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A county resident wants to shake up the Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital board ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
Robert Bernosky, active in the state and county Republican Party, announced his plan to recall the seat on the San Benito Health Care District Board of Directors held by Josie Sanchez. The district governs Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital.
He revealed his intention during a community meeting about the state of the hospital hosted by San Benito County resident Roxy Montana. Her group: We, The People, meets three times a month.
Bernosky said that while he enjoys attending the meetings, he wants to take action.
“I’m very passionate about saving the hospital and the only way I know how to get my nose underneath the tent is to run for the hospital board,” he said.
Three health care district board seats are up for election in November: District 1, held by Jeri Hernandez; District 3, held by Bill Johnson and District 5, held by Rick Shelton, but not District 4, where Bernosky resides—hence the recall. District 4 covers Ridgemark, Tres Pinos and south county.
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Board Director Josie Sanchez during the San Benito Health Care District Jan. 25, 2024 meeting. Photo by Monserrat Solis.Sanchez was first elected to the board in 2014. She is serving a four-year term that expires in December 2026.
BenitoLink contacted Sanchez on April 11, but she could not be reached.
According to the San Benito County Registrar of Voters website, the first step to begin a recall is to serve, file and publish or post a notice of intention to circulate a recall petition to the registrar’s. The notice itself should include a statement under 200 words regarding the reasons for the recall and a minimum of 30 valid signatures from registered voters.
For the recall to make the Nov. 5 ballot, all requirements must be met within July 3 and Aug. 9, Chief Deputy Clerk-Recorder-Elections Ana De Castro said.
Bernosky told a We, The People gathering he had already begun gathering signatures.
De Castro said a notice of intent has not been formally submitted to her office as of April 11.
Bernosky told BenitoLink on April 12 he would be filing the petition with the county’s election office on April 17.
“I’m going for a regime change,” Bernosky said. “Whatever that regime change is.”
He cites the hospital board’s meeting structure and lack of transparency as a reason to recall and run for the District 4 seat.
“There has been a huge vacuum of information coming from the hospital,” Bernosky said. “I’ve never seen anything like it where you have a public agency and all of the business is conducted in closed session and even in closed session they do things that just aren’t kosher like not announcing after closed session what happens.”
“How long are we going to sit here and just chat and not make any progress,” Bernosky the We, The People attendees. “I can’t sit here anymore.”
This is not Bernosky’s first election effort.
A former Hollister School District Trustee, he most recently ran for secretary of state in the November 2022 election and lost to Democrat Shirley Weber. Before that, he ran for District 30 State Assembly in November 2012 and lost to Democrat Luis Alejo.
Bernosky currently works as the chief financial officer for Skyline Advanced Technology Services, which provides technology, education and professional services, according to his LinkedIn profile.
“I have great hopes for Hazel Hawkins Hospital,” he said. “I have great hopes for this county.”
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