Former County Commissioner Disagrees with Current Board

by Jonathan Weaver

Dozens of Armstrong County Health Center employees demonstrated last week at a town hall meeting their disagreement with potentially selling the Kittanning facility, and a former County official shares the same opinion.

Former County Commissioner Jack Dunmire – who was in office for 12 years (from 1991 through 2003) - has also now spoken out against a possible sale.

“I am not in-favor of selling the Health Center. We have an obligation and they have an obligation as county commissioners to take care of the people in their county,” Dunmire said Tuesday night during Family-Life TV’s weekly “Talk of the Town” talk show. “This includes the older people and the indigent (financially-poor) people – people that don’t have any money. What would happen if they sold this facility – where would those people go? Are we going to send them to Butler County – Are we going to send them to Indiana County?”

Dunmire indicated he was able to relate to residents and families since his mother was a Health Center resident on a fixed-Social Security income.

While he was in office, Dunmire recalled commissioners budgeting $250,000 in tax revenue annually for the Health Center’s operation. He didn’t believe current commissioners are budgeting nearly $1 million as commissioners claim and is curious on the corporations calling commissioners about the facility weekly.

“I won’t call them liars – I would say they are sending out misinformation to the general public,” Dunmire said. “It sounds as if you’re on the phone everyday – and I don’t think that’s true. I don’t think there’s that many people out there that want to buy the Health Center.”

He predicted, unlike commissioners’ claims, that current union employees – who reportedly start work at about $10.50 per hour - might also be in-danger of losing their jobs in the future due to increasing salaries and benefits. He estimated half of the employees would be terminated within a year if the Health Center is sold.

“50 percent of the employees that put half of their life into that facility taking care of our mothers and our fathers, our aunts and our uncles are going to lose their jobs if this happens,” Dunmire said. “I don’t care what the current Board of Commissioners says – I’ve sat in that seat, and I’ve sat in it for 12 years – and I know what’s going to happen.”

For more of Dunmire’s comments on this ongoing issue, pick up a copy the Kittanning Paper Weekend Edition this Saturday.

3 Comments

• 

  By jorn jensen, September 21, 2016 @ 7:04 AM

  $250,000 in 2003 increased to $1 million in 2016. Is that possible? 13 years, or so. Not looking at any other cost increases during that time, just healthcare, I’d say that is entirely possible.

  Phones ringing off the hook with people wanting to buy the health center? I think Jack is correct, here, maybe one phone call. Highly doubtful that many businesses are looking to buy the health center. Whomever is looking at it, I’d like to see their business plan for turning the cash drain into a profitable operation.

  This county has 600 employees. The largest employer in the county. There is no excuse for county government being the largest employer in the county. No excuse.
• 

  By Just sayin, September 21, 2016 @ 8:42 PM

  Good thinking, Mr. Dunmire. God bless you.
  Wish you were back in office.
• 

  By sickofpayingforit, September 21, 2016 @ 8:55 PM

  What about the people who spent half their lives in their houses losing them to not being able to afford the taxes any more?

  Sentiment and nostalgia have no place in a boardroom! Fiscal decisions always need to be made based on the numbers. When the above mentioned enter the discussion, the bottom line will always suffer.

  Plain, hard truth. Like it or not.

Other Links to this Post

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Leave a comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.