. Just as this practice has weakened the Social Security system, the current practice of the SWHCD has weakened the health care system of the Frazier Mountain communities.

Also, the accounting methods of the SWHCD are woefully inadequate. In fact, the SWHCD does not even require the ETUSD to justify the need for the grant.

I feel that the ETUSD should pay for the school nurse out of its own funds and that the $50,000.00 that the SWHCD gives to the ETUSD should go elsewhere in the community. We have no urgent care facility in Frazier Mountain and we need one. We have many elderly and others that need special care. Let's put health care dollars into health care that can benefit all residents.

Finally, the SWHCD does little or nothing to involve the community in the decision making process. As with the Mountain Communities Town Council, I will strive to keep the public informed and involved. To that end, I have established a listserv that Frazier Mountain residents can use to keep abreast of matters of concern and to voice their opinions. Please send me an e-mail (cldera@yahoo.com) for more information or to join.

Please feel free to call me at 242-2533 if you would like to discuss this or any other issue.