LINCOLN COUNTY – A local group is raising concerns after a broker contracted to facilitate a sale of a Lincoln County-owned nursing home discussed details of the potential sale during a public meeting in another county.
People for Lincoln County UA, a new unincorporated association formed by county residents aiming to promote “responsible and responsive” governance, said it has been following the ongoing Pine Crest Nursing Home saga for the past two years, during which time a sale of the Merrill facility has fallen through and the process to sell the nursing home has been restarted.
In a Thursday, April 10 letter to Lincoln County Clerk Christopher J. Marlowe, Lincoln County Board of Supervisors Chair Jesse Boyd and Lincoln County Corporation Counsel Karry Johnson, People for Lincoln County said that after conferring with legal counsel, it believes the Lincoln County board has violated state open meetings statutes, as well as public records laws and ethical codes.
The organization pointed to several closed sessions conducted by the Lincoln County Administrative and Legislative (A&L) Committee that focused on the sale of Pine Crest. Through “informal and formal avenues,” People for Lincoln County said it has unsuccessfully sought information about what was discussed during the closed sessions.
The group said it believes the public has been “deliberately kept in the dark” on these topics by the A&L Committee.
“Everyone allowed to attend the closed sessions has done so knowing that they are not to discuss what is said,” the letter stated. “After all the secrecy surrounding the sale of Pine Crest, however, it appears that the A&L Committee is not requiring everyone to honor this secrecy.”
The letter referenced a Thursday, March 27 meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee of the Portage County Board. During the meeting, Ray Giannini of the firm Marcus & Millichap, which coordinated last year’s failed Pine Crest sale and is again working with Lincoln County, discussed details of the ongoing Pine Crest sale – details People for Lincoln County said it has been seeking.
A video recording of the meeting is available on the Portage County website. People for Lincoln County shared the recording with the Tomahawk Leader and the Merrill Foto News, as well as Lincoln County officials.
Giannini attended the meeting to offer the services of Marcus & Millichap as a potential broker to help Portage County sell its county-owned Health Care Center. In answering questions from the committee, Giannini referenced Lincoln County’s potential sale of its facility several times.
Giannini told the committee that Lincoln County had been initially approached by five interested parties. Lincoln County board members toured facilities operated by three potential buyers, and as of late March, the county was “seriously deliberating between two of the buyers,” according to Giannini.
Giannini said the offers proposed to Lincoln County fell between $9 million and $11 million, and the fee he would charge for a Pine Crest transaction would be 3% of the sale price.
He also told the Portage County committee that a decision regarding the Lincoln County facility would be made on Wednesday, April 2. On that date, the A&L Committee voted to authorize Lincoln County Administrative Coordinator Renee Krueger to “sign a letter of intent with the perspective (sic) purchaser identified as the most favorable,” according to meeting minutes.
People for Lincoln County voiced its concerns about county board members’ visits to potential buyers’ facilities.
“Given the intransigence of the board to provide relevant information, we naturally, although regrettably, must wonder if these field trips have further violated the above referenced statutes,” the group stated in the letter.
The group said the video of the Portage County meeting “clearly demonstrates the A&L Committee has broken faith with the community, and we demand that their authority to handle these negotiations be taken from them and given to a more trustworthy committee.”
The letter said the public discussion of Pine Crest-related matters in another county “demonstrates that the law allowing legislative bodies to convene closed sessions no longer applies to this situation, if it ever did.”
“We also believe that in light of the public disclosure of this information that all communications considered by the A&L Committee in closed session and all minutes from those closed sessions are now public records and subject to disclosure,” the letter stated.
The letter said it would allow two weeks for a public response from the county, after which, the group would “explore other remedies.”
People for Lincoln County members speak out
In a release from People for Lincoln County, two members of the group spoke out about the ongoing Pine Crest saga.
Renea Frederick said the organization’s requests for the Lincoln County board to provide “the most basic information about the sale of Pine Crest” have gone unanswered “time and time again.”
“It’s a slap in the face to learn that the realtor, who’s out there peddling our nursing home, is sharing information two counties away – information that our supervisors won’t even share with the people who have paid taxes to support Pine Crest for decades,” Frederick stated. “That’s not right.”
Eileen Guthrie said the group’s “immediate concerns are with the open meetings violations, but also the impact these violations may have had on the proposed sale of Pine Crest Nursing Home.”
