Don Hillman: Gentleman and Blessing

News Commentary By Julie Fernandez

Tulare - A bell rang four times and thus began a wonderful celebration of the life of Don Hillman, a man hard to describe in a single word or phrase. A man who is dearly missed by the countless number of Tulare people who enjoyed his company, sought his advice and soaked up the warmth and goodness that made him so very special.

Mayor Richard Ortega described him as Tulare's own George Bailey, the beloved main character in Frank Capra's 1946 film classic “It's a Wonderful Life.”

“Don Hillman was to Tulare what George Bailey was for Bedford Falls, N.Y.—and then some,” Ortega said.

Humble, grounded, charming, unpretentious—those are few of the words he used to describe his friend—Tulare's special friend, Don Hillman.

“He had long arms capable of reaching way out,” said Lynn Dredge, who was Tulare's city manager for half of the 20 years that Hillman served on the Tulare County Board of Supervisors.

Dredge, and later Bob Montion, chief executive officer of the Tulare Healthcare District, recalled Hillman's anguish over the closure of Tulare County General Hospital in 1980.

“He did all but chain himself to the door of the place to keep it from closing,” said Montion, who was a young administrative assistant at that hospital at that time.

My own respect for Don Hillman grew by leaps and bounds as I watched from the reporter's box as he fought passionately to keep the hospital open and then, when the decision was made to close it, to replace it with a clinic system that would assure the poor had good care.

He had a big heart, something that surprised this child of the 60s who had become so skeptical of politicians. But then again, I never really considered Don a politician. And apparently very few others did, because the word was seldom heard during Saturday's celebration.

“Above all other words those two words, 'public servant' come to mind when I think of my friend Don Hillman,” Montion said. “Mr. Hillman elevated public service to an art form, a passion, a spiritual and heartfelt calling.”

Power can be a dangerous thing, but it was not when it was in the hands of Don Hillman.

He wanted to know what people thought. What their needs were. What they thought was the solution to their problems.

To this end, he was instrumental in convincing the unincorporated communities of Tipton, Pixley and Earlimart to form town councils. And he was not a stranger to their meetings. It was an exciting thing to watch.

Always a gentleman, Don had a special way with people and could disarm even his adversaries.

Son David told the story about the time members of a group who wanted more favorable treatment began tailing board members individually and collectively.

One day he, his father and another supervisor were leaving the county complex to have lunch, when his dad noticed a young member of the group watching him from his vehicle.

His father stopped his car, got out and went over to talk to the fellow.

“I just told him, 'We're going to The Flame. Meet us out there,'” he explained to his stunned passengers. David Hillman said he's convinced his dad invented verbal judo.

Capt. David Scott of the Salvation Army, an organization that Hillman devoted more than 50 years of his life to, looked out into the audience Saturday and said what many in my generation have thought: “If his generation ever had a poster boy, it was Don.”

He suggested trustees name Tulare's new high school after him, an idea greeted with enthusiastic applause by the hundreds gathered in the Heritage Complex at the International Agri-Center.

“God has blessed you with Don Hillman,” Scott told the gathering. “God has blessed me with Don Hillman.”

Amen. And may he rest in peace.

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Charges of Conflict and Politics Fly Before Hospital Vote

By Julie Fernandez

Tulare - Tulare District Hospital has an agreement with developer Gary Bruno to find investors for an east campus project that would include surgery and medical imaging centers as well as physician offices next to Evolutions.

The 4-1 decision to see if the project were viable came during a contentious meeting on Oct. 25 at which board members hurled accusations at each other and audience members urged them to postpone a decision until after the election.

The east campus concept was discussed in closed session at previous board meetings over the objections of Dr. Parmod Kumar, a board member who wanted public discussions. The hospital's attorney said the private talks were proper because they involved trade secrets.

Public discussion revealed that a rift between Kumar and fellow board members had apparently deepened since Chief Financial Officer Lucy Reimche, who is on leave and the subject of a personnel investigation, let the board know she has serious financial concerns about the Bruno agreement.

Before discussion got under way, board member Deanne Martin-Soares asked Kumar point blank whether he had a conflict of interest in the matter—a question board members apparently had asked him in closed session because of rumors he had plans to build his own surgery center.

