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 GC-MHRS to Mark Overdose Awareness Day by Educating the Public at the Great Geauga County Fair

Geauga County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board (GC-MHRS) - July 17, 2024 

Meeting Details: GC-MHRS Board held its regular monthly meeting on July 17, 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 Carolee Lesyk, Reba Dykes, Kathy Johnson, Patricia Varanese, Douglas Lundblad, and Mary Ruth Shumway. 

Board Members Absent: None (see Reviewer note below regarding vacancies.)

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; Tia Lawrence, Executive

Director, Torchlight; Kristine Frankenberry, Executive Director, NAMI Geauga; Mary Wynne-Peaspanen, Signature Health; Michelle Bertman, Catholic Charities; Melanie Blasko, Lake Geauga Recovery Center, and Vicki Clark, President and CEO, Ravenwood.

Guests: 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. 

Minutes from the June 26, 2024 meeting were approved. Minutes are posted on the Board’s webpage here. 

Chairman’s Report:  Dr. Oluic opened by stating that he was “shocked” about the events of the previous weekend. Observer Note: Dr. Oluic was referring to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally on July 13, 2024. 

Dr. Oluic said that the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) “slashed” the size of the GC-MHRS Board from 14 members down to 9. Observer Note: This decision was made at the July 9, 2024 BOCC meeting. He said that he found this surprising and noted that GC-MHRS had recommended a smaller reduction from 14 to 12 Board members.  Observer Note: This recommendation was made at the June 26, 2024 GC-MHRS Board meeting, which BOCC representative County Administrator Gerry Morgan attended. Dr. Oluic stated that this reduction in Board size will create more work for fewer people. He added that he and Ms. Lakomiak are discussing the possibility of both reducing the number of committees from 4 to 2 and moving some of the committee work to take place during Board meetings. Observer Note: Ms. Lakomiak later clarified that there are actually 6 current GC-MHRS committees. Please read the Executive Director’s Report section below for more details.    

Ms. Dykes and Ms. Johnson both attended the BOCC meeting where the Board size reduction was made. Ms. Dykes said that County Commissioner Ralph Spidalieri indicated that he thought that it would be better for the GC-MHRS Board to have an odd number of members. Ms. Johnson said that County Commissioner James Dvorak seemed to prefer reducing the number of Board members to 12, but he agreed to the reduction to 9 “in the interest of cooperation.” Ms. Johnson also stated that she felt that the BOCC “... were thoughtful about the discussion” regarding the decision. It was noted that, of the 9 Board positions, 3 would be appointed by the State and 6 would be appointed by the County. Ms. Johnson pointed out that the reduction to 9 Board members actually won’t occur for two years because no Board members’ terms are up until then. She noted that the BOCC can evaluate the number of GC-MHRS Board members and possibly increase the Board size after 4 years if they find that the reduction to 9 members hasn’t worked out well.   

Executive Director’s Report: Ms. Lakomiak expressed her appreciation for the great presenters at the Board’s last meeting. She shared that the speakers had reached out afterwards to say that they were grateful and proud to have had the opportunity to come before the Board to share information. There was consensus among the Board that everyone enjoyed the speakers. Ms. Chokshi suggested having similar presentations at Board meetings every so often in the future, and this idea was met with enthusiasm from the other Board members.

Ms. Lakomiak shared that Overdose Awareness Day is coming up on August 31. She said that they wrote a grant (grant source not specified) for $14,000 that can be used for community events to mark this day and they will find out soon how much funding GC-MHRS will receive. She indicated that all Boards that apply will get the $14,000, but there may be an extra $5,000 added on to this amount. Ms. Lakomiak said that the theme for Overdose Awareness Day this year is “Together We Can,” and she stated that “no one should stand alone in our fight to end overdose.” She said that the grant application specified using the funds to have a table at the Great Geauga County Fair to provide overdose awareness information as well as other mental health resource materials; she also noted that the grant funds could be used to purchase additional items necessary for the display at the fair, such as tables, lighting, and microphones.  

