| Photo by Saul Bucio on Unsplash
Part X of “Proactive People Must Protect Own Neighborhood” Series
Last Sunday’s column discussed how West Covina’s approximately 3,410 registered businesses and housing units numbering some 34,834 could receive a modest financial settlement from Athens Services of an estimated $2,000 per business and housing unit. Or even higher an amount. This represents an estimated one-third, minimum, of the quarterly amounts paid to Athens Services for failing to provide the third bin for recycling.
They may also get a share of the punitive damages that a jury may award West Covina and the affected households and businesses. The damages may be paid by Athens Services and the City councilmembers that enabled the garbage-collection firm from withholding the third recycling bin for nearly 14 years and for its allegedly over-pricing practices. The computation is based on the fact that West Covina users paid 20% to 30% more than GIGO contractors’ clients. The City Manager of West Covina should prepare the computations for submission to the Offices of the State Attorney General and/or the Legal Department of the County of Los Angeles, which may file criminal complaints for alleged violations of the RICO Act.
If the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) is filed against the garbage-collection contractor and the erring West Covina councilpersons, the suit may prevail. Then the recipients of actual and punitive damages can be awarded not only to the city but also to those affected by the GIGO scandal. Since it is a RICO complaint, it will be heard in federal court, which can award large settlements to the city and its citizens affected by the racket complained of.
If all the legal scenarios described happen, the people of West Covina can have their own version of “MediCAre”. All individuals and corporate persons who receive the financial windfall can form a healthcare cooperative (HCC). Yes, especially if the gubernatorial candidates Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton refuse to discuss the “MediCAre” idea for all Californians—as discussed earlier in this column.
The new City Council may be able to persuade the private hospitals and clinics operating in the city — and all their medical professionals, other non-medical employees, patients, their families, and kin– to join the HCC. Even the Queen of the Valley Hospital in West Covina may be persuaded to join the HCC. The hospital is owned and operated by the non-profit regional healthcare system Emanate Health, which may like to merge with the HCC. The more, the better; the more viable the consortium becomes.
“If all said legal scenarios happen, then the people of West Covina can have their version of “MediCAre”. All the individuals and corporate persons receiving the financial windfall can form a healthcare cooperative (HCC). Yes, especially if the gubernatorial candidates Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton refuse to discuss the “MediCAre” idea for all Californians — as discussed earlier in this column.“
Residents who are enrolled in the federal Medicare program can switch to the new HCC as their Medicare provider. Those who depend on healthcare provided by medical-insurance companies can also make a transfer to the said HCC.
The mayor and councilmembers may invite the other cities in the San Gabriel Valley to join the HCC. In a few years, the cooperative-owned healthcare entity may even outperform the Kaiser Permanente Foundation-owned healthcare system. And persuade it to join forces, or else it may no longer be able to earn more than the reported average of $ 8 billion per year. That is, if many of the KP medical workers would, by then, transfer to the West Covina-based HCC.
Of course, there should be a feasibility study for the proposed HCC, which can be done by the nucleus of a Public-Private Partnership (PPP). The candidates for the three council seats and the incumbents can begin discussing the proposed HCC among themselves. Both the California chapters of the Democratic and Republican parties may each send a representative to the study group that will conduct the feasibility studies. This column presents a conceptual framework for the proposed healthcare co-op.
For Sunday’s Part XI, we will discuss how the West Covina-based HCC can resolve the city’s indebtedness to its police and fire department personnel. We will also construct new residential condominium units for them, so that they can all reside within the city, among other ideas.
