The recent drama within the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital District and its elected commissioners has been somewhat confusing and difficult to follow.
What is certain, though, is that when sitting commissioner, Gene Pollard, decided to run again fellow commission member, Keven Hauglie, to “hold him accountable” and then unseated Hauglie in November, Pollard left his current commission seat sitting empty – and it has to be filled soon.
That means the hospital district needs to fill the seat Pollard had to resign from when he took Hauglie’s, with the appointee finishing out Pollard’s prior term, which doesn’t expire until in November 2017.
So… The Snoqualmie Valley District is currently accepting resumes from individuals interested in filling Pollard’s vacated old seat. The new Commissioner will be required to stand for election in November 2015 to finish out the remainder of Pollard’s term.
Commissioners of Snoqualmie Valley Hospital District are publicly elected officials, chosen by district voters. They govern the hospital district, being responsible for establishing hospital district policy, setting strategic direction and overseeing the delivery of quality patient care to district residents and all those served by the district.
The qualifications to serve as hospital commissioner include the following: (1) applicants must be a citizen of the United States (2) reside in the hospital district, and (3) be at least 18 years of age.
Resumes and letters of interest should be sent to Valerie Huffman, Snoqualmie Valley Hospital District, 9575 Ethan Wade Way SE, Snoqualmie, WA 98065, or via email to valerieh@snoqualmiehospital.org. Resumes will be accepted until 5PM, January 17, 2014.
For questions or inquiries, please contact Valerie Huffman at 425.831.2362.
Comments
Hello Danna,
I have a question someone may be able to answer. I thought commissioner was an elected position? If so, why the requirement for a resume to be sent to the hospital district? Is there a vetting process that the hospital is conducting before the individual can be allowed to be put on the ballot? If so, it would be helpful to know what the hospital district is looking for on the resume.
Thanks!
Hi Kim, It is elected, but when seats go vacant mid-term, they are filled by applicants. I believe the school board works the same way. I would email Valerie, whose email address is in the story. She might be able to answer your specific questions. I will ask the hospital district’s PIO to possibly answer your question here, too.
Kim, the directors/commissioners for the board of publicly (taxes) funded organizations like the SV Hospital District and the SV School District are elected by registered voters within their districts. But when one of those elected officials leaves their seat (resignation, death, or in this case a ballot elected transfer of seats), then the rest of the board appoints a temporary replacement by their majority vote. They may accept applications from interested persons, which in this case they received resumes or expressed interest from at least a few people. I would say that there is now a public expectation here that the SVHD board will appoint someone from among those people who expressed interest via their resumes. There is no legal guarantee of that. There has even been a speculative rumor that the SVHD board may appoint one of the incumbents defeated in this most recent election to Gene Pollard’s previous seat (wouldn’t that be a stunning end-run?), but altho probably legal it would be a public relations nightmare for SVHD so I discount that possibility. The appointee would be expected to serve out the remaining term of that seat (not sure, but I think at least 2
and at most 4 yrs; the SVHD commissioners serve 6 yr terms, whereas the SVSD directors serve 4 yr terms). The seat would then come up for election again and IF the appointee wishes to continue they would have to run for election. We have seen cases where appointees were not elected by voters later, and other cases where they were.
Thank you both. That is very helpful! I hope it encourages folks who are thinking about it to step up and take action.
When one of the commissioners’ seat becomes open in a non-election year, the other commissioners must appoint someone to fill the vacancy until the next general election, which is November, 2015. Appointed commissioners are required to run in the next general election following their appointment in order to fulfill the remaining unexpired term, which ends in 2017. The qualifications to serve as hospital commissioner include the following: (1) applicants must be a citizen of the United States (2) reside in the hospital district, and (3) be at least 18 years of age. Please feel free to contact Valerie Huffman at valerieh@snoqualmiehospital.org or call 425-831-2362 with any questions.