County Commissioners Reduce GC-MHRS Board Size
*This is a Revised Report, July 12, 2024*
Geauga County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board (GC-MHRS) - June 26, 2024
Meeting Details: GC-MHRS Board held its regular monthly meeting on June 26, 2024, at 6:00 pm at the Board offices located at 13244 Ravenna Rd., Chardon, OH 44024. This meeting was in person only with no recording available. No agenda was available in advance on the website or on social media, but the agenda is available through a request to Office/Administrative Manager Teresa Slater by email at tslater@geauga.org.
Public Comment Policy: No formal policy but in practice, public comment is permitted at the end of the meeting.
Board Members Attending: Chair Steven Oluic, Vice Chair Alberta Chokshi, Secretary Jimmy Lee Holden, Treasurer Michael Petruziello, and Board Members Ann Bagley, Reba Dykes, Kathy Johnson, Patricia Varanese, and Mary Ruth Shumway.
Board Members Absent: Martin Fay, Carolee Lesyk, and Douglas Lundblad were absent.
Staff Members Attending: Executive Director Christine Lakomiak, Clinical/Compliance Manager Michelle Maneage, Finance Director Jim Mausser, and Office/Administrative Manager Teresa Slater.
Service Providers:; Charles Tong, Chief Financial Officer, Lake-Geauga Recovery; Angela Daugherty, Executive Director, Family Pride; Jodi Morton, PRS, Ravenwood Health; John Dorsey, PRS, Ravenwood; Kate Gehlfuss, Ravenwood; Mathew Petersen, OCPSA, Lake Geauga Recovery Centers; Devin Capella, OCPSA, Lake Geauga Recovery; Morgan Whitely, Family Pride of Northeast Ohio, and Vicki Clark, President and CEO, Ravenwood.
Guests: Gerry Morgan, Geauga County Administrator; Carolyn Brakey, member of the Geauga Public Health District Board and candidate for Commissioner of Geauga County; Linda Miller (prior Board member); members of the public, and this LWVG Observer.
Call to Order, Roll Call, and Pledge of Allegiance occurred as listed on the agenda. The meeting was called to order at 6:01 pm by Secretary Holden.
Minutes from the May 29, 2024, meeting were approved. Minutes are posted on the Board’s webpage here.
Chairman’s Report: Dr. Oluic announced that he didn’t have a separate report.
Executive Director’s Report: Ms. Lakomiak said that it was their Annual Meeting and they would have a lot to cover, but she wanted to start with discussing the future size of the Board since County Administrator Gerry Morgan was in attendance. Ms. Lakomiak reviewed the options for the Board in terms of Board size. She stated that the options are to stay the same, or go to an 18, 12 or 9-person Board. Final decision will be made by the Board of County Commissioners. Reviewer Note: At the County Commissioners’ meeting on July 9, 2024, the County Commissioners decided to reduce the size of the MHRS Board to 9 members. An Observer Report for this meeting will be posted at www.lwvgeauga.org once published.
Geauga County Representative - Mr. Morgan said that he was there in compliance with Ohio Revised Code rules on modifying the size of the Board of Mental Health and Recovery. He said that it was required that the County Commissioners get input from the Board before they made any decision on the size of the Board. Observer Note: County Commissioner Ralph Spidalieri had offered to attend this meeting at a Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) meeting earlier in the month. See BOCC Observer Report for June 18, 2024 and see Ohio Revised Code (ORC) 340.02 for information.
Ms. Johnson asked about the Committee structure with fewer members. She said she would be happy to work with the staff to make sure things were covered but that she guessed things would have to be done differently.
Mr. Petruziello wanted a review of the current Board, which has 14 members. He also asked about a tie- breaker vote, and Mr. Morgan said that if something was a tie, it wouldn’t go forward. Ms. Bagley wanted to know who was recommending the 12-member board. Dr. Oluic said he was recommending that the Board go to a 12-person Board. He said he thought it would be more efficient and that they would have a full board at meetings. Ms. Bagley also asked if there would be the same number of people with mental health backgrounds. Mr. Morgan said that the number of clinicians and other stated categories (lived experience, family member experience) would be the same. Ms. Lakomiak said that under the new rules, there would be a requirement for only one clinician. Observer Note: Under the current structure, there are 8 appointments from the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) and 6 from the state MHSA for a total of 14. Under a 12-person Board, there would be 8 appointed by the BOCC (⅔ of the Board) and 4 from the state MHSA (⅓ of the Board). Under the new rules, with a 14-person Board, BOCC would appoint 9 and the State would appoint 5. The current State appointees are all clinicians, of which there will be 4 after Ms. Bagley’s term expires at the end of June.
Ms. Chokshi said that if the Board changes to 12, they could go back to a larger board after four years.
Ms. Varanese wanted to know how people were recruited for the Board or notified of a vacancy, especially for the State vacancies. Ms. Lakomiak said that the information was on their website and the State had it on their website.
Observer Note: There is currently a vacancy for an appointment by the County Commissioners and one by the State MHAS. These vacancies would continue with a 12-member board. See here for the application for the County appointment and here for the State MHAS appointment. If interested you can also call the Board office at 440-285-2282 or email Teresa Slater at tslater@geauga.org or click on one of the links below to complete a county or state appointment application. Reviewer Note: Since the County Commissioners ultimately decided to reduce the size of the MHRS Board to 9 members, these MHRS Board vacancies no longer exist.
Ms. Bagley noted that any clinician who practices in Geauga would not be able to be affiliated with any provider agency that received funds through the GC-MHRS.
