Three Sequoia Healthcare District board incumbents are hoping voters will return them to their posts next month, while a fourth candidate — county Sheriff Don Horsley — has targeted maverick board member Jack Hickey’s seat.
Mr. Hickey, a Libertarian who for many years has run for a range of public offices and won his first race in 2002 with the health care district victory, is regularly at odds with his four fellow board members. They include Arthur Faro and John Oblak, who are also seeking re-election.
Mr. Hickey ran four years ago on a platform that included abolishing the public health care district, which co-owns and oversees Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City.
Mr. Horsley, who’s not seeking re-election to the sheriff’s post he’s held since 1993, said after filing his candidate papers in August that his goal was to unseat Mr. Hickey because “Jack is opposed to pretty much everything,” making him “disruptive of the process.”
The district is funded by a small portion of taxes paid by property owners within its borders, which includes Menlo Park, Atherton, Woodside Portola Valley, Redwood City, San Carlos, Belmont, and nearby unincorporated areas.
Although it owned and operated Sequoia Hospital outright for decades after it was established, the district now co-owns the hospital with Catholic Healthcare West (CHW), which now operates the hospital. The district and CHW jointly oversee the hospital.
As a board member, Mr. Hickey has fought hard against the district’s practice of giving money, through a grant program, to nonprofit organizations that focus on health care, including the Sequoia Hospital Foundation and, particularly, groups that serve low-income residents.
Funding has also been provided to the hospital for its seismic retrofit and reconstruction project, which it must complete by 2013. The district also has collaborated in a nurse-training program in partnership with Sequoia Hospital, Canada College and San Francisco State University as an attempt to address the severe nurse shortage in the state.
Below are snapshots of the candidates, in the order they appear on the ballot.
John Oblak
Mr. Oblak, who is president of Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, was appointed to the board in 2004.He wants to “continue the good work of the district” as a board member, he said, “by paying close attention to our allotted budget and to the way in which we allocate that budget in the best interest of the citizens who live in and are served by our district.”
The grants given by the district are an example of that allocation, and often the money benefits “many who would otherwise not receive it.”
Don Horsley
“My greatest objective is to see the seismic retrofitting of Sequoia Hospital,” Mr. Horsley said. He also wants to work with the district in its efforts to extend the county’s medical insurance plan for children to include needy families, he said.Mr. Horsley defends the district’s grant-giving program, saying that “individual charity will never provide health insurance for all children, will not subsidize the training of nurses and will never fill the needs of our most vulnerable citizens.”
Jack Hickey
Mr. Hickey advocates transferring governance of the hospital completely to CHW, and wants to ask voters whether the district should be dissolved — a move he supports.He said he is an advocate of private philanthropy, and that “false philanthropy engaged in by my district diminishes the stature of grant recipients.”
Arthur Faro
The CEO of Sequoia Hospital until the partnership with CHW was created, Mr. Faro is a two-term board member who has been instrumental in defining the district’s current role. He strongly defends the grant program, saying, “We support many organizations which either provide health care or promote good health habits to residents of the district.”The need for funds to support the organizations’ work “is indisputable. … I think we can’t just sit by and wait for people to ‘step up to the plate and donate. That just doesn’t work to the extent we need it to.”
John Oblak
Residence: Not availableProfession: President, Notre Dame de Namur University
Education: BS, speech education, State University of New York College at Geneseo; master’s, speech theater, University of Nebraska; Ph.D., theater, University of Kansas.
Civic experience: Member, Sequoia Healthcare District board.
Age: Not available
Don Horsley
Residence: Redwood CityProfession: San Mateo County sheriff since 1993
Education: BS, San Francisco State University
Civic experience: Past president, board member, American Heart Association board; current member, Garfield Charter School board.
Age: 62
Jack Hickey
Residence: Emerald HillsProfession: Retired senior research scientist
Education: U.S. Navy ET “A” school; USAFI college equivalent
Civic experience: Member, Sequoia Healthcare District board; chair, Hawthorne Citizens’ Committee to Protect Private Property; member, Edgewood Park Citizens’ Committee; founder, Citizen Advocates for Private Philanthropy.
Age: 72
Arthur Faro
Residence: Redwood CityProfession: Health care consultant
Education: BA, economics, University of Vermont; MBA, health care, George Washington University
Civic experience: Member, Sequoia Healthcare District board; vice president, Association of California Healthcare Districts board; past member, Sequoia Hospital Foundation board; past chairman, board of California Affiliate of American Heart Association; past member, San Carlos Parks and Recreation Commission.
Age: 68
