Two former Butler County commissioners on Thursday urged the current commissioners to not sell the Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.

Former Commissioner Jim Lokhaiser said commissioners Bill McCarrier and Dale Pinkerton, who support a sale, should change their stance.

“Mr. McCarrier, where’s your compassion for the people of Butler County?” Lokhaiser asked during the commissioners meeting.

Lokhaiser also asked if former Allegheny County Chief Executive Jim Roddey, who works with health care companies, is interested in buying Sunnyview.

Pinkerton, who appointed Roddey several years ago to serve on a volunteer committee to evaluate Sunnyview, said Roddey never inquired about buying the nursing home.

“All he did was help us,” Pinkerton said, referring to Roddey’s volunteer work on the committee.

Former Commissioner Joan Chew also objected to selling Sunnyview.

Chew made an emotional plea, recalling how the nursing home tended to her late husband.

She told Pinkerton and McCarrier their legacy would not be the construction of a proposed new office building.

“You will be known as the board that sold Sunnyview,” Chew said.

Commissioner Jim Eckstein, who opposes a Sunnyview sale, said the same effort that kept Butler Memorial Hospital in Butler is needed now.

“Community action is needed to stop the sale,” Eckstein said.

The commissioners authorized issuing a request for proposals from prospective buyers, which must bid at least $13.5 million for the roughly 7-acre parcel. All bids must be submitted by 5 p.m. Dec. 13.

Eckstein dissented, saying the process was moving too fast.

The commissioners also voted 2 to 1 to hire the Pittsburgh law firm of Clark Hill Thorp Reed to provide legal services for a Sunnyview sale at a rate of $295 an hour.

Eckstein again dissented, questioning why the firm recently did some work for the county before being hired.

“They’re already on the job doing it,” he said.

County solicitor Mike English explained the firm was willing to do preliminary work on a possible sale without compensation.

County officials say keeping Sunnyview is impractical due to its annual deficit.

The 200-bed nursing home is projected to have a more than $1 million deficit for 2014, but $205,000 of that total is listed as building depreciation.

Eckstein argued the county inflates the deficit to make the financial outlook more dire.

He said the $5 million County Commissioner Association of Pennsylvania grant used several years ago to renovate Sunnyview was not included in a $7 million net loss over a 10-year period.

“The public is being deceived,” Eckstein said.

McCarrier said Eckstein was using “voodoo economics” to make his case, pointing out the CCAP grant was accounted for as the money was pegged for specific uses.

According to Pinkerton, Eckstein doesn’t seem to understand county and Sunnyview finances.

“He has no solution for the county,” Pinkerton said.

McCarrier stressed the county would place conditions on a sale.

“We want to make sure our residents have the best care,” he said.

Under the request for bids, a buyer must adhere to 21 conditions, which may expand later.

The conditions include recognizing the existing union representation, prioritizing county residents for admission and retaining all current residents.

McCarrier previously said Sunnyview workers’ Oct. 15 rejection of a final contract offer seeking concessions was the last opportunity to avoid a sale.

The county wanted to reopen a four-year contract that doesn’t end until December 2014 and includes a 3 percent pay hike in each year.

The workers did not oppose a wage freeze next year and giving a higher contribution to cover a portion of their health care costs.

However, they did not want to lose some of their vacation and sick days as well as lose the option of keeping a spouse on county insurance when that spouse’s employer provides health coverage.

Sunnyview maintenance worker Terry Penrod, a spokesman for SEIU Healthcare, accused county officials of wanting a concessions rejection.

Penrod said the concessions offered by employees should have been sufficient for the county.

“We just handed you a $1 million bill and you threw it back to us,” he said.

Penrod asked if the commissioners would reduce property taxes following a Sunnyview sale, since the nursing home deficit was blamed for the 2013 tax hike.

Eckstein said his colleagues would never lower taxes.