Retired construction and labor relations executive joins hospital citizens group

A third-generation La Mesa resident who holds the record for longest continuous service as a volunteer member of any of the City of La Mesa’s boards or commissions has joined a volunteer citizens group overseeing construction at Grossmont Hospital. Dexter Levy, a retired construction and labor relations executive, has joined the Independent Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee (ICBOC) as the group’s designated member with large-scale construction experience. Other ICBOC members have experience in finance or healthcare or represent various constituent groups, including labor or the hospital.

Levy was appointed to the ICBOC by the Grossmont Healthcare District (GHD), a taxpayer-supported public agency that serves as landlord of Grossmont Hospital. GHD is overseeing a number of construction improvements at the hospital. The construction is being paid for by proceeds from a $247 million bond measure that East County voters approved in 2006. The ICBOC group is charged with monitoring GHD’s spending of the bond-related expenditures. Bond revenues are expected to fund capital infrastructure improvements at the La Mesa hospital through 2016.

Levy has served on the La Mesa Building Code Review Committee since 1980, including as chairman since 1989. He also has served on the La Mesa Planning Commission since 2009, and is the current chairman following his reappointment earlier this year.

In 1958, Levy began a career in the plumbing industry, which included working as a supervisor on many hospital and healthcare facilities in San Diego County. He served as business agent of the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 230 starting in 1977, and then served as the labor union’s business manager from 1980 to 1986, and oversaw the opening of the Union Pipe Trades Training Center in San Diego. From 1989 to 2000, he worked at General Dynamics’ Convair Division as a labor relations specialist and human resources supervisor.

Dexter and wife Fran have been married for 44 years, and have one son, Court, who is an actuary residing in Atlanta.