Board Will Consider Montion's Request
for Severance Package

By Julie Fernandez

Tulare - The likelihood of Chief Executive Officer Bob Montion returning to his Tulare District Hospital job appears slim and, with his leave time running out, his attorney has asked the district to negotiate a severance package.

After a closed-door session on Jan. 31, the Tulare Local HealthCare District Board appointed board members Deanne Martin-Soares and Dr. Lonnie Smith to work on the request and report back to the board, acting CEO Denise Perry said.

He is continuing to visit medical specialists in hopes of finding treatment for a second life-threatening dissection of his aorta, which occurred on Nov. 1 and has not healed, Montion said, adding doctors are saying he cannot return to work in his present condition.

In a letter to hospital attorney Olga Balderama, Montion's attorney linked both dissections—the first occurred in January 2006—to the stresses of his job. He reported the second incident occurred within 18 hours of the chief executive receiving a letter from the board stating it would meet in closed session “to evaluate his performance and to consider his possible discipline, dismissal or release.”

“The timing of these events is hardly coincidental,” attorney Russell K. Ryan said.

The board letter to Montion came after then-chief financial officer Lucy Reimche, who was under investigation regarding conflicts she reportedly had with other employees, raised allegations about hospital operations.

Ryan said Montion never had a negative comment in his evaluations at Tulare District or anywhere else and had already replied to the allegations in his interviews with an investigator.

He tied this and much of the stress he said Montion suffered to his relationship with Dr. Parmod Kumar, a board member who was elected board president on Jan. 3 and who is the target of a conflict-of-interest investigation by the Tulare County District Attorney's Office. Kumar also was the lone board supporter of Reimche.

Relationship Gone Bad

Ryan said Montion and Kumar enjoyed a good relationship until recently and that Montion took “great pains” to protect the physician over t he years “as he was attempting to enter into relationships with the district or others that would have resulted in otherwise disqualifying conflicts of interest.”

The letter cites examples involving issues of on-call pay for physicians and the recruitment agreement for Kumar's wife, who is also a doctor.

The issue that appears related “to the downfall” in their relationship involved Kumar's interest in purchasing district property at a favorable price that turned out to be less than fair market value, Ryan said.

“When a legal opinion was obtained that indicated that Dr. Kumar would be unable to purchase the property on the stated terms, he turned on Mr. Montion and the relationship has not been the same since,” Ryan said. “Dr. Kumar inappropriately and improperly accused Mr. Montion of trying to 'put him in jail' and persisted in trying to convince Mr. Montion to allow the purchase of this property at a less than fair market value price.”

Kumar denies he was trying to purchase the property, which he said was on North Cherry Street, at less than fair market price or that Montion acted as his protector.

“I can tell you what he's saying is not true,” he said. “I have done nothing to hurt him and he has done nothing to protect me.”

Kumar played an “extraordinarily active role” in the November election, even though he was not up for re-election, Ryan said.

“His supporters, as well as those of Dr. [Prem] Kamboj and Dr. [Lonnie] Smith made frequent comments about 'cleaning house' starting with Mr. Montion,” Ryan said.

“The various statements by Dr. Kumar and those associated with him leads me and Mr. Montion to the inescapable conclusion that his days as CEO of the district are numbered,” he said.

If Montion returned to work nowwhich his physicians say he cannotthe circumstances as they are would likely kill him because of his medical condition, Ryan said.

The severance and/or retirement packages he has seen other hospital CEOs get in the Valley have ranged between 18 to 24 months of pay, he said. He reported Montion's one-year salary and benefit package would equal close to $300,000. (His salary and bonus alone is $196,000 annually.)

Montion is also asking that the district work with him to coordinate the 630 hours of sick leave and vacation he still has on the books and cooperate with his attempts to obtain workers' compensation and disability coverage.

The 50-year-old Montion said he has told his friends he hopes they don't think less of him for seeking this compensation.

“I really need to take care of my family,” he said. “Twenty-nine years and I never spent a day without working.”

He has been Tulare District's CEO since 1997.

Board Meetings

Tempers flared and board member Roger McPhetridge walked out of the room at a special board meeting that members Kumar, Kamboj and Smith called to discuss policy and the district's contract with the Fresno law firm of Baker, Manock and Jensen.

In a 3-2 vote, the board adopted a policy giving the power to hire the hospital's attorney solely to the board, a policy member Deanne Martin-Soares said was unnecessary because the board already had the power and had directly hired its current attorney three years ago.

Kumar said he recalled no discussion of the matter. Hospital minutes indicated the board directed Montion on Aug. 27, 2003, to hire Baker, Manock and Jensen.

