MH Board Still Caught in Dysfunction

February 13, 2023 by Amy Patterson , by Allison Wilson

The Geauga County Board of Mental Health Planning and Policies Committee meeting Feb. 8 — intended to be a discussion of the board’s policy manual — derailed into personal attacks and arguments.

The mental health board has been working for months on selecting and interviewing candidates for the role of executive director after its firing of, and later financial settlement with, former Executive Director Jim Adams last summer. The current lack of a director was a stress point during the committee meeting.

“It’s good to refresh ourselves and do an overview on the policy manual,” board member Walter ‘Skip’ Claypool said. “We’re going to have a new director and certainly she’s going to have — he or she, whoever it is — is going to have something to say about the policies. We are the policy committee, we are an existing organization and we should be able to help that person come on board.”

Present at the meeting Feb. 8 were five of the 14 members on the mental health board, including three appointed by Geauga County Commissioners — Claypool, Jimmy Lee Holden and Kathy Johnson — and two appointed under state law requirements. Those members, Ann Bagley and Alberta Chokshi, were appointed according to Ohio Revised Code section 340.02, which requires a portion of the board to be made up of clinicians or family members of those dealing with mental health disorders.

From the beginning, the committee was split over how to conduct the policy review, with Claypool proposing starting with certain policies he found important and Johnson asking to start with bylaws previously discussed by the board.

Bagley wanted to start from the first section and work all the way through the policy manual, with which most of the board said they were not familiar.

Eventually the committee agreed on the need to develop a work from home policy, with Johnson and Chokshi emphasizing their wish to wait for directorial review.

“We’re sort of in flux because we don’t have an executive director, yet. So, maybe there should be some input from that person, too,” Chokshi said.

Claypool rejected this concept, saying the director works for the board. His concerns were focused on public perception and staffing of the office.

“The reason this came up was because the doors were locked the other day when somebody came to the mental health board,” Claypool said, adding a member of the public called him to ask why the building was closed.

Johnson said she believed the incident was caused by specific circumstances leading to a one-day closure of the office.

“If somebody comes and there’s nobody here and the taxpayers are expecting people to be here, we would have an issue,” Claypool said, adding he thinks the new director, once appointed, should have an opportunity to weigh in and put their stamp on the office.

“I’m sure Diane Grendell — I mean, whoever, that’s a joke — will have some say over things,” he said.

Grendell, former state representative for Geauga County, threw her name in as a candidate for the director’s role in December along with about 20 other applicants, including several with clinical and professional experience.

The committee went back and forth on a policy regarding the building being open, until Holden interjected.

“I’ve been sitting here listening to y’all talk, OK? And it’s very apparent to me that you three over there,” Holden said, indicating Chokshi, Johnson and Bagley, “aren’t going to agree with anything (Claypool) says.”

When Chokshi attempted to respond, Holden firmly said he had the floor.

Claypool brought up the work-from-home policy to see if a conversation was necessary so that when taxpayers show up, they get the service they want or deserve, Holden said.

“And y’all have been attacking him over here because (he said) we should wait until we have a director. No! We don’t have to wait until we have a director,” he said. “But to continue to attack this man for bringing things to the policy committee that need to be looked at is just plain wrong. And if y’all don’t stop it, I’m not going to be part of it anymore.”

Chokshi said she was not attacking Claypool, adding the meeting was an open forum where committee members could give their opinions about policies.

She added she agreed with Claypool that if the doors were locked, a discussion of policy may be necessary.

“OK, so he brought up a point here that if we are in violation of a policy, shouldn’t we just get out there and change it, put it out there before the board before we get sued,” Holden said. “And you want to wait. Why? If we’re in violation of policy, shouldn’t we fix it? That’s the problem with this board. Everybody wants to put everything on a god-damn back burner. Let’s stop doing that.”

Chokshi reiterated she did not attack Claypool, but she was not ready to jump in and say whether the incident meant the board is in violation of its policies.

“I want to read the policies again and then we start looking at it,” she said. “But I have not — I don’t attack people and I did not attack him. You may see it that way, I do not see it that way.”

“I’ve been a student of people for 40 years,” Holden responded. “And I can sit here and I can tell when people are … being condescending. You’re attacking him. Stop it. Knock it off.”

Referencing her own input, Bagley said she honestly believed she was responding to what Claypool asked for input on. Holden said input from the three is always negative.

“Well, OK, but I had a different opinion,” Bagley said, adding she does not want to pretend she has the same opinion as Claypool.

“We have agreement on the fact that we’re having a conversation about the work-from-home policy and we can determine how to approach that at our next meeting and what our thoughts are and that,” Claypool said, adding he agreed with Holden’s thoughts that the board does not have to wait for a new director before making changes.

“We have a responsibility to the public today,” he said. “And we haven’t been fulfilling that responsibility.”

On Feb. 14 county commissioners accepted the resignation of mental health board member Jennifer Malainy, who was not present at the committee meeting. No reason was given for the resignation.

Malainy’s, Claypool’s and Board President Steve Oluic’s terms are set to end June 30, 2023. Geauga County Commisioner Jim Dvorak requested the county post all three openings for public application.