Meeting times, they may be a-changin’ for Cambria’s services, health districts

North Coast residents who don’t like when a couple of agency boards hold their meetings can take heart: Those local district representatives may change their meeting times. One board is expected to make a test move Thursday, March 3, toward accomplishing that.

With a few exceptions, the Cambria Community Services District Board of Directors meets at 12:30 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of every month. The Cambria Community Healthcare District Board of Trustees meets at 6 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday.

Independently, the two boards are considering switching time slots, with the CSD meeting at night and the health care district during the day.

Apparently, there are valid arguments for either time of day. For instance, some working and business-owning constituents can’t attend daytime meetings, and some older attendees are unwilling or unable to endure night meetings, especially those that run longer than a couple of hours.

CSD board meets

Prompted by a board member and a member of the public, the CSD board will meet at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, March 3, at the district office, 1316 Tamsen Drive, Suite 201, to consider moving its March 24 meeting to 6 p.m.

The night-meeting concept has been proposed several times in the past by Director Amanda Rice, and at a couple of recent CSD board meetings by Christina Tobin, founder of the Free and Equal Elections Foundation.

Tobin also suggested strongly that, to shorten the often lengthy meetings, the board hold two a month. That way, procedural items could be considered during the day and the more crucial, controversial and/or conceptual (and perhaps more interesting) items could be discussed at the evening meeting.

At the CSD board’s January and February meetings, directors mulled the change from day meetings to night, but according to district counsel Tim Carmel, the board couldn’t make the formal change, even for a single meeting, because the action wasn’t on the agenda, and the board would have to modify its bylaws to make the change permanent.

At the February meeting, Director Greg Sanders pushed for the March 24 change, in part because he won’t be available during the day, but will be able to attend that night. He suggested convening the meeting at 12:30, and then continuing it to 6 p.m.

General Manager Jerry Gruber urged the board to wait until the April meeting to discuss the bylaws, because the March meeting already had “an incredible, fully loaded agenda, if everything goes on there” that staff anticipates will be included.

Board President Gail Robinette then withdrew her motion to put the issue on the March 24 agenda. However, in her position as the board’s leader, she has the discretion to add the item during the meeting-planning process.

Health care district

The health care district board had hoped to decide in January whether the new 1 p.m. meeting time and location at the Veterans Memorial Building would work, but postponed the discussion because the meeting had already run long (they ultimately were in closed session until 11 p.m.).

At the trustees’ Feb. 23 meeting, they learned that another group had reserved the hall for 3 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of every month. So district staff is to determine whether an earlier time is available on those days.

The board could discuss its timing options, perhaps at the March meeting, which will be held as usual at 6 p.m. at Rabobank, 1070 Main St.

Trustees learned from Administrator Bob Sayers during their February meeting that more than 600 recent health surveys had been filled out and returned by Cambrians. That’s a strong response from a community of about 6,000 or so residents, Sayers said during a Feb. 29 phone interview. The surveys were sent out in services-district billings. He said results are being tabulated, and should be presented to the trustees at their March or April meeting.

The board approved a policy about walk-up services at the agency’s “living quarters” on Main Street. Trustees have talked about the policy for several meetings, Sayers said, adding that the policy encourages people who need emergency response to call 911 rather than going to the Main Street site, because calling the dispatchers gets those services to the patient sooner.

In an emergency, “every second, every minute counts,” Sayers said. “The time it takes someone to drive down there is critical. If they get to the station, they may find that nobody’s there” because the crews are responding to other emergencies.

Another problem is the district’s Main Street location doesn’t have proper facilities for examining a patient, Sayers explained.

However, if someone does arrive there, he added, the medics will do as they’ve always done — take care of the patient.

Sayers said he understands “the difference between a public entity and a private ambulance (firm). We’re a public entity, and we get taxpayers’ money from property taxes. That’s how our paramedics/EMTs look at it, and how I look at it. We’re more like fire” departments, he added, and are there to serve the community in many ways.

The health care district has added a 911-direct phone to the outside of the medical building, in case someone arrives and finds that nobody is available to help.

On other topics, the agency is planning to co-host a community-information barbecue sometime during EMS (emergency medical services) Week, May 15-21.

Trustees also discussed at the February meeting various social media and other community-outreach opportunities. Sayers said first on that list will be updating the website to make it interactive.

This story was originally published March 2, 2016 at 10:37 AM with the headline "Meeting times, they may be a-changin’ for Cambria’s services, health districts."