Martin-Soares and McPhetridge said they could not understand why the board had to have a special meeting and expressed concern this was an attempt to micro-manage hospital operations, which Kumar and Kamboj denied.

“We are the new members of the board … we cannot be wasting time now. This board relies on the legal advice from legal council,” Dr. Prem Kamboj said.

“I just feel like there is a rush to judgment and there's something I'm not aware of,” McPhetridge said.

When the discussion turned to dismissing the board's current legal council, McPhetridge walked out of the meeting.

“I have to leave; I can't participate in anything illegal,” McPhetridge said. “Don't discuss anything more until I leave the room.”

Contacted later, he said he believed a “serial meeting,” a violation of the state's open meeting laws had occurred, even though he could not prove it.

“What you saw tonight was a foregone conclusion,” he said.

After Kumar and Kamboj said they had lost their trust in attorney Suzanne McGuire and Smith said he had been “disappointed” in some of the advice given, the board took what appeared to be a 3-1 vote, with Martin-Soares casting the sole “no” vote to dismiss the firm.

When the board met the following week in regular session, Smith said he had only seconded the motion for dismissal for discussion purposes and did not vote. (He had indicated at the first meeting that he didn't want to vote with McPhetridge absent.) The new vote was 3-1 for dismissal with McPhetridge abstaining.

Kamboj and Smith said their decision stemmedat least in partin McGuire's ruling they could not be seated in November, when the hospital's by-laws say they could. McGuire explained the by-laws and state local healthcare district law were in conflict and she had no choice but to follow state law.

The board decided the current council will serve until a new counsel is hired.

Martin-Soares said she did not “go to bat for Baker, Manock and Jensen because “I felt it was a done deal.”

During that second meeting, the board also voted 4-1, with Kumar in opposition, to work out an independent contractor agreement with Michael McGinnis, whose interim chief financial officer agreement was ending Jan. 31. The contract is for one year with a 30-day “out clause” that will allow the relationship to terminate when a new chief financial officer is hired and after appropriate notice is given.

The board also asked Perry to continue working with an auditing firm to find an interim financial officer to handle matters outside the charge of McGinnis' contract.

McGinnis will perform duties specifically related to getting the hospital ready to issue $85 million in bonds that voters approved in 2005 to build a new hospital.

The decision to retain McGinnis came after a contentious 45-minute discussion that prompted Smith to admonish his colleagues to stop “festering” and focus only on the topic at hand.

“It's just totally ridiculous,” he said, prompting applause from the large crowd that had gathered in the Evolutions conference room.

Board members voted shortly after Bill Postlewaite, the head of the district's bond oversight committee, stood up an emphataically urged it to hire McGinnis.

“Don't lose him right now,” Postlewaite said. “Don't run him off. You need him a lot worse than he needs you.”

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On the Streets: A Tale of Two Men

By Don LeBaron

Tulare - Living on the road, my friend, who's goin' to keep you safe and clean. When you wear your skin like iron and your breath is hard as kerosene. - "Poncho and Lefty” - Townes Van Zandt

Living on the street is not easy and each one of these lives lived hard has a story to tell. This is a profile of two such homeless men, one a downtown Tulare fixture and the other a professional vagabond. But first some background.

During the recent Valley freeze, the Tulare National Guard Armory was converted into a warming room and opened its doors to our community's homeless from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. during four of the coldest nights in January.

The Tulare Salvation Army oversaw the project and Capt. David Scott spent all four nights there, getting just a few hours of sleep each shift. Salvation Army board members took turns keeping him company, so I spent a few hours each night in this warm, cavernous building where only a few homeless folks sought shelter.

They would bring in their bedrolls and blankets, lay down on the concrete floor and go to sleep. These were quiet, nameless, glassy-eyed souls that drifted in and out of the armory like ships at a port in a storm. I wanted to learn more about their lives on the streets, so I came up with a plan.

My good friend Dennis Hutton and I put the plan into action when we spent a recent night on the streets, sleeping next to the Salvation Army building and roaming downtown Tulare with a backpack and a shopping cart filled with sleeping bags, trash bags and cardboard. It was just for an afternoon and over-night, but it gave us a glimpse of what those who call the curb their home deal with on a daily basis. We looked the part and smelled the part, but found no amount of homeless façade could really put us in the worn-out shoes of the truly homeless.

We started out walking down the alleys and going through dumpsters for cardboard. By the time we hit the steps of City Hall, we realized we were pretty much invisible. No stares, no “Get a job,” no “Here's a buck”—no nothing. The only rise we got out of folks was when we initiated contact. Dennis would go into some business and asked about a rescue mission, the reply was always the same, “Go to the Salvation Army or Tulare Emergency Aid.” I was recognized several times even though I had a three-week growth of beard, bum cloth and a slouch hat. (I think this might mean my normal appearance isn't much different. I need to work on that.)

