COALITION WILL FIGHT FUNDS GRAB.Byline: Paul O'Donoghue Staff Writer OXNARD - Saying $250 million in tobacco settlement funds belongs to the public, a coalition of community organizations on Thursday announced a campaign to fight an initiative that would give private hospitals the money. David Maron, chairman of a coalition that includes the American Lung Association The American Lung Association (ALA) is a non-profit organization that "fights lung disease in all its forms, with special emphasis on asthma, tobacco control and environmental health". , the League of Women Voters League of Women Voters, voluntary public service organization of U.S. citizens. Organized in 1920 in Chicago as an outgrowth of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, it had as its original nucleus the leaders of the latter organization. and the California Nurses Association The California Nurses Association (CNA) is the largest and fastest-growing labor union and professional association of Registered Nurses in California. The National Nurses Organizing Committee is a national labor union for Registered Nurses, and is affiliated with the CNA. , said if Community Memorial Hospital's proposed initiative for the November ballot is successful, the money would be used principally to pay off private hospitals' bad debts - and not for anti-tobacco programs. ``We are here today to say in no uncertain terms, the public's money belongs to the public,'' said Maron, a former director of the Camarillo Health Care District, flanked by leaders of the coalition. ``We will not allow them to hijack this money.'' The announcement of the Ventura County Coalition Against the CMH CMH Center of Military History CMH Commission on Macroeconomics and Health CMH Chief of Military History CMH Children's Memorial Hospital CMH Ceramic Metal Halide (General Electric light source) CMH Congressional Medal of Honor Initiative at the American Lung Association's office in Oxnard comes as a hearing is scheduled next week on the county's lawsuit to keep the initiative off the Nov. 7 ballot. Maron said if the judge allows the CMH initiative to proceed, the coalition will begin to raise funds to campaign against it. If approved by county voters, CMH's initiative would give the county's annual $10 million in tobacco settlement funds over the next 25 years to private hospitals, with none of it going to Ventura County Medical Center Ventura County Medical Center is a hospital in the city of Ventura, California, USA. It is a 208 bed acute care hospital. The county also operates a 49 bed campus in Santa Paula. , which us obligated ob·li·gate tr.v. ob·li·gat·ed, ob·li·gat·ing, ob·li·gates 1. To bind, compel, or constrain by a social, legal, or moral tie. See Synonyms at force. 2. To cause to be grateful or indebted; oblige. to treat the poor and indigent indigent 1) n. a person so poor and needy that he/she cannot provide the necessities of life (food, clothing, decent shelter) for himself/herself. 2) n. one without sufficient income to afford a lawyer for defense in a criminal case. . A public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most executive hired by CMH to run its campaign blasted the coalition, saying that before Community Memorial's initiative, none of the money had been earmarked for health care - referring to initial county plans to use a portion of the funds to pay part of the $15 million legal settlement with the federal government for improper Medicare billings. ``I think CMH has clearly performed a service to the citizens of Ventura County by pushing the issue,'' said Doug Dowie of Fleishman Hillard. ``Its first priority now is to ensure that the voters of Ventura County get an opportunity to listen to the debate and listen to the issues. Thirty-eight thousand (voters) signed petitions to put this on the ballot, and the Board of Supervisors not only defied those 38,000, but its own elected officials, by refusing to put it on the ballot.'' The supervisors, acting on the advice of their attorney, refused to order an election on the issue, saying the measure would give away public funds See Fund, 3. See also: Public , which is illegal. Among those attending the morning announcement were former Supervisor Maggie Kildee, who slammed CMH for an initiative in 1996 that blocked expansion of the county hospital in Ventura. ``I think CMH should get absolutely nothing,'' said Kildee. ``I think the Board (of Supervisors) should be responsible for the money. They are the ones who are responsible to the people. If we don't like what they do we can vote them out . . . With CMH, we have absolutely no recourse, we have no say in what they do with the money.'' At the announcement, Maron called on the Board of Supervisors to initiate a series of forums throughout the county to elicit public comment on how to spend the money that is part of the settlement with tobacco companies. Other organizations in the initiative-fighting coalition are Service Employees International Union Local 998, the National Association for the Mentally Ill and the League of United Latin American Citizens The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the oldest organization of Hispanic Americans in the United States. With a membership of approximately 115,000, the organization uses education and advocacy to improve living conditions and seek advances for all Hispanic nationality . CAPTION(S): photo Photo: David Maron says local charities and unions will fight an initiative to give tobacco settlement money to private hospitals. Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News |
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