Ms. Lakomiak told the Board that the Rockin’ with Resources event was coming up on July 25 from 4:00-7:00 pm on the Chardon Square, and she said that this event was to celebrate the graduates of the New Leaf Drug Court Program. She said that all Board members were invited to attend the graduation ceremony that will begin at 4:00. She noted that there were five graduates this year and provided their first names: Victoria, William, Ronald, Rebecca, and Katrina. Ms. Lakomiak said that GC-MHRS would have a table at Rockin’ with Resources with materials about overdose awareness.  

The Executive Director mentioned that the Journey to Hope remembrance event will be August 8 5:00-7:00 pm on Chardon Square and will include a butterfly release and picnic. This event is a time to  honor and remember lost loved ones and provide support for those experiencing bereavement. 

Ms. Lakomiak said the GC-MHRS has received $55,000 in Bipartisan Safer Community Act funding. She noted that this “exciting” development will fund behavioral health system preparedness, including preparing for emergency responses to help offset the trauma associated with events such as natural disasters and large-scale violent incidents. She said this will help Geauga County to get ready in case something like this does happen, and she added that GC-MHRS will be working together with the Sheriff’s Office on this project on matters including coordinating the different crisis teams.

The Executive Director described the “wonderful experience” she had attending a recent Torchlight Mentoring Board meeting. She got to meet the volunteer Board members and thanked them for their service. She was pleased to be invited to come back to engage with the Torchlight Board twice a year going forward. Torchlight Executive Director Tia Lawrence was present, and she stated that the Torchlight Board was very appreciative that Ms. Lakomiak came to their meeting.   

Ms. Lakomiak shared that she was the keynote speaker at the Geauga Township Association (GTA) meeting on July 10. She focused on what the GC-MHRS Board does in her talk so that attendees would gain a better understanding of the Board’s important work. Ms. Lakomiak said that she was told that she will be invited back and that she will present information on specific programs and agencies when that occurs. She added that she has joined GTA and will be attending future meetings.   

Ms. Lakomiak again brought up the BOCC’s decision to reduce the GC-MHRS Board size to 9 members. She emphasized that the size reduction from 10 to 9 will not occur until 2026 when the next term expires. 

Reviewer Note:  The Board size of 9 will not be reached until 2026 unless there is an earlier vacancy.  It should be noted that the mandated Board size until June 29 was 14, with 12 serving.   As of July 1, there were 4 vacancies.  Two of these occurred as of June 30, 2024, when the State appointed terms for Ann Bagley and Martin Fay ended.  In the spring Mr. O’Brien (Commissioner appointed) had resigned.   As of June 30, 2026, five members’ terms will end.  At that point, if there are four appointments, then the Board size will be 9, which is the size now mandated by the BOCC.

Ms. Lakomiak said she has researched other MHRS Boards and has found some others that have only 2 committees; these may serve as examples for the committee changes that will be made. Ms. Lakomiak said that currently there are 6 Board committees, not 4 as was stated earlier. These committees are: training and policy, agency relations, finance, capital and housing, records commission, and executive. She also noted that ad hoc committees can still be formed as needed. She noted that the Board size reduction will require some changes to the bylaws regarding the number of members and what constitutes a quorum.    

Committee Reports

• Agency Relations Committee: Ms. Johnson said that the committee did not meet. 

• Finance Committee: Mr. Petruziello said that the committee did not meet.

• Planning and Policies Committee: Ms. Chokshi said that the committee did not meet.

• Capital Planning Committee: Ms. Dykes reported that the TLC (Transitional Living Center) expansion committee met earlier that day. They went over construction/architectural drawing designs and discussed the bidding timeline, which was set as follows:

  • 7/26: Trade (e.g., electrical, plumbing) drawings due. These will be electronically uploaded so contractors can have access to them.

  • 7/30, 8/6, 8/13: Public bid advertisements will run in the Maple Leaf, the News Herald, and the Builders Exchange.