We panhandled on K Street for a while and got $2 from folks who knew what we were doing.

We made our way back to the Salvation Army to set up our “camp” before nightfall. Dennis had been in the Navy Special Forces and brought stuff that dated back to the Viet Nam War era, to try to make our night tolerable. About 6 p.m. we wandered over to a nearby McDonalds, where the story truly begins.

Professional Vagabond

We drifted north to the shopping center in search of a story. At McDonalds, we noticed a clean, presentable guy and didn't think twice about him until we realized he had a backpack, so we struck up a conversation. He said his name was Warren Speegle, 40 years old and from Hueytown Ala. He was clean shaven, wore a black Stetson hat, black leather jacket, Hawaiian shirt, nice pants and shoes—garb that served as a cloaking devise for the crafty vagabond we soon came to know.

After telling him what we were doing, he let us in on his secret world: he was a professional homeless man. He was a scammer with a sign, a panhandler who took the act of begging from desperation to center stage, where the curtain would rise on every street corner he stood.

He said his sign would always say the same thing, “GOT ROBBED, NO ONE TO CALL, NEED $16 FOR BUS FARE” in large black letters. He said the money would just roll in--$50 to $80 an hour on a good corner. This would give him enough dough to stay at a Motel 6, eat at Denny's and find his “bad habit” of choice, coke or crack. He first told us that he had been robbed in Stockton while looking for drugs. It was now hard to separate fact from fiction in the colorful yarn he spun.

He hit the road three years ago after being released from prison and now says, “I gave up a life of the 'straight and narrow' for one of aimless wander.” He says 499 days out of 500 are stress free. He makes the circuit, hitting Washington, Oregon, California, Utah, Idaho, Montana, back through Idaho then to Washington again.

He told us the best he ever did was in Butte, Mont., in early spring when he snagged $100 in 30 minutes. When asked if he was ever coming back through Tulare, he said, “Never. I only made $15 hanging out by Panda Express for three and a half hours.”

We got the feeling he was proud of his resourcefulness and enjoyed how much money he could separate from the unsuspecting public. Someone said guys like this give panhandling a bad name. I agree.

Warren said he didn't like rescue missions; he didn't like showering and hanging around a “bunch of guys in pajamas.” He also said he didn't like Salvation Army food. He said Jesus would feed people first then talk to them, but the Salvation Army would preach first, then feed people. He said he had a master's degree in theology and always enjoyed reading. While at McDonalds he was reading “To The Stars” by L. Ron Hubbard. He would take books from one library then leave them at another one down the line and that library would ship them back to where they belonged. He said he would never steal a book.

We caught up with him the next morning at the Tulare Transit Center; he said he spent the night on a nice flat spot under the J Street oleanders. He wore the same clothes, but somehow looked fresh and bright eyed. Before saying good-bye and heading for Delano on the county bus, he wanted to make it clear he has never mooched off the government or taken food stamps. There's a good boy!

Jack's Story

Jack is his name, but most people know him as the homeless guy with the hard hat. He has made the streets his home for eight years. He drifts around the north end of Tulare's downtown and pretty much tries to stay beneath the radar. His story is one of a chain of misfortunate events that lost him a place to live and a car to drive. He says he is 65 years old and a caseworker from the welfare office is trying to get him Social Security benefits. But it seems there is no security in the social dilemma he finds himself in.

He speaks in a low voice, punctuated by coughing spells brought on by the lingering pneumonia that put him in the hospital for three weeks last year. He sleeps in a cardboard shelter that he erects each evening and breaks down each morning. His days are filled with searching for cans and bottles and relying on the help of others. This is his job as a survivalist, living out the totally unexpected life he now has. He says if he could get Social Security, he would try to find an apartment and get off the streets. When asked about staying in a homeless shelter, he says the rules are too rigid and he couldn't keep his stuff safe.

Jack spent time at McDonald's, drinking nickel coffee and eating food purchased through the generosity of strangers, but he and his sidekick Ponch were recently banned from the fast food place. They now hunker down in another location in the shopping center.

While he was sick last year, city employees removed his ever-present shopping cart, piled high with the bits and pieces of a man's life gone awry. Stored in dozens of plastic bags like a jumbled homeless filing cabinet, he had cans and bottles, clothes, Social Security papers, candles, tarps and stuff that made him feel like he owned something in life. He now has a smaller cart with the beginning of a new collection.

