Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1440039
By Melissa Hartman mhartman@santacruzsenti- nel.com SANTA CRUZ » It appeared there was going to be a 2022 without Watsonville Community Hospital. That changed when, in the 11th hour, a nonprofit organiza- tion raised enough money to keep the hospital run- ning and become the likely future owner. The hospital's medical workers were familiar with change. They had gone on strike numerous times af- ter the south county facility changed ownership three times in the last five years. Employees did not expect a fourth sale of the hospi- tal, however — an event that was announced to them in the days surrounding Thanksgiving. In an initial letter and subsequent updates Hos- pital CEO Steven Salyer in- formed employees that CO- VID-19 had swung a punch that landed, taking out cur- rent owner Medical Proper- ties Tru st's financial ability to manage the hospital any longer. The CEO outlined the timeline the hospital would follow from there on out — filing for bankruptcy, going through the process of identifying and approv- ing a buyer or, if that was not done, shuttering the facility. The deadline to find that buyer, staff later learned, was Jan. 28. "We hope to come to an arrangement with the proj- ect to acquire this hospital in order to serve our com- munity long term," Salyer said at the time. Salyer said that he and his team would work with Pajaro Valley Healthcare District Project, a new ef- fort coordinated by Santa Cruz County, the city of Watsonville, Community Health Trust of Pajaro Val- ley and Salud Para La Gente to ultimately obtain and op- erate Watsonville Commu- nity Hospital within the lo- cal commu nity. At that time, Pajaro Val- ley Healthcare District Proj- ect was planning its first steps through fundraising and policy planning. It did not yet have the agency to pull millions of dollars nec- essary for the hospital pur- chase out of its hat, said project chair Mimi Hall on Dec. 3. Still, Hall and her co-chairs spent Thanksgiv- ing weekend reaching out to legislators to try to come up with a solution. As the project worked to find donors, Watson- ville Community Hospital's owners, including its for- mer holder Halsen Health- care — a corporation that left the area after it failed to pay stakeholders — be- gan their Chapter 11 re- organization case the day dozens of workers went on strike in front of the hospi- tal with the demand to keep its doors open. Unbeknownst to the Cal- ifornia Nurses Association uni on leaders that planned for and executed a rally for Dec. 6, the hospital and the health care district project came to an agreement Dec. 5 and finalized it Dec. 6. This changed the nature of the bankruptcy case. Now, Chief Restructuring Officer Jeremy Rosenthal and Force 10 Partners appears in front of a judge again for a credi- tors meeting at 10 a.m. Jan. 5, according to the noticing agent Stretto. There, they will follow up on a request to appoint the project as the lead buyer and approve the sale of its operations to the project through a court-su- pervised auction. The hospital hopes the court will hear the sale in February, it said in a state- ment earlier this month. Hall was unable to tell the Sentinel where the funds came from to con- tinue the hospital's func- tions through March and become the front-runner in next year's sale. She said she was relieved that the project was able to buy the time it needs to con- tinue the process of the for- mation of a sustainable es- tablishment. NEWSMAKER 2021 Last-minute save of Watsonville Community Hospital SHMUEL THALER - SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL FILE Watsonville Community Hospital nurses participate in a car caravan in December 2020 to protest nurse-to-patient ratio reductions. Santa Cruz County near Corralitos on Oct. 15. The Estrada Fire burned roughly 150 acres and trig- gered evacuations for hun- dreds of people. Rainfall that quelled fire activity strengthened and became categorized as an- other atmospheric river storm. The same week the Es- trada Fire was put out, offi- cials evacuated thousands in the Santa Cruz Moun- tains for fear rain might free free mud, rock and water, that could pum- mel houses, block roads, or worse. T hat meant once again thousands in the Santa Cruz Mountains were ordered to evacuate. Boulder Creek resi- dent Angela Aurelio said the multiple evacuations within a span of a year has been wearing for her fam- ily. Aurelio's property suf- fered fire damage, so de- bris flows are a concern, she told the Sentinel in October. The evacuation fatigue has brough t up questions of how feasible living in the Santa Cruz Mountains is for her and her children, Aurelio said. "With climate change, is this area sustainable?," she asked. "How many years of red flag warnings, fire risk and debris flows can we go through before the stress of it takes a toll on us … when is enough going to be enough?" Other residents such as Ann Thryft said the evacu- ations not only have taken an emotional toll but a fi- nancial one as well. In Oc- tober, Thryft said the evac- uations were especially taxing on her and her hus- band. "Forget a go bag, I'm a senior citizen … I need a go-car, I can't pack a go bag," Thryft said. "I have to