ST3&3S? OF HOSPITAL SITE
ffoa Pago 3) for why his offer
mi ftjected, we do not. know for oer
$*la ttlint the reasons were,but I under
stand that in answer to Tuitions rai
sed ty ‘citizens of Homer, tho reason
for tha rejection was because the price
was too high.. jvs I said ..before Virgo
Asderwah thought the representatives of
tha Board who contacted him, Mr. Greg
o4r© and Mr. McLaughlin were making a
%ona fid© in<jiiry to purchase the land
so he Had© what he considered a bona
fide offer of ^600 an acre. One acre
was at all times available to tho Board
through ekination. I invite an analysis
ly someone mere qualified ' than myself.
%o determine the extent of the value
§or dollar the Board get by purchasing
the five acres at *100 an acre from Mr.
Grogoiro as against getting four acres
of land from Virgo Anderson for the sum
©? <£1800, giving due consideration to
the usability of the land, to the buil
ding problems involved, and the addi
tional legal- expanses incurred in get
ting a clear title to the Gregoire
land* ^Tiat, in fact, has the community
paid- per usable „..dcrc at the present
hospital site?
The present site uas purchased by
the Board during the time the public'
9*a under the impression -chat the An
tes? son site / had been acoept-.d. I do
not question Mr* Gregoirc s sincerity
i& feeling ho v:as rendering a community
service by offering his acreage at'ilOO
an acre for a hospital , site. The re
sponsibility rests with the Board”of
Directors of the PUP who either had no
sense of .values, or, did not knou the
meaning of the word ethics, or both.
In fairness to the present board, let
me tell you that the, members of that
Board T;:ore as follows: Mr, hex Elliott,
It, Hafry Gregoire, Mr,Jack McLaughlin,
Mr. Guy 'addoll, and Mr,Robert Kranich,
On November 24, 1953, Virgo Indorson
. ------
received tho following lot tor from the
PUD:.
November 24, 1953
* Mr, Virgo Anderson.
Dear Friend, .
Tho Public Utility* Board rill not
need your land for a clinic site*
• Thank you for your cooperation.
Yours truly, '
(Signed) Jack McLaughlin, 3ec*y,
In my opinion, this date should mark
the official rejection of the Anderson
site and the acceptance of tho Grogoire
site. Doesn’t that date surprise you?
Only a little over one year ago, Mr.
Henning Johnson has stated that ho did
not intend to answer the questions
raised by Mr. Norman, Mr, Johnson is
justified in his decision; horever, I
TOuld .like to emphasize one point, and
that is the length of time that has <g«*
lapsed since the present site ras chan
son and then the public first voiced
dissatisfaction with the choice, Mr.
Norman claims 3j years elapsed before
the issue ras brought up. I have shorn
in my foregoing remarks tho extent of
this untruth.*
In recent discussions of this issue,
the rolo of the Homer Health Council in
choosing the site has been emphasized*
3ince I an not in a position to give
you a first-hand, factual account of
the influence of the .Health Council in
this matter^ I invito ' someone uho has
these facts to present them'in full.
It is my opinion, that the lie alt h. Coun
cil did not choose the sit e but* rathcl*
that it approved the site at the rec£*
commendation of the 1U2 Board, Further,
it is lmy opinion that, there uas an
overlapping of influence in these t?70
groups. I am billing to change those
opinions a!t any time that facts are ro
vcaled by the Health Council as to a
1 ist of si t o s \ hi c h th ey c onsi dor od,
rhat criteria was used to determine the
desirability of the sites for a hospi
tal, the names and qualifications of
tic individuals ; on the investigating
committee if there v;as such a comr^it
too. Uni or any circumstances, the fact
remains that the final responsibility
'7as vested in 1he " PUD Board and not in
the Homer Health Council*
Sometime after the site on Mr* Greg
oire’s property had been chosen, offi
cials of the IlQalth Department visited
Homer and were shown the proposed site*
It was their opinion that the site was
too inaccessible for a hospital inten
ded for the purpose of serving as a
first-aid station or clinic primarily*
It was . recommended to the PUD Board
that a more accessible location be sel
ected, and the vicinity was suggested
that they considered suitable* It is
my understanding that these officials
rere also shown the vicinity of Virgo
Andorson’s site, and this also Fas
considered too inaccessible* Subse
quent to this visit, the owners of the
site recommended were contacted. How
ever, it was pro-determined by the PUD
Board that the site would not be chan
ged, and the purpose of the contact was
for the * record to show that the land
was sought* Thus the final obstacle
wa3 hurdled#
In anticipation of what will bo said
by some in regards to my talk, let mo
say that I am the sis tor-in-law of Vir
go Anderson, and being human, this re
lationship, I am sure, makes me some
what biased in my own interpretations.
However, if you review what I have said
you will 3oe that I have sincerely
tried to give yc^u the basic facts and
have avoided voicing my personal opin
ions lhaofar as was possible. The opin
ions stated are labelled as such.
Secondly, I am in a position to toll
you that ' Virgo Andorson is not again
offering his land a^d ^oul'd not offer
(Cont, on Page 5, Col..l)
I'M THE WORLD'S BEST BOOSTER
FOR TRADING AT HOME ...
IN THE FAR NORTH, THAT IS!
AND I'M GLAD TO BE THIS
WEEK'S 'GUEST MERCHANT''
./ I
ILL BE VISITING HOMER
FRIDAY NIGHT, UNTIL THEN,
y\i
, '
'■AND A.