BOARD LOCKS IN HEALTH CARE SPENDING.Byline: David Greenberg The creator of this article, or someone who has substantially contributed to it, may have a conflict of interest regarding its subject matter. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Staff Writer VENTURA - Two weeks before voters decide who should control $250 million in tobacco settlement money, Ventura County supervisors passed an ordinance A law, statute, or regulation enacted by a Municipal Corporation. An ordinance is a law passed by a municipal government. A municipality, such as a city, town, village, or borough, is a political subdivision of a state within which a municipal corporation has been guaranteeing that it would be spent on health care. But officials warned that Tuesday's board action is meaningless if voters on Nov. 7 approve Measure O, an initiative mounted by Community Memorial Hospital that would give control of the tobacco money to the county's seven private hospitals. ``It (Measure O) is voted on by the people, it would take precedence The order in which an expression is processed. Mathematical precedence is normally: 1. unary + and - signs 2. exponentiation 3. multiplication and division 4. over a law adopted by the board,'' County Counsel James McBride James McBride may mean:
The ordinance, drawn up by Supervisors Frank Schillo and Judy Mikels, is designed to fend off Verb 1. fend off - prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening; "Let's avoid a confrontation"; "head off a confrontation"; "avert a strike" deflect, forefend, forfend, head off, avert, stave off, ward off, avoid, debar, obviate a $2 million campaign waged by Community Memorial in support of Measure O. County officials, who are slated to receive $10 million annually from the tobacco industry over 25 years, also reiterated their threat to challenge the ballot initiative in court if it passes. ``(The ordinance) tells the public that we're very serious about 100 percent of this money going to health care,'' Schillo said after the vote. ``We have listened to the public and incorporated their input into our ordinance. (Measure O) is illegal and unconstitutional unconstitutional adj. referring to a statute, governmental conduct, court decision or private contract (such as a covenant which purports to limit transfer of real property only to Caucasians) which violate one or more provisions of the U. S. Constitution. . It takes away the power of elected governments to allocate funds.'' Mark Barnhill, an executive for the firm running the hospital's campaign, did not return phone calls seeking comment. The supervisors previously have said they had complete discretion on how the tobacco money could be spent. The first annual payment, received earlier this year, was used to pay a $15 million penalty levied against Ventura County. |
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