Stop Laguna Hond Hospital Downsizing

Documents on Downsizing
of LHH Replacement Project

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Document
Description

Legal Text of
1999 Proposition A and
“Compact” With Voters:
Paid Ballot Arguments
in 1999 Voter Guide
The actual vague language of Proposition A and the paid arguments in favor of the LHH rebuild bond measure created a “compact” with San Francisco voters. In these paid arguments, voters were led to believe they would be approving expenditure of tobacco settlement revenue and issuance of general obligation bonds in order to re-build a 1,200-bed replacement facility for Laguna Honda that would be used as a medical-model, skilled nursing facility for frail elderly and disabled San Franciscans. Combined with other media “propaganda” spoon fed to the voters, San Francisco was led to believe Prop A would preserve Laguna Honda as a City-administered nursing home for San Franciscans.

Healthcare Activist Sues City to Recover $25 Million Raid of LHH Funds The lawsuit filed in Superior Court seeking to have the $25 million diverted from the LHH Rebuild Project budget returned to the tobacco settlement account in order to build the full 1,200 beds promised to voters.

Final Settlement
Diverting $25 M
to Furniture (FFE) The Board of Supervisors settlement over an unlitigated claim that the misappropriated $25 million was improper and illegal; the settlement diverted the $25 million into furniture, fixture, and equipment, an expenditure that was not permitted under Proposition A.

Ordinance
Raiding
$25 Million Inappropriate Board of Supervisors ordinance 191-03 passed in July 2003 permitted the raid of the tobacco settlement funds in order to balance former mayor Willie Brown’s final City budget; the ordinance was unanimously passed by the full Board of Supervisors, including then supervisor Gavin Newsom.

Law Firm Acknowledges
$25 Million Diverted From LHH Rebuild Funds Improper A letter from the law firm that represented plaintiffs who had first sought to recover the $25 million misappropriated from the tobacco settlement fund earmarked to rebuild LHH reveals that the final settlement further diverting the misappropriated funds into furniture, fixtures, and equipment was improper.

Citizen’s Civil Grand Jury/
Bond Oversight Complaint This joint-agency complaint seeks to have both the Civil Grand Jury and the Citizen’s General Obligation Bond Oversight Committee investigate the misappropriation of $25 million from the LHH Replacement Project budget.

Options for LHH
White Paper A 1999 White Paper authored by Mitchell Katz, MD, Director of Public Health, was the document on which the Health Commission, the Board of Supervisors, and then Mayor Willie Brown used to justify placing Proposition A on the November 1999 general election ballot. This document asserts that even if all 1,200 beds for Laguna Honda are re-built [and the facility is not downsized to 700 or fewer beds], the City will still be short 2,380 skilled nursing beds by the year 2020, just 15 years from now (i.e., January 2005).

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Page Created 1/29/05

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Copyright (c) 2005 by Committee to Save LHH. All rights reserved. This work may not be reposted anywhere on the Web, or reprinted in any print media, without express written permission. E-mail the Committee to Save LHH.

Document	Description
Legal Text of 1999 Proposition A and “Compact” With Voters: Paid Ballot Arguments in 1999 Voter Guide	The actual vague language of Proposition A and the paid arguments in favor of the LHH rebuild bond measure created a “compact” with San Francisco voters. In these paid arguments, voters were led to believe they would be approving expenditure of tobacco settlement revenue and issuance of general obligation bonds in order to re-build a 1,200-bed replacement facility for Laguna Honda that would be used as a medical-model, skilled nursing facility for frail elderly and disabled San Franciscans. Combined with other media “propaganda” spoon fed to the voters, San Francisco was led to believe Prop A would preserve Laguna Honda as a City-administered nursing home for San Franciscans.

Healthcare Activist Sues City to Recover $25 Million Raid of LHH Funds	The lawsuit filed in Superior Court seeking to have the $25 million diverted from the LHH Rebuild Project budget returned to the tobacco settlement account in order to build the full 1,200 beds promised to voters.

Final Settlement Diverting $25 M to Furniture (FFE)	The Board of Supervisors settlement over an unlitigated claim that the misappropriated $25 million was improper and illegal; the settlement diverted the $25 million into furniture, fixture, and equipment, an expenditure that was not permitted under Proposition A.

Ordinance Raiding $25 Million	Inappropriate Board of Supervisors ordinance 191-03 passed in July 2003 permitted the raid of the tobacco settlement funds in order to balance former mayor Willie Brown’s final City budget; the ordinance was unanimously passed by the full Board of Supervisors, including then supervisor Gavin Newsom.

Law Firm Acknowledges $25 Million Diverted From LHH Rebuild Funds Improper	A letter from the law firm that represented plaintiffs who had first sought to recover the $25 million misappropriated from the tobacco settlement fund earmarked to rebuild LHH reveals that the final settlement further diverting the misappropriated funds into furniture, fixtures, and equipment was improper.

Citizen’s Civil Grand Jury/ Bond Oversight Complaint	This joint-agency complaint seeks to have both the Civil Grand Jury and the Citizen’s General Obligation Bond Oversight Committee investigate the misappropriation of $25 million from the LHH Replacement Project budget.

Options for LHH White Paper	A 1999 White Paper authored by Mitchell Katz, MD, Director of Public Health, was the document on which the Health Commission, the Board of Supervisors, and then Mayor Willie Brown used to justify placing Proposition A on the November 1999 general election ballot. This document asserts that even if all 1,200 beds for Laguna Honda are re-built [and the facility is not downsized to 700 or fewer beds], the City will still be short 2,380 skilled nursing beds by the year 2020, just 15 years from now (i.e., January 2005).