The levy would generate about $2 million annually. Some groups estimate that a new hospital could cost hundreds of millions of dollars to construct and operate.
“From what I’ve seen, this does not seem to be sustainable, and I don’t want to create false hope for our residents,” said Commissioner Chris Shaw. “It’s just very difficult for me to support an effort that is clearly unsustainable and theoretically could bankrupt this city and this community and slow down the economic development that will help us all prosper.”
But coalition members said the levy funds would just be “seed money” that would help show that the city is committed to the project. Coalition members said other partners and stakeholders would be involved and they vowed to try to get a levy measure on the ballot next year.
“You ought to trust the people who did sign the ballot initiative to say, ‘If people want it, let’s see if we can make it work,’” Bishop Richard Cox, president of the Clergy Community Coalition, told the city commission. “Why don’t you try it and let the voters decide whether or not they want this in their community. ... Don’t say it’s not going to work if you don’t give it a chance.”
City commission meeting
A sizable crowd packed into the Dayton City Commission chambers on Wednesday night to attend a public hearing about the initiative petition that was submitted to the commission clerk last month.
The initiative petition was circulated and backed by the Clergy Community Coalition, a community group that was formed after Good Samaritan Hospital in northwest Dayton closed its doors in the summer of 2018.
The coalition wants to put a one-mill tax levy on the ballot, hoping to generate $2 million annually to support creation of a new municipal hospital in West Dayton. The proposed levy would last 10 years and cost the standard owner of a $100,000 home about $35 per year.
On Wednesday night, Regina Blackshear, the clerk of the city commission, said the citizen petition that the coalition submitted failed to meet multiple statutory requirements under city charter. Most notably, the petition did not contain 1,250 valid signatures of registered voters in the city.
The Montgomery County Board of Elections reviewed the signatures and determined only 874 were valid.
The city commission still could have chosen to take action to put the proposed measure on the ballot. But three of the five members voted to accept the clerk’s findings and reject the petition and the proposed tax levy measure.
Commissioner Shenise Turner-Sloss supported placing the tax levy on the ballot, saying she thinks the city’s voters should decide this matter.
Commissioner Darryl Fairchild recused himself from the vote, saying he was worried about breaking ethics rules because he works for Dayton Children’s Hospital, a potential competitor of a new hospital.
Commissioner Matt Joseph on Wednesday night said the health care system is broken and it’s failing to serve some of Dayton’s vulnerable residents who need medical services most, including lower-income individuals and people of color.
But Joseph said the proposed levy would provide just a tiny fraction of the money needed for a new hospital.
“It’s just not the right tool,” he said, adding that a new hospital could cost $450 million, which is significantly more than the city’s entire annual general fund budget. “But I’m more than happy — I’m thrilled — to be part of any conversation that works to address these problems ... and they’re huge problems.”
Multiple community members who spoke on Wednesday night said West Dayton urgently needs a hospital, and the lack of health care in that part of the city puts people’s lives and health and safety at risk.
The Kettering Health Dayton facility, formerly Grandview Hospital, is technically in northwest Dayton but is just more than a stone’s throw from downtown. Good Samaritan Hospital was more than two miles northwest, surrounded by busy neighborhoods.
Bishop Cox said city leaders could and should contact public hospitals in other communities and find out how they made their models work.
“The Clergy Community Coalition will not stop because we believe it will work,” Cox said. “We will not stop because we care about Dayton too.”
Nancy Kiehl, secretary of the Clergy Community Coalition, said the $2 million in levy funding would send the message to other organizations that could provide funding that Dayton is invested in a public hospital and wants to see it succeed.
Rockney Carter, a member of the coalition, said, “If one aspect or one area of the city is in trouble, than all of the city is in trouble.”
“You can’t just leave us out there to fend for ourselves,” he said. “I’m looking for a way in which we can get adequate health care for the constituents on the west side of Dayton.”
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