Ms. Bagley felt that there should be a board larger than 12. She felt there should be more representation. Mr. Holden said that the Board rarely has all members attending, and he felt it would be best to have a smaller board where everyone shows up.
Mr. Morgan suggested going around the room so everyone could voice an opinion.
Members indicated they were in favor of 12 except for Ms. Bagley, who favored 14, Ms. Chokshi, who said she had mixed feelings, and Ms. Varanese, who said she wished for more than 12 but understood the reasoning for going down to 12.
Annual Report - Ms. Lakomiak said that each Board member had received a copy of the FY 2023 Annual Report. There is also a link on the website to the Annual Report which is found here.
Ms. Lakomiak quoted her statement made in the report: “My sincere appreciation and respect for those who stand with individuals and families in times of crisis, acknowledge those in times of achievement, and also provide hope to those maintaining and thriving, trusting they can reach out to you if needed.”
Guest Speakers: Ms. Lakomiak said that because this was the Annual Meeting, they would be hearing from several guest speakers from agencies that are funded by the GC-MHRS.
Peer Recovery Ravenwood speakers Jodi Morton, PRS (Peer Recovery Specialist), and John Dorsey, PRS,
talked about the rewards of working with those in recovery. Ms. Morton said she enjoyed being able to share with people “...how to live sober.”
Prevention Specialists at Lake Geauga Recovery Centers speakers included Matthew Petersen, OCPSA, and Devin Capella, OCPSA. Mr. Petersen talked about the various kinds of prevention activities and programs they offer, such as dating abuse prevention, anger management, and life skills programs. Ms. Capella talked about gambling prevention. She said that on SuperBowl Sunday in 2018, $159 Million was spent on gambling, but that by 2023, this total had grown to $23.1 billion. She said that since sports betting was permitted, there has been a large increase of 18 to 35-year old males calling the gambling help-line.
Family Pride of Northeast Ohio Clinical Outreach Coordinator and Therapist Morgan Whitely, LPCC-S, described the method of EMDR (eye movement desensitization therapy) for which she was trained 4 years ago and has been using successfully for those with trauma, PTSD, anxiety, depression and grief. She said that the method allows individuals to reconnect logic and emotions through a series of steps that involve eye movements done during recalling past traumatic events. Observer Note: Information about this method can be found at this Cleveland Clinic site.
Committee Reports
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Agency Relations Committee: Ms. Johnson said that the Agency Relations committee did not meet
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Finance Committee: Mr. Petruziello said they did not meet.
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Planning and Policies Committee: Ms. Chokshi said that they did not meet.
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Capital Planning/Housing Committee: Ms. Dykes reported that they also did not meet. She announced that the Homeless Coalition meeting would be held July 17. No other details were announced.
Board Review and Action Items - All Approved
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Approval of Revised Public Records Policy - Ms. Chokshi stated that this was needed for clarification.
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Resolution for Shelter Plus Care Funding - This was a grant for $119,980 from Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for Ravenwood and will be used for rental assistance for those experiencing a mental health crisis.
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Resolution for Recovery Housing Allocation to Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers for 2025 - This was a $50,000 allocation for Recovery House. It was clarified that these funds can also be used for programming.
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Resolution for Allocation of 2023-2024 State Opioid and Stimulant Response Funds - These funds in the amount of $14,520 will go to Red Tulip. Ms. Lakomiak clarified that these are carryover funds and not a full-year allocation. Observer Comment: Red Tulip Project provides supportive housing for women in recovery and operates a house in Claridon Township.
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Resolution for Bipartisan Safer Community Act Funding - This $55,000 Grant from Ohio Mental Health and Addiction Services (OHMAS) is to the GC-MHRS for behavioral health to address community emergencies.
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Financial Reports. Mr. Mausser gave this report:
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In the State calendar year ( 7/1/23-6/30/24), the Board has expended 86.5 % of their office budget through May.
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In the County calendar year (1/2/24-12/31/24) Budget Performance Report, they have expended just over $3.02 million through May.
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The Auditor’s Fund Balance: May unencumbered Balance Is just over $2.37 million.
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Voucher recap for May: $456,460.89
Old Business - None although Ms. Bagley brought up an item later in the meeting (see under Public Comment portion) regarding a resolution for Mr. Brad Welch.
New Business -
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Nominating Committee Report/Proposal Slate of Officers for 2025. Ms. Varanese gave the recommendation of the Committee that the current officers be nominated again for all future roles. There were no nominations from the floor.
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The Board members unanimously elected the following: Chair Steven Oluic, Vice Chair Alberta Chokshi, Secretary Jimmy Lee Holden, and Treasurer Michael Petruziello.
Public Comments:
Mr. Tong, Lake Geauga Recovery, thanked people for supporting their Golf fundraiser.
Ms. Bagley said that she would prepare a resolution for the next Board meeting to honor Mr. Brad Welch, although she acknowledged that her Board term is expiring and she would not be at that meeting. It was reported at the last Board meeting that Mr. Welch, Family Services Coordinator for Family First, is retiring.
Ms. Bagley wanted to know if there was something that could be done to honor those who work in mental health fields for Mental Health week. Ms. Lakomiak mentioned challenges for funding such events, and Ms. Chomski noted that in the past there wasn’t a lot of enthusiasm from the public.
Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 7:45 pm.
Board Minutes: Available at https://www.geauga.org/board-minutes/
Next meeting: The next meeting will be on July 17, 2024, at 6:00 pm at the Board offices located at 13244 Ravenna Rd., Chardon, OH 44024
More Information: https://www.geauga.org/
Observer: Gail Roussey
Editor: Anne Ondrey
Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Date Submitted: 07/04/24, revised 07/12/24
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