Weber-Morgan health board has unusually high dose of politics
The Weber-Morgan Health Department building is shown here Tuesday, June 28, 2016, in Ogden.
North Ogden Mayor Brent Taylor
Toby Mileski - Pleasant View mayor.
Morgan County Council Member Logan Wilde
Ogden City Council Member Neil Garner
James Ebert, 2016
Kerry Gibson, 2016
Weber County Commissioner Matthew Bell
Weber-Morgan’s health board is stacked with elected officials, an unprecedented standard among Wasatch Front health departments.
Some say the health board’s ongoing debate over diesel emission standards enforcement reflects a problem with too many political interests influencing the decision. They take issue with the board’s lack of public health representation.
“County boards of health are one of the few government decision-making bodies that don’t have to be, and shouldn’t be, staffed by politicians,” said Dr. Brian Moench, president of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment. “Decisions made by these boards actually do matter in protecting public health and people’s lives.”
The Weber-Morgan health board forms policies and discusses health initiatives for the two counties it serves. Seven of its 11 members are elected officials. All but one of those politicians have either spoken against or expressed skepticism about a Weber County diesel emissions testing program.
Moench has followed the board’s diesel discussions. He said politics appear to rule.
“It is inexplicable that any county’s (health) board would be comprised of people who have no expertise in health,” he said. “Those members who are dragging their feet on approving diesel emissions testing should step down from the board, because they have demonstrated that they are unwilling to take cost-effective, common-sense, fact-proven measures to protect people’s lives.”
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The board membership
Weber-Morgan Health Department’s bylaws were first established in 1999. They specify that all three Weber County commissioners and one Morgan County council member have board seats.
The bylaws also say one member must be recommended by Ogden city. Two must be elected officials recommended by the Weber Area Council of Governments, according to the department’s original inter-local agreement. One must be recommended by the Weber County Medical Society. The only criteria for the remaining three members is that they reside in the counties.
Moench called the board membership bylaws “absurd.”
• RELATED: Letter–Why are diesel testing opponents even on the Board of Health?
“To my reading of that statue, only one person of the entire 11 members has to have any health expertise,” he said. “And even that one only has to be ‘recommended’ by the Weber County Medical Society. No health expertise is actually ‘required.'”
Ogden City Council member Neil Garner is the only elected official on the board who unequivocally supports diesel testing. He’s also the only elected official with a background in health. He currently works as an administrator for Intermountain Healthcare.
For a diesel emissions program to go into effect for 2017, a majority of the health board would need to vote in favor by October.
What the state statute says
Utah state code governs local health departments and health boards. It gives counties a lot of freedom in whom they can appoint as board members, but it specifies membership must be “nonpartisan.”
What makes a board nonpartisan, however, is unclear. Ballotpedia says it means “not supporting one political party or group over another.”
Chris Crockett of the Weber County Attorney’s Office called it a “gray area” for the health board, since there’s no Utah case law giving it a more concrete definition.
“What I’d make sure is that … there would be no affiliation to a political party or group,” Crocket said, who also serves as the legal representative for the board.
An argument could be made that the Weber-Morgan board’s membership does make it partisan, though, since most of the members represent a specific “group” — political interests — if not a political party, Crockett said. But he doesn’t personally think the board’s membership violates the spirit of state law.
“My biggest concern is making sure … there’s a balanced voice so the decisions that come from the board are objective,” he said. “Morgan (County) has a say, and the municipalities have a say, in the composition of the board.”
There’s no single perfect model for health board membership, said Cameron Mitchell, executive director of the Utah Association of Local Health Departments and Boards of Health. But no other health boards in the state have as many politicians as the Weber-Morgan board, he added.
“It’s a little unique,” he said. “Right or wrong? I don’t know if there’s an answer to that.”
Health board membership in other counties
Many counties along the Wasatch Front have bylaws requiring a certain number of physicians, school supervisors and business owners to hold health board seats. The Davis County, Utah County and Salt Lake County health departments each have only two elected officials on their board — one county representative and one mayor.
“We try to be as balanced as we can,” said Davis County Commissioner and health board member Jim Smith. “We try to get away from politics and more into public health. It really doesn’t matter which party you’ve aligned yourself with. We’re talking about public health for everyone in Davis County.”
Smith said he felt it was unnecessary to have more than one commissioner on the Davis County health board.
“In some ways, it makes it a challenge when you have all three of us in the same room at the same time. And probably two of us is redundant,” he said.
Mitchell said there are some benefits to a health board like Weber-Morgan’s, with its whopping majority of elected officials.
“If they go a direction the general public doesn’t want them to go, the public can vote them out,” he said.
But there are disadvantages, too.
“There’s a reason they ran for the office they ran for,” Mitchell said. “So if they have an agenda, a personal agenda or something of that nature, they’re in a position to be able to use that.”
Health director’s perspective
While the diesel emissions enforcement issue is contentious, Weber-Morgan Health Department Executive Director Brian Bennion (who is not a member of the board), said the health department’s leadership is effective.
“Yeah, we have all three county commissioners on there, but they’re also the ones who have final say over the budget,” he said. “To me, that’s helpful so they can hear firsthand what the public health concerns are … you’re always trying to balance resources with the programs you’re trying to do.”
Diesel testing aside, the board has passed several measures to improve public health in the area. Proactive e-cigarette regulations are an example. They threw their support behind an updated community health assessment, too. They’ve shown support for other initiatives that crack down on the Wasatch Front’s air pollution as well.
While stalling on diesel emissions has created some upset in the community, Bennion said it’s important for board members to deliberate over policy issues.
“There are two sides to a lot of arguments. (A decision) needs to be representative of what the community is thinking,” he said. “At the end of the day, I think everyone on the board cares about public health and wants to do the best thing for the community.”
Contact Reporter Leia Larsen at 801-625-4289 or llarsen@standard.net. Follow her on Facebook.com/leiaoutside or on Twitter @LeiaLarsen.