spend all day packing." A third atmospheric river storm hit Santa Cruz County on Dec. 12. That also triggered evacua- tions in more than a dozen neighbor hoods through- out the region. Small land- slides and isolated debris flows were set loose as a result of that most recent storm. In total there have been three evacuation events due to storms in 2021. Residents have often said they're weary of the in- tense effort it takes to pack up, find accommodations and travel. Both in January and October, officials cited the high number of people who didn't heed warnings or orders. Officials also say they are still learning more about the fire-scarred region's tol- erance for rain in the wake of the CZU Complex. Since no wildfire has burned as intensely in Santa Cruz County's recent history, sci- entists say they need more data to understand just how much rainfall triggers serious debris flows. County Geologist Jeff Nolan said since post-wild- fire debris f lows haven't been studied in the region, this year has been a test of rainfall intensity thresh- olds that trigger evacua- tions. Established debris flow risk levels have been met and exceeded over the course of the storms that hit Santa Cruz County in 2021, but no major damage has occurred. As of now, Nolan said he still believes the guidelines are not too conservative. " You don't want to alarm people for no reason but at the same time you don't want them to ignore you when you're really con- cerned, it's walking a tight- rope," Nolan said. Despite the disaster trauma and evacuation fatigue fire victim McKe- own said in January that the Santa Cruz Mountains remain a tight knit com- munity. "We are a valley that sticks together — the Santa Cruz Mountains will stay strong, we've always been strong a nd united as one," McKeown said. Fires FROM PAGE 3 By Ryan Stuart rstuart@santacruzsentinel. com WATSONVILLE » The firing of Superintendent Michelle Rodriguez at the beginning of 2021 created waves that rippled through the Pajaro Valley Unified School Dis- trict throughout the year. A surprise move by the PVUSD Board of Trustees in January found the district without a superintendent during a five-day period. A split board voted to termi- nate Rodriguez's employment with the district, with no ex- planation to the public. In fact, the then board president Georgia Acosta announced the decision briefly before immediately adjourning the January meeting. "This was a surprise to us," said Pajaro Valley Fed- eration of Teachers Presi- dent Nelly Vaquera-Boggs in January. "We did not know that this was coming. So were just as surprised as the community is." Rodrigue z's sudden ter- mination sparked outrage amongst the Watsonville and Aptos communities. That set the stage for an upcoming special meeting that Friday, in which the board was set to appoint an interim superintendent. Parents, students and teachers alike flooded the public comment period for nearly four-and-a-half hours. The comment pe- riod was nearly cut short by Acosta, who attempted to not hear any public com- ment discussing Rodri- guez's termination under the guise of a Brown Act violation. Ultimately, the board de- cided to hear all comments. At the conclusion of the comment period, the board elected to double-back on their decision and consider reinstating the superinten- dent at a later date. The board met that Sun- day for a third time in five days. During that meeting it voted unanimously to re- instated Rodriguez. She re- turned to her post the fol- lowing day. However, the reinstate- ment of Rodriguez was not the end of the saga. Instead, it was the catalyst of a se- ries of events that lead into the following school year. Following Acosta's de- meanor during the three Januar y meetings, she stepped down as the board president and Jennifer Holm took over the lead position. The board censured her for her conduct shortly after. Her censure involved her conduct during that meet- ing, as well as 26 missed board meetings during her tenure, at the time. That is the equivalent to one whole year of meetings since the board meets on a biweekly basis. It also included a discus- sion around $16,000 in legal fees from the night of the first special meeting. Acosta had brought her own law- yer to advise the board dur- ing that meeting, who was not the legal representation for the district. The district elected to deny the fees, which would prompt the law firm to ei- ther direct the fees to Acosta or dissolve the bill. The saga took another step forward when a re- call campaign launched to remove Acosta from her trustee seat launched in April. The recall campaign cited the fiasco surround- ing Rodriguez's termina- tion and subsequent rein- statement as the impetus of the campaign. "I just see something that's not right and needs to be corrected," Cam- paign Adviser Jane Barr said in April. "I think that's how most of us feel on this committee. That enough is enough. (It's) time to get good representation and someone who has a com- mitment and wants to be involved." The recall attempt fell short in September, as the petiti oners were unable to garner enough signatures before the deadline. The campaign needed to col- lect 2,158 signatures, just 25% of the registered vot- ers in Watsonville