LOS MEDANOS HOSPITAL DISTRICT: Investigation to Probe Dissolution

      To assess the consequences of its planned dismantling, the Los Medanos Community Hospital District's board of trustees voted 4-1 to request "a full report," including an exploration of alternatives, such as allowing the district to expire, the Contra Costa Times reports. The facility closed in 1994 due to mismanagement, poor investments and reduced government spending; however, residents of Pittsburg, Bay Point and Clayton continue to pay taxes to the district. Those in favor of the district's termination claim it "wastes taxpayer money," while others argue taxpayers may pay more in the long run if the district is dissolved. At least temporarily averting a petition campaign to present the issue to voters in the fall, district Counsel Tom Driscoll said, "The study is necessary to determine what effect, if any, dissolution might have on the district's contracts to pay off bond and bankruptcy debts and its lease with the county" (Levin, 5/12).