As we speak, a woman comes from nowhere and offers him and Ponch a dollar each. They were not begging, but they take it and say thank you. He pulls out an over-the-counter inhaler and takes a few long puffs. He coughs once more.

I tell Jack I am on the Salvation Army board and there are programs that could provide him and his friend with shelter, food and help with their health and spiritual needs. He didn't seem to hear me. He wears the hard hat to protect him from the rocks kids throw at him, but it seems there is nothing that can protect him from himself.

Just before I left him, I asked if there was any way I could help him. His only reply: “Help me find a safe place for my stuff.”

Unlike the professional vagabond, Jack finds no delight in his plight. The romantic notion of an aimless wanderer is replaced by daily struggle.

The challenge of homelessness we now face in our not-so-little town stands on street corners and parking lots, forcing all of us to ask: “What is the best way to help Jack and others like him.”

The solution won't be easy.

In the words William Booth, who founded the Salvation Army in 1878, “The remedy must change the circumstances of the individual when they are the cause of his wretched condition and lie beyond his control.”

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Community Bids Farewell to Mel Richmond

News Commentary by Julie Fernandez

Tulare - The 300 chairs initially set out for Mel Richmond's funeral service were not enough to accommodate the crowd that turned out for the former Tulare County supervisor's memorial service and that was not surprising.

Richmond, who died unexpectedly on Jan.27, was a warm, big-hearted man with a sense of humor and people liked him, even if they disagreed with him on an issue.

Speaking at the memorial service at the Heritage Complex, District Attorney Phil Cline described him as “a real western man” with a certain pride, integrity and honesty about him.

He had what experts like to call “emotional intelligence,” which was reflected in the types of questions he asked while on the board, Cline said.

That Richmond understood and had a way with people was demonstrated again for Cline a few years later when he noticed cases in his department were being resolved more quickly than normal. He investigated and learned the former supervisor, who was working in his office as a worker's compensation fraud investigator, was the reason. Richmond could go to a person's house without a warrant, knock on the door, talk his way in and in the course of a conversation get a guy to confess, he said. “And then he thanks Mel.”

Jim Maples, who served with him on the Board of Supervisors, said Richmond bought into the idea you don't show people what you know until you show you care. He also described him as a man who presented the same face to his family and to the world.

“And he was loved and respected by both,” Maples said.

When Richmond was asked to name his greatest achievements after he left the board in 2001, he talked about the Tulare County Agricultural Commissioner's Office that was being built in Tulare and his role in convincing the county and city to jointly build Elk Bayou Soccer Complex in the southeast part of town.

In the same interview, he expressed concern about the young people and senior citizens in the community, indicating he wanted to continue to play a role in meeting their needs. And he did.

He served on the Tulare Salvation Army board and worked with the Tulare Youth Service Bureau, Tulare Volunteer Bureau, Love INC, the Tulare Boxing Club and many other organizations.

“Mel looked at what was best for people,” Capt. David Scott of the Salvation Army said in a written testimonial that appeared in the memorial service program. “Mel's service was not just in the realm of administration and direction, but was a very hands-on help, like his standing a red [Salvation Army] kettle during Christmas or during the recent freeze.”

The more than 400 who attended the memorial service included a large contingency of law enforcement people. Richmond had worked for the Tulare Police Department and the Tulare County Sheriff's Office and, at the time of his election to the board in 1992, was a marshal for what was the Tulare-Pixley Municipal Court.

More than a few of his law enforcement buddies shared his love of country music and the guitar and several joined him in a band during the early years of his career.

“We played all over this county and we had a lot of fun,” Sheriff Bill Wittman said.

About 13 years ago Former Tulare Fire Chief Ken Bridges invited Richmond to pick up the guitar again and join him at an event, which he did.

“He was hooked again,” Bridges said in a written remembrance of Richmond. “We played music for dances at the Tulare Senior Center, for birthday parties, for Exeter Senior Citizens Day, at our club house where we live and almost anywhere where people would listen.”

Richmond died unexpectedly just 13 days after celebrating his 68th birthday. He and his wife, Anita, would have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in August. He is also survived by his daughter, Linda Smith, four grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.

This community is going to miss Richmond's warm, strong handshakes, friendly greetings and sense of humor. But most of all, it will miss his big heart.

Remembrances may be made to the Tulare Salvation Army, 300 East San Joaquin Ave.; Tulare Youth Service Bureau, 327 South K St., or the Tulare Boxing Club.

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Diners Flock to Cool Hand Luke's Steakhouse & Saloon

Tulare - Local residents are flocking to Prosperity Place to try out the food at Cool Hand Luke's Steakhouse and Saloon, which opened the day after Christmas.

