Mental Health Board OKs Contract With No Increase
After a brief discussion and a recent closed-door executive session, the Geauga County Board of Mental Health and Recovery Services voted to approve a five-year…
After a brief discussion and a recent closed-door executive session, the Geauga County Board of Mental Health and Recovery Services voted to approve a five-year contract for Executive Director Jim Adams, which will continue to pay him about $111,000 per year.
Adams said the contract contains no increase in pay. He said he has made the same amount for the past seven years. He further said the budget his department submitted to the county for the next fiscal year does not include salary increases for him or his department.
When asked about a contract clause that stipulates Adams and the board must give each other 12 months notice if one or the other decides he should be replaced, Adams said the clause was added by the prosecutor’s office to protect the board, should he decide to leave.
Prior to the June 17 meeting, board member Jeff Kline said he thought the new contract included a salary increase of more than 10 percent. He had urged the Geauga County Commissioners to attend the meeting stating, “The board is corrupt.”
Following the vote to approve Adams’ salary, Kline apologized to the board for his statement.
“When I criticized the board, I included myself,” he added. “The board is being corrupt if we do not do our due diligence.”
Commissioner Walter “Skip” Claypool did attend the meeting.
Both Kline and Claypool asked the board whether or not requested public records had been turned over to Tim Reed, an attorney hired by the county commissioners.
Board members declined to answer and instead suspended the public meeting for an executive session, citing pending litigation.
“I’m not sure the closed-door session is legal unless they are planning legal action against the commissioners,” Claypool commented. “They have to comply with the public records request.”
Member Daniel Schwed said there are no plans to bring legal action against the commissioners.
“Because their attorney, Tim Reed, requested certain records, we considered this a legal action on their part and because of this, we were advised to not discuss it in public session,” board President Linda Miller said.