  • 8/8: Pre-bid meeting at 2:00 pm at the GC-MHRS Board Office for contractors to ask questions and get more information.

  • 8/21: Bid opening at 2:00 pm at the GC-MHRS Board Office. This will be open to the public.

Ms. Dykes said that the Homeless Subcommittee of the Geauga County Housing Coalition held its first meeting earlier that day. Ms. Dykes said that they are just getting started with structuring the subcommittee and that she and Sam Jackson of Ravenwoord were elected as the subcommittee co-chairs. 

Mr. Petruziello asked how many homeless individuals there are in Geauga County. There was a discussion about how difficult it is to get an accurate count of the homeless population in a rural area like Geauga, particularly because the mandated HUD point-in-time homeless count is conducted in January when homeless individuals often “double up” or find temporary arrangements to sleep indoors. Ms. Dykes said there has been some consideration of another homeless count being done in the summer using service providers and also looking for homeless individuals who may be staying in the park district at that time. Ultimately, no precise figure was provided for the number of homeless individuals in Geauga County, but it was noted that all four Geauga homeless shelters are full. Ms. Shumway pointed out that the overwhelming majority of individuals experiencing homelessness in the County also have mental health concerns.

Board Review and Action Items

• Acknowledgment of Reduction in Board Size by Geauga County Commissioners 

  • Dr. Oluic noted that this was “quite a reduction” and that the Commissioners approved it unanimously.

  • Since this was an acknowledgement only, no vote was taken.

• Resolution 24-07-1 Criminal Justice and Behavioral Health Linkages Grant Allocation for SFY2025

  • This Resolution allocates $83,333.00 of funding received by GC-MHRS from the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services to Ravenwood Health for the provision of additional mental health and substance use services to inmates housed at the Geauga Safety Center.

  • Ms. Shumway mentioned that she had spoken to staff at the Geauga County Jail and they felt that the jail was an inappropriate placement for some people who instead would be a better fit for a mental health locked unit for safety reasons. She said that there was interest in adding such a unit onto the other side of the jail bay for the seriously mentally ill. Ms. Shumway asked about how many inmates are mentally ill and would utilize mental health services and if it would be possible to work on a grant to fund a mental health locked unit at the jail. Dr. Oluic said that the Resolution under consideration was the focus for now, but he did note that the Sheriff has said that about 1/3 of inmates are mentally ill. Ms. Lakomiak added that mental health and substance use services are offered to all inmates.

  • The motion passed unanimously.

• Resolution 24-07-2 Mobile Crisis and Crisis Response Funding Allocation

  • This Resolution allocates $50,000.00 of funding received by GC-MHRS from the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services to Ravenwood Health for costs related to expanding and enhancing crisis, mobile crisis, and crisis support services to Geauga County residents.

  • The motion passed unanimously.

• Resolution 24-07-3 Access to Wellness Funding

  • This Resolution allocates $30,000.00 of funding received by GC-MHRS from the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services to costs related to expanding and enhancing recovery and gap support services to Geauga County adult residents involved in multiple systems who meet the state standards, and who could benefit from such services, as determined by the Multisystem Adult Wellness Council.

  • Ms. Lakomiak noted that these are flexible funds that can be used to provide services and recovery support to qualifying persons with mental health concerns, including items like clothing, identification cards, and housing and transportation help for a limited time. She noted that this funding goes back to the State if it goes unused by the County and historically Geauga does not use the full $30,000 amount.

  • The motion passed unanimously.

• Resolution 24-07-4 Specialized Docket Allocation to Geauga County Court of Common Pleas

  • This Resolution allocates $75,000.00 of funding received by GC-MHRS from the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services to the Geauga County Court of Common Pleas for the purpose of operating the Geauga County Drug Court.

  • Ms. Lakomiak said that not every county has a drug court and that Geauga was “extremely lucky” to have Judge Carolyn Paschke and the New Leaf program. She noted that $75,000 does not cover the full cost of the drug court and so it must provide much of its own funding. 

