DOWNEY HOSPITAL: Wilson Vetoes Open Board Meetings Bill

      Gov. Pete Wilson vetoed legislation that would have opened Downey Community Hospital board meetings to City Council members. The bill was introduced by state Assemblywoman Sally Havice (D-Cerritos) in response to a "special exemption for the hospital from the state's open meetings law" that had been created by the state Legislature. Downey Hospital is a private facility but it is "built on city land in a deal that made City Council members ex-officio, nonvoting members of the board." The City Council and the hospital are "battling in court over whether municipal officials have a right to attend meetings of the governing board of the hospital." The Los Angeles Times reports that Havice's measure "was strongly supported by community and civic leaders, who complained they were being shut out of the decision-making process at the hospital." Havice, who voiced her disappointment with the veto, said, "This was a good opportunity to give the community back the access it had to the board of their hospital." Wilson called the bill "an 'unnecessary intrusion' by the Legislature into a local contract dispute" (Shuit, 10/2).