stop it "stop the trolls"

Why are you blaming me? This isn't my post. I *try* to be more eloquent than that.

And besides, I don't see why Hickey can't be criticized on this page, or at any other venue...

I apologize if it wasn't you "stop the trolls." Assumed so as you have a target on Hickey's back.

Mr. Voter - the source:

"Lois Garcia, a resident of another community 10 hours ago
If all Jack had ever done as a member of the Board was to save Sequoia Hospital"

Just editorializing on the comments of a politician. Seems that Jack is a hero who should be honored.

Who knew?

Let's just be sure not to use tax dollars for the new sign.

"Let's just be sure not to use tax dollars for the new sign."

To what sign do you refer?

"Assumed so as you have a target on Hickey's back."

Huh? First off, criticizing a public figure does NOT constitute "having a target" on someone's back. Second, Hickey isn't necessarily that popular a figure. Third, the man deserves to be criticized for his actions.

" the man deserves to be criticized for his actions."

In your opinion. I happen to believe he deserves credit.

When asked for his top three successes in the past 15 years, two of the responses involved just getting enough votes to stay in office.

And do basically nothing the last decade, other than keep the seat away from a deserving candidate who might actually be successful in achieving and progress at all towards Hickey's stated goal.

Because Hickey hasn't been successful. He hasn't even moved the ball towards a first down, let alone a touchdown. I would argue he has cemented his opposition against his stated goal more so over the last decade plus.

Why is that important? He has baggage in this local area. Any one affiliating with Jack directly inherits that baggage. Example: anyone running with Jack in the last 15 years EVER go on to anything more important? Any success in any office at all?

So we see Jack measure success by sitting in his office for a dozen years, writing the occasional op-ed. Unwilling or unable to recruit top talent to achieve his stated goals. All this from a fella who supports term limits for other politicians.

Sounds like, hmmm, what do they call those types? Oh yeah, a "politician".

Without knowing Ms. Garcia and Mr. Harrison, I have to look at their judgement in tying themselves so closely to this politician.

"When asked for his top three successes in the past 15 years"

Welp... hello? Buehler?

Gauntlet thrown. What are his top three accomplishments?

Inquiring minds, and all that.

If I may be so bold, I can identify three accomplishments during Jack's tenure:

* Budget oversight
* Taxpayer advocacy
* Rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse if not by official means since he's in the minority, then through the press

"If I may be so bold, I can identify three accomplishments during Jack's tenure:

* Budget oversight
* Taxpayer advocacy
* Rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse if not by official means since he's in the minority, then through the press"

Bingo!

"* Budget oversight
* Taxpayer advocacy
* Rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse"

Heh. That's awesome! Spectacular!

You forgot these other vague and useless terms used in resumes:

* "Excellent written communication skills"

* "team player" (ha)

* "organizational skills"

* "interpersonal skills" (welp)

* "driven"

* "Goal-oriented"

* "Hard-working"

* "Independent"

and

* "Writes a boatload of posts to the Almanac, none of them identifying actual achievements other than staying in office far longer than his personal ideology affords other bureaucrats and politicians"

Term limits, Jack?

And because it appears the editor(s) may have an issue with "welp"...

"academic studies acknowledged the word as early as 1946. Dwight Bolinger addresses it that year in an essay for American Speech entitled “Thoughts on 'Yep' and 'Nope.'”

If the speaker is American, and will observe himself when he utters well as a sign of dismissal of some discussion or activity (as in ‘Well’—pause—‘what do we do next?’), he will often discover that he has used welp, with unfinished p ...."

Yep. Jes' heppin' y'all deflect off the topic.

* Taxpayer advocacy
* Rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse
Apple and Menlo Voter - Fraud? That is a very serious word. Are you saying that any current or past members of the Sequoia Healthcare District boards committed fraud? Or they would have if it hadn't been for Jack Hickey?

And tax payer advocacy? What about the election a few years back where Mr. Hickey was not even up for re-election but rather than have Ms. Kane and Ms. Griffin run uncontested, he entered the race costing tax payers something north of $170,000 for the cost of a needless election!

$170 big ones?

$170 THOUSAND?

Whoa.... that's a lot of tax dollars that could have done some good.

Does that make Jack's top three?

Still haven't heard from him..... your position on term limits, Jack?

@Interested

Not fraud in the criminal sense, but in a political sense. Certainly, Jack's diligence has kept staff and other directors on their toes to ensure everything they do is properly carried out and vetted. It's amazing how differently public officials act when oversight exists.

What do I mean in a "political sense"? The district promises to return 100% of its taxpayers funds to the community. Jack has pointed out numerous instances where money is spent outside the healthcare district.

Jack's taxpayer advocacy is to eliminate the healthcare district and subsume its operations to the county board of supervisors or combine it with its northern healthcare district. This consolidation would save money on an ongoing basis. If the county took over the district's operations, we would save the election costs permanently.

He asks the question of why is it necessary for a separate bureaucracy to even exist when its mission can be easily be met by a consolidated agency.

In any case, the extra district election didn't cost you more as a taxpayer in a real sense. County government organizations have to pick up all the ballot costs to print materials and administer the election. If Sequoia doesn't have an election, they don't have to pay, but the other county organizations on the ballot then have to pay a higher amount. You, as a taxpayer, get charged the same. The only difference is which organizations the money gets funneled through.

"political sense"? "real sense"? Oh Apple, you drank the Kool-Aid!
Common sense would tell you that the money used to fund a needless election could have gone back to the community to Shelter Network, Mission Hospice, Meals-on-Wheels or numerous other non-profits to provide services to District residents.

interested:

it was already and election. Get it? No added cost to the electorate. You ok with your tax dollars going to those outside the district? You ok with your taxes funding a district which is for a hospital the district no longer owns? duh

@ Menlo Voter - I do "get it".
Kim Griffin and Katie Kane were up for re-election but Jack Hickey, who was already on the board and whose seat did not expire for another two years, jumped into the race to force an election in an effort to gain the most votes and to prove with his victory that residents wanted to see the district dissolved. If he had not jumped in, the District board could have voted to call off the election thus saving $170,000.

" If he had not jumped in, the District board could have voted to call off the election thus saving $170,000."

So they could continue collecting taxes for a hospital district that no longer has a hospital? That make sense to you?

@Menlo Voter
Yes it makes sense to me and apparently to many others in the district.

interested:

personally, I think it is stupid to pay overhead for an organization that is no longer funding a hospital, but is simply passing out money to a variety of other organizations. A function that could quite easily be accomplished by the county MINUS the overhead.