“If rules cannot be adhered to for the process, how can we trust this board to properly handle and negotiate the sale of a five-star skilled nursing home facility? We believe that Lincoln County needs to pause, if not stop, the sale of Pine Crest until a complete review of the process is done,” Guthrie stated.
Lincoln County officials respond
The Tomahawk Leader reached out to Marlowe, Boyd, Johnson and Giannini for comment.
Marlowe said he has been contacted by People for Lincoln County requesting information related to the ongoing Pine Crest sale process.
The specific documents the organization is seeking, Marlowe explained, contain “detailed financial information that could give an advantage to competitors or bidders of the sale,” which is why they are not “deemed public.”
The Lincoln County Clerk’s Office does not have the requested documents, according to Marlowe.
“I fully understand (People for Lincoln County’s) frustration and am frustrated myself,” Marlowe stated. “I would also like to be privy to this information.”
Marlowe explained that because he is not a voting member of the county board and does not act as the board’s parliamentarian, he is not invited into closed sessions.
“Minutes are not taken during closed sessions, nor are there ever any actions taken during closed sessions,” Marlowe stated. “If, during a closed session, it is deemed that action must be taken, the action will take place immediately upon reconvening the regular meeting.”
Marlowe said the visits by county board members to facilities owned by potential buyers were not formal visits ordered by the board. No quorums of county committees were present, and no per diems were requested, according to Marlowe.
“Our supervisors are not taking this lightly, and, in many ways, (are) going above and beyond their normal scope of duty,” he stated.
In reference to Pine Crest sale information being revealed in Portage County last month, Marlowe said what Giannini “does in meetings outside (Lincoln County’s) borders should be taken up with him.”
“Mr. Giannini is the industry leader in Wisconsin in regards to the sale of public nursing homes,” Marlowe stated. “We have the utmost confidence in his proven abilities.”
Marlowe said People for Lincoln County has deemed him as “opposition” and is accusing him of withholding information, which, he said, is “very unpleasant, to say the least.”
“These are people in my community who have been mentors, neighbors and/or friends of mine; people I highly respect, regardless of the current climate,” Marlowe stated.
Marlowe said he takes People for Lincoln County’s assertion that the county is deliberately keeping the public in the dark regarding Pine Crest “very personally,” adding that he has “a lot to lose” from the claim.
“(Lincoln County is), indeed, ultra transparent,” Marlowe stated. “Our meetings are properly noticed. Our packet information, minutes and video recordings are readily available and all on the county website.”
Not all Wisconsin counties record meetings or offer virtual attendance options like Lincoln County does, Marlowe noted.
Regarding a potential sale of Pine Crest, Marlowe said the winning bidder “may not necessarily be the highest bidder, but we do want to get as much value out of the sale that we can from the bidder we are most confident in.”
“That bidder will have a proven track record of success in the skilled nursing home industry and will be sincere in their intent to provide this much-needed service to our community for many, many years to come,” Marlowe stated.
Marlowe said he has “nothing to gain” by debating whether or not Lincoln County should maintain ownership of Pine Crest regardless of cost to taxpayers, but noted that he “firmly (believes) we do have to help our most vulnerable citizens, which definitely includes our elders.”
“Does that mean (Lincoln County has) to own, maintain and operate a skilled nursing home? There is a large majority of Wisconsin counties that do not own and operate such homes, most of which have an increasing population, are showing a higher rate of net new construction and have a larger tax base,” Marlowe stated. “These are all things that help governments fund the services they provide. There is not a nice way to put this, but we are struggling to make ends meet due to these factors. We are not currently keeping up with our road and building maintenance. We have a mental health health crisis that needs more attention. And, among other things, we would like to offer a competitive wage so we can retain our employees. It is expensive and time-consuming to train employees, only to lose them to neighboring counties or to private industry.”
Boyd told the Tomahawk Leader that the board believes there have been no open meeting statute violations, and negotiations regarding Pine Crest will continue.
Johnson and Giannini did not respond to their respective requests for comment as of press time on Monday, April 28.
Upcoming meetings
The next meeting of the A&L Committee is scheduled for Wednesday, May 7 at 4:30 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Lincoln County Service Center in Merrill. A virtual attendance option is expected to be available. The meeting’s agenda had not been released as of press time on Monday, April 28.
The Lincoln County Board of Supervisors is slated to meet at the Lincoln County Service Center on Tuesday, May 20 at 6 p.m.
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