“I made my position very clear,” Kumar said, adding he has purchased land next to the Preferred Outlets Center but has no plans for a surgery center. He also said he was the first person to call Chief Executive Officer Bob Montion and let him know that someone else was considering a surgery center project.

“This is a smear campaign to bring me and my family down,” Kumar said.

“I have been a good boy. I have been an honest man.”

Martin-Soares continued to express doubt about Kumar's motives throughout the meeting, telling him she found it suspicious he had purchased land in August “and all of a sudden you're against this project.”

Kumar repeatedly defended himself, insisting he was not opposed to the surgery center project but felt the board needed to explore other options to get the job done.

“There is maybe a better option than signing an agreement with Mr. Bruno,” he said.

He also asked the board to review the financial analysis that Reimche had done in May or June.

“It was an incomplete analysis,” board President Leroy Trippel said. “I looked at that analysis and said, 'What does this mean? I could not make heads or tails of it.”

When Kumar said he had asked her to do another analysis, Trippel shot back: “I really don't care what her analysis is at this point.” He also said the analysis “already had a poison pill attached to it.”

Martin-Soares expressed frustration that Kumar had asked Reimche to do the analysis while she was on leave. She also said she was upset at “the gossip and spin” which she attributed to the election.

“It seems like you're all trying to gang up on me,” Kumar said at one point.

“When you ask for it, you're going to get it,” Trippel replied.

Suzanne McGuire, the hospital's attorney, told the board if it approved the agreement and Bruno gets investors on board and meets other requirements, then the hospital district “must move forward” or pay Bruno for the work he had done.

During the meeting, the board was told the most it could lose was $20,000 to $50,000. Later in the week Montion said it had been determined a worse-case scenario would involve about $250,000.

Bruno, who hospital officials said had done similar projects successfully in other communities, expressed puzzlement over the board's discussion.

Trippel called it “a political thing,” and Martin-Soares said she was sickened by it.

“It's not a political thing,” Kumar said.

“It's a conflict,” Martin-Soares said, reiterating her belief Kumar has plans for his own surgery center.

Requests for Delay

At the public comment portion of the meeting, Laura Gadke, past president of the Tulare District Hospital Foundation, and Libby Boghosian asked the board to delay its decision on the east campus because the community has questions. Neither is involved in a hospital board campaign.

“Do a little more PR,” Gadke recommended. “Get the community behind you.” Boghosian suggested they wait until after the election.

Dr. Prem Kamboj, who is a board candidate, spoke later during the board discussion, asking several questions and urging the board to wait until after the election.

The board answered several of his questions before Trippel cut him off and he walked out of the meeting.

Boghosian then got up to ask a question and was also stopped.

“I think I've heard enough from you, Libby,” Trippel said. “I want to get this meeting over. I don't want to keep putting things off.”

Candidates Forum

The sparks continued to fly the next evening when the four hospital candidates met at a candidates forum at the Tulare Senior Center.

Trippel, referring to allegations some board members are rubber stamps for the hospital's administration, accused Kamboj and Dr. Lonnie Smith of “running as a team” in alliance with Kumar.

“It seems to me they are a rubber stamp for what they want,” Trippel said. “Vote for myself and Victor Gonzalez.”

Gonzalez and Smith stayed out of the fray for the most part, except when Kamboj said members of the public were told to “shut up and sit down” during the previous night's meeting.

“I did not hear the president tell anyone to shut up and sit down,” Gonzalez said.

He also took issue with Kamboj's comment the Emergency Department had only a 25 percent approval rating among patients. Gonzalez said it was more than 50 percent. Trippel said the hospital exceeded the norm for hospitals in 20 of the 23 areas that were measured, including the emergency room.

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Public Asks East Campus Questions

Tulare - Tulare District Hospital's east campus project, which a developer will try to put together, is raising questions from more than hospital board candidates.

People who worked on the district's successful $85 million bond measure in 2005 say they need to know more about what is happening.

The Tulare Voice listening to the concerns of several people and compiled a list of questions. The answers are based on public meetings, reports and interviews with hospital officials.

During the bond campaign, voters were told the hospital had begun and would continue to take steps to improve the existing emergency room, which will have to serve patients for at least six more years until a new ER is built. What has been done?

