What About A Non-Profit's Corporate Bylaws Is "Confidential"?

I was very busy last week, and have been sort of sitting on this N&O article . . . which wallows in the NC gubernatorial candidates promises for "open government". I've been mulling it over . . . even seething at times . . . over the blatant hypocrisy it exemplifies.

You see, I am still wrestling with the notion of suing the state of North Carolina . . . because "open government" and accountability in this state is a fricking JOKE. "Non-profits" in this state have a free pass.

The law is not the law in that it does not apply equally to everybody.

After all, the "right people" are the "right people". They must be protected.

Bev Perdue knows all about it. It happened on her watch. She got the memo. She never answered.

Pat McCrory hails from Charlotte, the birthplace of "disproportionate share". Millions, if not billions, of Medicaid dollars were misappropriated and/or wasted. Nobody went to jail. And CMC (the Carolinas Medical Center) literally bathed in the money - only a fraction of which was repaid.

Hospital executives, you see, are like the big dawgs on Wall Street (or Mitch Johnson in Greensboro) . . . they can do no wrong and their tails are covered/bailed out . . . even when they commit felonies.

In the interest of full disclosure, in choosing between lesser evils, I voted for McCrory. I like what he says about ethics:

McCrory also wants lawmakers to make it a crime to lie to a State Bureau of Investigation agent and allow some prosecutors to empanel grand juries to investigate ethics and conflict of interest problems.

Of course, what McCrory says before the election - and does afterwards if he wins - could be two entirely different things. You don't run a city like Charlotte without being really good at the "good-ole-boy" game.

Speaking of the game - and the way it's been played in Raleigh for years and years and years and years, Bev Perdue hails from the political party that treated this "healthcare hero" like scum. She's just another version of Hunt/Easley - albeit in a dress.

Corruption does not differentiate between the political species. Donkeys and elephants are both quite capable of standing in crap up to their ankles.

On the subject of open government and accountability, a while back, I made a request for some documents from our local "non-profit" hospital that most "ordinary" people would consider quite reasonable. I asked for Randolph Hospital's last three IRS 990 tax returns (you know, the returns that contained fiscal information Randolph Hospital executives deemed "highly confidential" back in the lawsuit days) . . . as well as Randolph Hospital's corporate by-laws.

As you might imagine, after all the hell I've raised about the legalities of the stunts Bob & company pulled during litigation, these days I get the 990's fairly quickly (I've not been home in a couple of weeks - and I don't have the last fiscal year - but I'm sure they'll be dropped in the mail as soon as they are available;).

But, unless the corporate bylaws are sitting in a pile of mail at home (and I probably would've gotten a phone call if they were), I've yet to get a copy. And I just don't follow the logic in withholding something like that AT ALL. The hospital is a "non-profit". Taxpayer dollars shore the place up (without public discussion or a vote).

I just don't understand what the problem . . . or the big secret . . . is.

What does Randolph Hospital have to hide?

Unless, of course, Mr. Morrison and Mr. Eblin have done something (I should say something else) to violate hospital bylaws . . . something unethical . . . something that would justify terminating their employment and showing them the door without benefit of parachute . . .

. . . like say, throwing the hospital's support behind an alcohol referendum . . .

. . . or backing/endorsing a particular political candidate?

One hand greasing the other . . . a wink and a nod . . . it's just politics.

It's okay. Discovery is a wonderful thing.