“It was great,” said Bryan Moore, who had Luke's Western Rib Eye on a recent visit. “My wife had the chicken and they were both very good.”

Prices were “quite reasonable” and the service was “great,” Moore said. “It's a good addition to Tulare.”

His friend Ron Garcia said he is still waiting to get into the new restaurant.

“I've tried to get into it a couple times, but it was packed,” Garcia said. “I think it's a well-needed place in Tulare.”

The 6,700-square-foot restaurant and bar is owned and operated by Tulare residents Kevin and Sandi Adams, who had a Perko's restaurant on Noble Avenue in Visalia until they sold the business 16 months ago. Both restaurants are a division of Dynaco Inc., a Clovis company.

Cool Hand Luke's has an early 1900s feel and features a spacious and comfortable saloon with clever features, including what looks like a large safe on the north wall behind the bar. The “safe” is actually a refrigerator filled with beer and other libations.

The design concept of restaurant, which has seating for 245, is that of a city. Customers who want to eat a meal are seated in the stable, corral, livery, mercantile or hotel sections.

Historic photographs of Tulare printed by Jeff Killion, owner of Gainsborough Studio, are featured throughout the restaurant.

“Mr. Adams is the first owner to do that and I'm going to have the others do it too because of the local feel,” said Matt Wyrick, director of operations for the seven—soon to be 10—Cool Hand Luke franchises. “It's just awesome.”

Emphasis on Local

Dynaco prides itself on its “local” emphasis, Wyrick said.

“All your produce, all your vegetables are Central Valley based,” he said. “Our meat comes straight from our meat plant (Dynaco Meat in Fresno) to our owners.”

As a result, Cool Hand Luke's prices are typically $3 to $4 cheaper than an Outback or other restaurant chains featuring steaks, he said.

The menu features 37 items, excluding desserts but including seven appetizers and seafood, chicken and steak entrees. That is fewer than the industry average of 110, Wyrick said.

“This is because we just try to do what we do the best,” he said. “We want everything on our menu to be great.”

The restaurant also strives to provide fast service by running a “mirrored” kitchen with two of everything, including chefs and equipment. Half the restaurant is served by the western half of the kitchen and the remainder is served by the eastern half.

Most steakhouses serve customers within 20 to 35 minutes, Wyrick said. “Our goal—we're not quite their yet—is 15 minutes.”

For Kevin Adams, operating Cool Hand Luke's brings him full circle in his association with Dynaco.

He opened the first concept of the steakhouse 28 years ago in Modesto, when it was called “Early Dawn.” “This is really the grandchild of Early Dawn,” Adams said.

The Adams' son, Andrew, is the kitchen manager for the restaurant, and their daughter, Rebecca, is the service coordinator.

“They've been working with me since they were in high school in every venture that we have done,” Kevin Adams said, adding son-in-law Tim Bird is the head prep cook and is also learning the restaurant business from the ground floor up.

The restaurant employees about 100 people, including family members and the office manager, Adams said.

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Nearby Residents Oppose Tulare Meat Processing Plant

Tulare - Represented by the same Hanford law firm that successfully fought Western Meat Packing's application for a permit in Goshen, several residents near the proposed Tulare slaughterhouse have voiced concern over the draft Environmental Impact Report. Attorney Ray Carlson of Griswold, LaSalle, Cobb, Dowd, Gin, LLP, filed comments with the city January 15. The law firm says it represents Roger Catron, Bill Newsome, Lena Lorenzo and Ray Faria all who live within 1½ miles of the proposed plant near the wastewater treatment plant. Tim Bullock of Visalia is also listed as a client.

The comments come in the form of a 12-page letter asking the city to correct and recirculate the draft EIR because of deficiencies. Carlson complains the city already committed $375,000 to the project in expectation of job creation, in essence approving the project ahead of the EIR and in violation of the California Environmental Quality Act process.

He also suggests it isn't clear who the company is, noting both a California entity and Texas address are mentioned. The letter complains the groundwater impacts of the plant are not discussed and notes the proposed cogeneration plant, if it is build later, will mean the company has no way of disposing the soft tissue, blood and paunch material.

The letter suggests there is only one company in Stockton who can take the material. The letter suggests the company will have animals on site and it must comply with county Animal Confinement Policies that include a minimum of 80 acres onsite. The plant will own just 35 acres.

The city is reportedly considering the comment and will decide whether to reply or withdraw the EIR and then recirculate it for new comments.

A second letter from another attorney has been received by the city and carries with it a note that if a union contract was signed by the company, the comment would be withdrawn.

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