Chief Operating Officer Denise Perry:
Improvements to date include: a new waiting room with 38 seats, up from 14; an emergency room technician in the waiting room patients to monitor patients and answer questions; a private triage room where a registered nurse can assess a patient's need upon arrival; a reception desk at the entrance staffed by a security guard to increase the sense of safety; two treatment chairs—recliners—for patients with basic care needs such as dental pain, ear ache or a severe bruise

The hospital also has doubled the size of the nurses' station, changed policy and procedures for admission to avoid tying up ER beds for long periods of time, and given priority to the lab work ordered for ER patients.

Issues of privacy and the need for more ER beds still exist and a design team is looking for ways to add at least two to four more examination rooms.

What is the east campus concept?

The idea is for the hospital to joint venture with physicians, a developer and other investors to build surgery and medical imaging centers, physician offices and a sleep lab next to Evolutions on East Prosperity Avenue.

Is any of the $85 million in bond money being used for the east campus project?

“No bond money can be spent. No bond money will be spent on the east campus,” Chief Executive Officer Bob Montion said.

What about the $20 million in reserves that was pledged to the main campus?

The money will be used on the main campus, which is expected to cost about $100 million, Montion said.

If the district is not using bond money or the $20 million, where will the hospital get funds?

Sale of land to the limited liability corporation building the east campus will provide $1.3 million, Montion said. The $3.7 million will come from other sources, including reserves which are expected to reach $28 million by June 30.

How would a joint venture work?

(Answer is from an Oct. 18 memorandum from Montion to the hospital board.) Three limited liability corporations would be formed, one for real estate, another for an ambulatory surgery center and a third for a medical imaging center. The hospital would be a partner in all three.

Priority for investment in the real estate corporation would be in the following order: the hospital and active medical staff, other physicians, the developer and any qualified investor.

The real estate partners would have to raise the capital to leverage financing of about $15 million. G. L. Bruno would act as developer and be responsible for financing. The firm would also be design-builder for a guaranteed maximum cost.

The surgery center partnership would be limited to surgeons, the hospital and anesthesiologists. This partnership would lease up to 10,000 square feet from the real estate joint venture. This group would need to raise start-up capital for equipment and would likely purchase shares in the real estate venture to enjoy the benefit of long-term rental income and equity in the property.

The third partnership would involve only radiologists, the hospital and possibly a corporate partner. This group would lease about 6,000-square-feet from the real estate joint venture. Start-up capital also would be needed for medical imaging equipment.

Who would own the east campus once the work is completed?

The real estate limited liability corporations, which would include the hospital, Montion said, adding the developer would have no more than 10 percent ownership and the hospital's share would be 30 percent.

Would the hospital end up paying rent forever on prime property it now owns?

Yes, but 30 percent of every dollar it is paying to itself and it is also buying down the note on the building.

Why hasn't the board publicly reviewed the financial analyses prepared by its chief financial officer?

Board President LeRoyTrippel: “Mostly because they were incomplete and they were one person's opinion. It was not understandable. … If you're going to do an analysis, it's got to be pro and con. It was maybe 5 percent complete at the most with regard to what I would consider a thorough analysis. As a bank manager, it would not work for me.”

Two members of the public, a board member and a hospital board candidate, asked the board to hold off signing an agreement with Bruno until after the election. Why didn't the board wait?

Trippel: “We started first talking about this in at least March or April. We've been working on it diligently and we've had it in closed session because we know there are competing groups out there who want to do the same thing. We need to move forward on it because if we don't, somebody else will do it. We pretty much know that to be the fact.”

How much is the hospital paying Bruno to put together a project?

Montion: He will get 5.5 percent of the $12 million project as his development fee. As builder he would get 5 percent overhead and 5 percent profit feeboth based on an estimated $8.5 million to $9 million in actual construction costs.

If the hospital district decides later not to go ahead with the project, how much will it have to pay Bruno?

Montion: The amount would depend on how much work Bruno had done at the time the district opted out. If he does everything he says he was going to dogets the doctors, financing, architect, etc. -- the district could owe $250,000 in a worse case scenario. The district then would own the product. If he can't put a project together, nobody owes anyone anything.

Could the hospital do this entire project by itself without partners?

Montion: Maybe, but we wouldn't want to. The whole idea is to partner with doctors. The whole idea is for the hospitals and doctors to do something that is jointly owned, so we all have an equal interest in it, so we don't get out there and beat each other up in the market place.

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Purple Gourmet Offers Tulare a Different Experience

Tulare - Owners of the newly opened Purple Gourmet like what they are hearing from customers visiting their Tulare Pavilion store for the first time.

