Editorial Editorial (March 04, 2005)

Hospital should divulge CEO's contract

It is difficult to understand why the elected board members of the El Camino Hospital District are refusing to reveal the employment contract of CEO Lee Domanico. A close read of the California Public Record Act clearly shows that the hospital's board is a public body, and that its employment contract with Domanico is a public document. Imagine the outcry if the city of Mountain View refused to disclose the terms of its contract with the city manager.

The last public comment about Domanico's salary was made just after he was hired for $350,000 in 2000, during a time when the district was struggling to stay afloat financially. Since then, the 395-bed hospital has turned around and is retaining some earnings on its annual revenue of nearly $300 million. Just last year, a confident hospital board won easy voter approval of a $165 million bond issue to pay for a new, seismically safe hospital complex.

But apparently, seeking public approval for bonds is one thing, and sharing its CEO's salary package with the public is another. Even with only modest annual increases, Domanico's annual salary and benefit package could be worth well over $400,000 a year. The CEOs at similar hospitals contacted by the Voice readily shared their salaries, which ranged from $203,028 a year for Susan Murphy, director of the Valley Medical Center to Sequoia Hospital's Glenna Vaskelis, who is paid $246,718 plus a $7,200 car allowance.

Perhaps the El Camino board is being protective of Domanico for fear of a public outcry if his compensation package was made public. But regardless of how it would look, our read of the California Public Record Act makes it clear that the hospital board is a public, legislative body and that it receives funds from the district. And even though the publicly-elected board appointed all five of its own members to a nonprofit board, which it claims is not subject to the public record law, we believe the court will see through that subterfuge and order the board to divulge Domonico's compensation.

"All employment contracts of government employees are public records in California," said Peter Scheer, executive director of the California First Amendment Coalition.

"Directly or indirectly, those employees are being paid by tax dollars, so it's entirely fair for the taxpayers to get to see the employment contract," he said.

From all reports, El Camino Hospital is in much better financial shape than when Domanico took over in 2000. But even though he may be a managerial wizard, the hospital is a public institution and Mountain View residents have every right to see the CEO's compensation package.

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