Trustee Area II. Rodriguez remains the superintendent of PVUSD. Acosta won a re-election bid in 2020 and will serve as a trustee for the district through 2024. "I'm just thinking about the lack of trust now in our community because of the actions that were taken and the way the situation was handled," Trustee Ma- ria Orozco said in March of the events of late Janu- ary. "It's costing the district more money." EDUCATION PVUSD superintendent is terminated, then reinstated tremely serious." Other residents cited the financial hardship buying water, as well as the phys- ical toll it took to transport heavy jugs of purified water. "Because of our age, and the fact both of us have physical handicaps, it's dif- ficult to lug the water back and forth. We can do 1 gal- lon, it's difficult to do the 5-gallon containers," rate- payer Linda Moore said in November of her and her husband, who are of no re- lation to Big Basin owner Jim Moore. Still, Linda Moore and other residents said they empathized with the fam- ily-run business. "Everybody wants Jim to land on his feet, but you can't be putting a whole community at risk by not having a reliable water source," Big Basin Water customer Roger Wapner said in May. Officials responded Residents' concerns were echoed by the State Water Resources Control Board. Beginning in 2016, the regulators documented san- itary issues with the water company. In 2018, they re- quested Big Basin Water make nearly $3 million in upgrades. In May 2021, the board ordered the company to make those overdue up- grades, as well as fortify the system for future wildfires. In August the board hit the company with a subsequent citation for failing to take action on the compliance order. Big Basin's historic issues were only exacerbated by the CZU Complex, said San Lorenzo Valley Water Dis- trict Manager Rick Rogers. The district has worked to assist Big Basin since the CZU Complex fire, and re- cently provided mainte- nance crews to the com- pany when a pipe burst, as well as access to a water fill up station to those without drinking water. "It was struggling be- fore the fire," Rogers said. "I think the fire pushed it to the point of no return." According to State Water Board — Division of Drink- ing Water Monterey Dis- trict Engineer Jonathan Weininger, since the CZU Complex, the board has also had issues communicating with Big Basin. Both in June and October, the wa- ter company did not notify the board of water shutoffs and implemented a boil wa- ter notice without regula- tory approval, Weininger told the Sentinel. As concerns from resi- dents mounted this fall, of- ficials began to take more serious action. The company was hit with a third citation on Oct. 28 for failing to com- ply with deadlines, to the tune of $21,000. Just days later on Nov. 3, the board issued a fourth citation to the company for failing to thoroughly sample water supplies for contamina- tion. Big Basin also didn't meet at least four of eight regulatory deadlines set by the board in the first cita- tion, sent out in April, to im- prove water quality and re- liability, the Sentinel found. For his part, Moore told the Sentinel in November he couldn't afford to make upgrades required by the state largely because of lower-than-average water rates. Solutions on horizon After months of negotia- tions and conversations, in October the Moores agreed to work with the San Lo- renzo Valley Water District in an effort to merge the two supplies and customer bases. District Board Direc- tor Bob Fultz commended Big Basin owners for com- ing forward to the district to formally explore such a merger in November. "I do want to recognize the Moores for making this request, this is their life en- deavor, somethin g they've worked for … coming for- ward in this fashion, that took a lot," Fultz said. Rogers told the Sentinel that he's optimistic, but that the merging process would be challenging and could take years. "It's going to be a up- hill climb all the way, and it may not even go," Rogers said. "This is going to need to be a group effort from the elected officials, from the state, all these people who put pressure on Big Basin water to consolidate. Now we need money." Jennifer Clary, Califor- nia director of Clean Wa- ter Action, said she sees Big Ba sin a s par t of a larger picture issue play- ing out across the state: sma l l wat er pur veyors that rely on local water sources and operate in ru- ral regions are struggling to keep up with increas- ing regulator y demands and upgrades. In the face of climate change, a nd increasingly severe wildfires, those is- sues are inflamed. "These are communities that have been in the same place for decades or a cen- tury or more, and so when they built them, water was affordable and plentiful," Clary said. "As we learn more about water and how to provide safe drinking water the requirements in- crease." Water FROM PAGE 3 HANNAH HAGEMANN — SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL Apostol stands next to her water filtration system she installed in her Boulder Creek home. Apostol estimates she's spent around $5,000 dealing with a year of boil water orders and tap shutoffs. | | SANTACRUZSENTINEL.COM FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2021 6 S