“People come in here and say, 'Wow! This doesn't look like Tulare,'” said Suellen Mendonsa, who is a partner with Blain Dierkes and Melody Tucker in the business. The one thing the three readily agreed upon when they decided to open the store at 1687 Hillman St. was they wanted to offer shoppers something different.

“We wanted to have things here that you can't get anywhere else in Tulare,” Mendonsa said, using the Mario Batali cookware as an example. “It's been extremely popular. We've sold quite a bit of it.”

The store has gourmet salts, vinegars, artisan pastas and other food items, along with French linens, Italian pottery and dishes, and a selection of kitchen and dining décor. Three or four homemade dinners to-go are also featured, thanks to Mendonsa's 18 years in the catering business.

“They're fully cooked and all you have to do is warm it up,” she said. “It's an alternative to drive-thru fast food.”

The generous one-serving size meals range in cost from $6.99 to $8.99. Chicken Marsala, stuffed pork chops, roasted tenderloin of beef, roasted turkey breasts and other entrees are featured and served with side dishes.

Customers looking for desserts will find chocolate candies made by Mendonsa's daughter Jennifer. “She's become extremely good and extremely popular,” Mendonsa said.

Diane Whitfield, who for years operated her own cake shop, will be joining the team soon. “She's going to be doing our desserts,” Mendonsa said. “We're giving her free rein.”

The deli case on one recent weekday featured twice-baked potatoes, pasta, broccoli and potato salads and roasted vegetables, as well as gourmet cheeses and meats.

The store also offers a variety of packaged Bravo Cheeses and nuts from San Joaquin Valley Farms and Mendonsa said she wants to increase the number of local products.

The idea for the Purple Gourmet came from Dierkes, a real estate broker who e-mailed Mendonsa one day about his idea for a gourmet food store. Mendonsa had been talking with Tucker about starting a new business but until Dierkes contacted her, they didn't know exactly what they wanted to do. “He's the creative one,” Tucker said, explaining he designed the layout of the foods and gifts “She [Mendonsa] is the cook. My role is doing all the business stuff.”

It was Mendonsa and Tucker's idea to carry over the purple theme that Dierkes uses in his real estate business. “I've always liked purple,” he said. “Purple is my grandmother's favorite [color] too.”

As the owners chatted, a woman came into the store looking for Christmas ideas. “It's gorgeous,” she said, declining to give her name. “This is going to be fantastic for me.”

The Purple Gourmet is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. A grand opening will be held on Thursday, Nov. 16, with a ribbon cutting scheduled for 5:45 p.m.

More information about the store, its menus and catering is available at www.thepurplegourmet.com.

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City to Add 485 Industrial Acres

by John Lindt

Tulare - Reversing course on an earlier decision to postpone annexation, Tulare will move forward to add about 485 acres of industrial land south of Bardsley Avenue between the I and H street alignment.

“We've had quite a bit of interest in industrial land, but there is very little inventory to offer them,” city planner Bonnie Simoes said. After protests from neighbors to the west last year, the city opted to wait until the general plan process was updated before annexing the land.

All property owners are on board with the plan, Simoes said. The initial study has been ordered and the matter will go to the city's environmental review committee in about a month. The required Environmental Impact Report will take about six months at which time comments will be received.

At first the city thought it could do the annexation without the more formalized EIR, but now chief planner Mark Kielty has decided to order a full study.

Two weeks ago, the Board of Public utilities agreed to spend $150,000 to master plan the infrastructure that will be needed if the South I Street Industrial park becomes a reality.

The water and sewer funds will split the cost, which the city will recover from developers in the future.

“I think some developers have come knocking on the door enough to change the mindset of property owners,” said City Manager Darrel Pyle. He said the new general plan will show the land zoned industrial and beginning the annexation process now will speed up its eventual use.

City redevelopment chief Bob Nance said the new industrial park will have many sized parcels to suit the needs of businesses large and small. “We'll have good freeway access off Paige for truck traffic that won't interfere with residential areas.”

Pyle noted companies today need larger parcels than in the past up to 250 acres in some cases. The master plan for the area ensures utilities are in place when companies are ready.

Mayor Richard Ortega said “it's high time we did this,” noting that companies have discovered the attraction of the greater Highway 99 corridor.

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