  • The motion passed unanimously.

• Resolution 24-07-5 OACBHA Week of Appreciation Mini-Grant 2024

  • This Resolution allocates a $1,500.00 grant received by GC-MHRS from the Ohio Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities (OACBHA) to support and show appreciation to those who work directly with individuals living with addiction and/or mental illness, including first responders and anyone who may experience burnout or secondary trauma as a result of their work with individuals with addiction or mental illness, during the 2024 Week of Appreciation which will take place September 15, 2024 to September 21, 2024.

  • Ms. Lakomiak said that GC-MHRS belongs to OACBHA. She added that she only received notification about this mini-grant award just before this meeting began, which is why the Resolution was not a part of the Board packet provided ahead of time over email. Observer Note: Paper copies of this Resolution were available at the meeting. 

  • The motion passed unanimously.

• Financial Reports - Mr. Mausser gave this report:

  • In the State calendar year (7/1/23-6/30/24), the Board has expended 94.0 % of the office budget through June.

  • In the County calendar year (1/2/24-12/31/24) Budget Performance Report, the Board has expended just over $3.41 million through June.

  • The Auditor’s Fund Balance:  The June Unencumbered Balance is just over $2.53 million.

    • Dr. Oluic asked if the unencumbered balance includes funding for the Transitional Living Center (TLC). Mr. Mausser said it does not, as the TLC is covered by a reserve fund. 

    • Ms. Chokshi asked if the Auditor will raise questions about the unencumbered balance being $2.53 million. Mr. Mausser said that the Budget Commission was “fine” with the GC-MHRS unencumbered balance at their last budget hearing.

  • Voucher recap for June: $385,388.05

Old Business: None 

New Business: Mr. Petruziello spoke about a petition to make the Geauga County Budget Commission a five member Board. The petition seeks to add two members to the Budget Commission who would be elected by Geauga voters. He said that he had a copy of the petition available if any Geauga residents present would like to sign it. Dr. Oluic questioned the appropriateness of bringing this matter up before the GC-MHRS Board. Mr. Petruziello countered that it was appropriate to him because “I’ve been in front of that Board several times, and sometimes it’s like talking to a wall.” Observer Note: Currently, the Budget Commission is a 3-member board made up of the County Auditor, County Prosecutor, and County Treasurer. The process by which two additional members could be added to the Budget Commission is laid out in Ohio Revised Code Section 5705.27.

Public Comments:

• Ms. Frankenberry said that the NAMI walk will be on September 14 in collaboration with Greater Cleveland NAMI. It will be at Edgewater Park in Cleveland.

• Ms. Lawrence said that Torchlight will be having a cornhole tournament fundraiser on July 27..

• Ms. Blasko said that Lake Geauga Recovery Center will have a community appreciation event on September 11 from 11:00 to 1:00 pm at Jordan Park in Concord. It will include lunch, a guest speaker, and awards for volunteers.

• Ms. Wynne-Peaspanen shared that Signature Health will be hosting their 14th Annual Dancing Under the Stars on August 2. She said it is like a local Dancing with the Stars event.

• Ms. Bertman said Catholic Charities will be having an open house to celebrate their 50th anniversary on September 26 from 4:00-7:00 pm.

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 6:59 pm. 

Board Minutes: Available at https://www.geauga.org/board-minutes/

Next meeting:  The next meeting will be on September 18, 2024 at 6:00 pm at the Board offices located at 13244 Ravenna Rd., Chardon, OH 44024. Observer Note: There is no GC-MHRS meeting scheduled for the month of August.  The bid opening for the Transitional Living Center expansion will be open to the public on 8/21 at 2:00 pm at the GC-MHRS Board Office.

More Information: https://www.geauga.org/

Observer: Sarah McGlone

Editor: Anne Ondrey

Reviewer: Gail Roussey

Date Submitted: 07/28/2024

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