Dispute Over Open Meetings Could Have Wider Ramifications

Like many lawmakers, Republican Phil Hawkins used big, weighty political issues to establish his conservative credentials when he ran for the state Senate two years ago.

He loved to remind voters that he had voted to “increase the penalties for criminals,” and supported spending billions of dollars to reduce overcrowding in classrooms.

But it was a much smaller issue--a dispute over whether Downey City Council members could attend hospital board meetings--that contributed to his defeat then and is coming back to haunt him as he tries to regain his Assembly seat.

Although the hospital issue has attracted scant interest outside Downey, its impact may be felt well beyond the boundaries of the 56th Assembly District, which encompasses Downey and five other cities.

State Republicans, struggling to regain control of the Assembly, are counting heavily on Hawkins to defeat Democrat Sally Havice of Cerritos. Havice is considered to be among the top three Democratic incumbents targeted by GOP strategists.

Aside from the election’s strategic importance, political fallout from the little-known bill offers a dramatic lesson in how legislators can get tripped up if they misread political issues back home.

The bill was introduced by state Sen. Charles M. Calderon (D-Whittier), then carried by Hawkins in the Assembly. It exempted Downey Community Hospital, a private nonprofit hospital, from provisions of the Ralph M. Brown Act, the state’s open meetings law.

The hospital sought the exemption by arguing that, as a private hospital, it should not be subject to the open meetings law.

Other private nonprofit hospitals are not covered by the Brown Act, which requires such things as open meetings and public announcements about when board meetings will be held, the hospital pointed out.

Arguments that it should be covered under the Brown Act stem from the hospital’s relatively unique status.

City Council representatives were made nonvoting ex officio members of the hospital’s board of directors as part of the complex financial transaction that created the hospital. The council’s status as ex officio board members and a contractual arrangement between the city and hospital were enough to bring it under the scope of the Brown Act, the city’s lawyers said.

But Calderon and Hawkins accepted the hospital’s argument that it should be treated like other private hospitals, and the bill passed.

Today, the hospital is under siege by community critics. At one point, City Council members were ordered out of a hospital foundation meeting. At other times, hospital executives came under fire for giving themselves fat bonuses and salaries. Large loans given to a physicians group triggered demands for a state investigation.

Hospital administrators fought back. Saying they were being slandered, administrators and physicians filed a defamation suit against a Downey doctor and a large number of John Does. The hospital also sued the city, hoping that a court would decide whether the council had a right to attend its board meetings. The city filed a countersuit against the hospital.

“I was so careful,” said Hawkins, discussing the issues that have defined his political career. “I did everything just right, and then . . . this one thing.” His voice trailed off. “It wasn’t even my bill . . . and all of a sudden it backfires on you.”

Havice could be the chief beneficiary of the political fallout.

She has emerged as the champion of those who want to open up the hospital to public scrutiny, a position that has helped her immeasurably in Downey, long a Republican stronghold.

Havice wrote a bill that was approved by the Legislature in August and now is on the governor’s desk. It specifically allows members of the City Council to attend meetings of the hospital board or foundation.

The Havice bill passed in the Assembly on a partisan split, 43 to 36, with Republicans opposed and Democrats supporting it..

“The Hawkins bill is something that cut the community off from its hospital,” said Havice, a former English instructor at Cerritos College. After her bill was passed by the Senate, Havice said, “hospital administrators have used every trick in the book to subvert the will of Downey residents, and they have failed.”

In addition to Downey, the district includes Cerritos, Lakewood, Artesia, Bellflower and portions of Hawaiian Gardens and Long Beach. Downey is considered key because it has the largest population in the district, almost 100,000. Havice’s inroads there will hurt Hawkins where he should be strongest.

Darry Sragow, a Los Angeles political consultant who is the statewide campaign coordinator for all Assembly Democrats, said saving Havice’s seat is a priority.

“Downey is a critical part of the district,” said Sragow. He noted that Hawkins defeated Democratic incumbent Bob Epple in 1994 only to have Havice upset Republican favorite Richard Lambros in 1996. “This is a real battleground, and probably ground zero is Downey.”

In Downey, Havice is reminding voters of a $34,800 contribution that the former assemblyman received from CareMore Medical Group, a physicians group that works closely with the hospital. She has picked up support and financial contributions from a number of prominent local Republicans, including well-known activist Rosemary Ferraro.

“This should not be a political issue,” said Carl Westerhoff, a top executive with CareMore and a Hawkins supporter. “Sally Havice has seen an opportunity to gather support from a group of traditional Republican activists and party stalwarts. I think that is unfortunate.”

The candidates are talking up other issues elsewhere.

Havice has backed cities in southeast Los Angeles County that are attempting to get reauthorization of a federal flood control project along the Los Angeles River.

Hawkins, a longtime real estate agent and resident of Bellflower, continues to talk about “lightening the tax burden for working families and holding government accountable for the money it spends.” He is making much of published critical comments about Havice made by other Assembly Democrats, who complained about her lack of political sophistication.