Northport Mayor, Council Split On DCH Board Appointment

NORTHPORT, AL — A rift presented itself between Northport Mayor Bobby Herndon and the City Council Monday night as he expressed his concerns over the recent rejection of three recommended candidates to represent the city on the DCH Board of Trustees.

Late in the meeting, during a regular portion set aside for mayor's business and comments, Herndon took the time to express his displeasure with the Council's unanimous decision on June 21 to reject the candidates recommended. Due to the unanimous support behind the measure at the time, along with a favorable recommendation from the Council's Administrative Committee, no debate or discussion was offered up ahead of the council vote.

"In my humble opinion, that was a very anti-Northport thing to do," Herndon said, before later confirming to Patch that the hospital system had contacted him following the vote . "I know it's a slap in the face to the DCH Board. It's probably a slap in the face to the hundreds of Northport residents who work at DCH — who is our largest employer."

During the regular council meeting on June 21, which ironically coincided with Herndon being in the hospital for surgery, the only public discussion came when City Attorney Ron Davis briefly explained the agenda item, saying it would "allow [the city] some additional individuals to consider."

Click here and fast-forward to 50:45 to see when the agenda item over board appointments was approved on June 21.

District 3 City Councilman John Hinton, who chairs the council's Admin Committee, made the initial motion for the seemingly routine agenda item when it was passed last month, before it was seconded by District 4's Jamie Dykes and unanimously approved by the full council.

None of the three candidates were named publicly, but Council President Jeff Hogg pointed out that the Council's Admin Committee recommended passing the measure on to the full council after the decision was reviewed by City Attorney Ron Davis. He then said the item was placed on the regular meeting agenda for June 21 and all officials had been provided information on the measure regarding the applicants.

Hogg went on to point out that the minutes from the June 21 meeting were then approved on July 6, with no opposition expressed by the mayor or any member of council regarding the decision two weeks prior.

But this is where some of Herndon's expressed concerns focused, before he fell short of inspiring a council vote when raising the possibility of reconsidering the candidates.

Hogg flatly shut the door on the mayor's request, citing the unanimous vote of the full council, along with the recommendation from the appropriate council committee.

The reasoning behind requesting new candidates, Hogg said, was due to none of the three submitted having medical experience.

"As for the names, the three names that were previously submitted were all great people, all pillars of the community," Hogg said. "But none of those names had medical experience and with the current rating that DCH has, wouldn't it be more advantageous for us to require medical experience, rather than the good ole boy system of friends to be appointed? Personally, if I have a need for health care, I want the confidence that the appointing authorities, such as Northport, is doing right by the board we serve by putting the most qualified medical experience we can on those boards."

While part of Herndon's concerns centered on the Council moving forward rejecting the candidates recommended by the health system, he also said the move jeopardizes the city's relationship with the largest stalwart of its economy.

"DCH is our biggest employer," Herndon told Patch following the meeting. "They have over 900 employees and every four or five years, we have the opportunity to appoint somebody. They vet and interview countless numbers of people and the council votes on it, and I don’t remember ever rejecting anybody."

While the mayor said there was no issue with the DCH Board being made up of community stakeholders from different backgrounds and vocations, Hogg doubled down on the need for a specific expertise with respect to the appointee. As a community member, Hogg said he would not want to be a patient of a hospital whose board is made up solely of business owners and civic leaders with no medical acumen.

He would go on to say that it was not the intention of the Council to offend the sensibilities of DCH Health System when making what the council viewed as an informed decision in asking for additional recommendations — a decision all five council members stood by Monday following the brief spat.

"DCH is very important to our community as an employer and health care provider," Hogg said. "So, maybe if we have a conversation with DCH, we can all sit down and discuss the future and everything will be fine."

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