Antioch City Councilman Lamar Thorpe last month was appointed as the Executive Director of the Los Medanos Community Healthcare District.
Thorpe was hired at the August 12 meeting where he will serve in the part-time role (20-hours per week) with a compensation not to exceed $4,000 per month ($48,000 annual). He also received a 3-year contract per the staff report.
Thorpe was chosen after the Board of Directors interviewed five finalists for the position. He was approved in a 5-0 vote.
While serving on the Antioch City Council, Thorpe also works for Senator Steve Glazer’s campaign and had previously worked at First 5 Contra Costa.
Thorpe takes over a District which is in a legal battle as to whether or not it should be dissolved or not. Last year, the Contra Costa County Grand Jury made the recommendation after it no longer runs a community hospital and spends the money on administering grants. They also highlighted fiscal mismanagement.
According to the 13-page report:
- The Grand Jury also found LMCHD grant program administrative expenses are high compared to the amount spent on For example, in FY2016-2017, LMCHD spent 40% of its revenue on grants and 36% administering those grants, with the remaining 24% going to reserves. LMCHD’s FY2017-2018 budget allocates 42% for grant programs, and 51% for grant program administration.
- The FY2017-2018 budget shows a general fund revenue of $1.0 million. Of that amount,$0.5 million is allocated to administrative overhead, $0.4 million to community health programs, and $0.1 million to reserves.
- The Grand Jury found no evidence that LMCHD collaborated with the County, non-profit hospitals, or other local entities to avoid duplication of services. Several organizations received grants from both the County and This duplication of services occurred because the County grant administrator, Keller Canyon Mitigation Fund, supports some of the same programs funded through LMCHD. If the County were to assume administration of LMCHD grant programs, there would be no duplication of administrative expenses because the County grant process is already in place.
- LMCHD receives nearly all its annual revenue from property taxes. It uses this revenue to pay for program and wellness grants, as well as administrative expenses.
For more on the grand jury report from August 19, click here.
6 comments
Hes Help destroy Antioch for years. So sure, let him screw this up too!!
Sucking on the teet of tax payers!!!!
Huge joke. That district should have been disbanded years and years ago. A rip off of taxpayers.
Someone at Los Medanos has a few screws loose! Thorpe is the last person I’d consider for janitor, let alone a director of anything!
Is this April Fools? Nothing good is going to come from this hire and this district should have already been dissolved. leave it up to Thorpe to continue to waste taxpayer money. Watch how this District will now be abused to assist Antioch going forward.
Gotta love someone with zero health care experience becoming director of a health care organization. SMH
Who are the people comprising this Board of Directors? What in blazes is the matter with them? Thorpe is about the last person I’d hire to run anything to do with health care! When did he earn his MPH degree?
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