Eldorado OKs proposal to change election process
 Bill would keep religious sect from taking over
 
By Paul A. Anthony
San Angelo Standard-Times
 
ELDORADO - With some still worried a nearby religious group could stage a political takeover, the Schleicher County Hospital District moved a step closer Thursday to approving a proposal that could all but eliminate such a possibility.

By a unanimous vote, the district's board of directors authorized its attorneys to draft a bill that would change its election process from at-large seats to single-member districts.

"It's been kind of a long, ongoing deal for several years now," said Randy Mankin, hospital administrator, adding that the arrival of the reclusive, fundamentalist Mormon sect in March added an incentive. "There's an impetus there; there's no denying that."

The hospital district's rules were created by the State Legislature in the late 1960s. The hospital must use its state representatives to pass legislation to change those rules.

In Thursday's special meeting, Mankin told the board he received positive responses from Schleicher County's legislators, Rep. Harvey Hilderbran, R-Kerrville, and Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock. The five present members then voted to conduct another special meeting next week to vote on the legislation drafted by Kosub and Griffen, the board's law firm.

The board also agreed to use the legislation to cap the district's per-patient liability at $30,000 and to allow it to make agreements with outside entities that would let the district run other area hospitals.

"If we're gonna take a bite of the apple, we might as well put our wish list on there," Mankin said.

If the board approves the legislation next week, the language will be submitted to Hilderbran and Duncan, who will in turn submit it to the Legislature. The legislature will convene Tuesday.

Single-member districts require that a board member be from a set geographic area representing an equal number of people as the other members. Congressional and legislative districts are single-member. The board consists of seven at-large seats, meaning any registered voter in Schleicher County, including compound members, can vote for every member.

The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or FLDS, bought hundreds of acres northeast of Eldorado and began building a compound in March, touching off a national firestorm that led to fears leaders might try to infiltrate Eldorado and turn it into a church-city like those the FLDS has in Utah and Arizona.

Those cities, however, were founded by the group, said George Arispe, Schleicher County chief deputy sheriff. Arispe said he has visited the cities twice.

"There's never been any kind of allegation" of an attempted takeover in Eldorado, Arispe said. "The people at the compound have never indicated that they want to get involved in politics."

Action on the compound has led the sheriff's office to believe it soon will run its own fire and ambulance service for its members, Arispe said, thus further reducing the group's presence in Eldorado.

The hospital district is the only political entity with at-large seats, Mankin said. Schleicher County Independent School District and the commissioners' court use single-member districts, and compound residents, who are outside city limits, would be ineligible to vote in Eldorado City Council races, he said.
 
SanAngeloStandardTimes.com
Originally published January 7, 2005
 
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