Jess C. Williams

Director of Public Information/Special Projects

Doña Ana County Manager’s Office

Dr. Jim Kadlacek and Dr. Phil Banks
Southern New Mexico Common Cause
Via E-Mail (as requested)
DrJMKadlecek@aol.com <mailto:DrJMKadlecek@aol.com> and Marathonag@zianet.com <mailto:Marathonag@zianet.com>
Las Cruces, N.M.

November 30, 2004

Dear Drs. Kadlacek and Banks -

        Doña Ana County has compiled documents - both printed and electronic - for your inspection, relative to your request of Nov. 15. The packet of records is available for your inspection, by appointment, in my office or in the Legal Department’s conference room. Any copies you wish to procure will be made at a cost of 50 cents per page. I also have for your inspection a compact disk of the Dec. 12, 2003, joint city-county meeting, which contains information responsive to part of Item 5 in your request. That disk can be copied for $10.

        Prior to your inspection, I offer the following brief responses to your itemized requests.
        Item 1: A copy of a six page Policy, No. 8-14, received by the County from Memorial Medical Center ("Province") in September of 2004, is available for your review.

        Item 2. A copy of the first billing is available for your review. However, the bill is currently being reviewed for supporting details by a team consisting of county and city personnel.

        Item 3. We are not aware of any agreements between the County and Province relative to Province's  provision of indigent care, other than the agreements reflected in the Lease and Asset Purchase Agreements referred to in the request itself. While we can make the Lease and Asset Purchase Agreements available for review, the wording of your query indicates that you already have these documents.

        Item 4. We have copies of invoices and payments for your review, but there is/are no document(s) containing “full and detailed accounting” in a summarized format.

        Item 5: There is no “final accounting of the MMC/Province transaction,” but we have for your review a copy of the Closing Statement. There is no resolution regarding the county’s policy regarding the usage of the lease proceeds. The motion passed by the Board of County Commissioners at the county/city joint meeting of Dec. 12, 2003, is the most responsive document available. It is in electronic format.

        Item 6. A copy of a five page News Release, dated Aug. 16, 2004, is available for your review. It is the only document we possess that seems responsive to your request.

        Item 7. Neither the County Manager nor the County Commission has control over the other board members on the private board to which you refer, nor over the private entity itself, and, consequently, our legal review finds that it is not a "public body" subject to the Inspection of Public Records Act.  Your request as to these materials should be directed to Memorial Medical Center or "Province." 

        To make an appointment for inspection of the responsive records, please feel free to contact me at (505) 647-7229 or Dave Medeiros of the Legal Department at (505) 647-7225.

Sincerely -

Jess C. Williams
Director of Public Information/Special Projects
Doña Ana County Manager’s Office