The corruption in Columbia County never seems to end. The health district board has now officially joined the ranks of those in the city and county billed as snake oil salesman or proprietors of modern cures. Health district chair Jay Tappan officiated the health board meeting last Thursday evening. Board member Gary Heide read a prepared statement that the health board got the message from the voters Nov 2 and the hospital project had stopped November 3. The health board sat quietly as if they had expected the 60 people who were crammed into the small office space like a can of sardines, many standing clear out at the entrance of the building trying to hear what was happening around the corner of the room to show gratitude by applauding, the room was silent. Tappan carried on with district business, when he came to the section for hospital project, his comments to the rest of the board was the voters have spoken and we will reduce the hospital tax.

What parts of the voters mandate does this group of people not understand, where does stop the tax mean reduce the tax? These people want to continue on collecting funds from the taxpayers and have no qualms about it. I don't understand are they that cocky or are they that dense? I gather a guess as cocky.

Tappan mentioned that the board would sell the property on Millard Rd. when asked by a citizen what are you going to do with the money? Tappan looked down at the desk and replied I don't know. Several people ask if the board would dissolve themselves or go to the county commissioners and have them dissolve the board the answer was no. Every question that the citizens asked the board the answer was I don't know.
What I do know is this board will not adhere to the voters mandate by stopping the tax. And unless the hospital board is dissolved they can keep collecting the money, they can lower or increase the tax rate up to 38 cents per assessed value of your property at their whims. This in not what the voters mandated.

Then we have the issue of two uniform city policemen and a plain clothed policemen that were brought in by the hospital board. For what purpose could it have been? The crowd that attended the health district meeting was polite, quite and respectful more than how the health board had been treating the voters. The health district had to poke their finger into the voter's eye one more time with having cops standing around the meeting room, that only goes to show you that the board knew full well what they were doing was wrong.

I say shame on you, members of the health district board. You cannot sell your snake oil to the voters any more they have seen through your façade.