Petition Presented for Adams, MHRS Board Members Removal
"We're in agreement, but we have to follow the law." – Blake Rear
Geauga County Commissioners said Tuesday they agree with Munson Township resident Jeff Kline’s demands that county-appointed members of the Geauga County Board of Mental Health and RecoveryServices who voted to increase CEO Jim Adams’ salary should be removed.
They even agreed, as county residents, to sign Kline’s petition to have Adams removed from office and the mental health board members who approved the raises ousted from their seats. The petition reads: We the undersigned formally request the resignation of CEO Jim Adams. Furthermore we request the resignation of all board members of Geauga Mental Health who voted for raises on CEO and staff.
However, commissioners said they are waiting on legal advice from Geauga County Prosecutor Jim Flaiz regarding their authority to do either and, if such action is possible, the correct way to do it.
Kline noted it has been a month since the community learned the MHRS board had granted Adams “obscene raises” and asked if the commissioners have any plan of action to ensure it won’t happen again.
Commissioner Mary Samide said the mental health board rolled back Adams’ raises and those of the board staff to 2009 levels.
Kline said that didn’t absolve the board of guilt. He said the Ohio Revised Code specifies the commissioners appoint some board members and should be able to un-appoint them as well.
The law allows up to 14 members on a county mental health board, half of which the county appoints and half the state.
Samide said the Geauga County has appointed seven to the state’s five.
“I’ve seen the minutes of the meeting (where the vote for raises was taken). We’re in agreement, but we have to follow the law,” Commissioner Blake Rear said.
Replied Kline, “I think it’s time for action.”
Commissioner Ralph Spidalieri said he is grateful the mental health levy passed despite the negative publicity surrounding the board. He opined the actions of the MHRS board and Adams put a lot of people in the mental health system at risk, if the levy hadn’t passed.
“We need those services in this county,” Spidalieri said, promising to keep fighting. The commissioners, however, have to follow the advice of the county prosecutor, he added.
Also, Spidalieri said only those MHRS board members who voted for the raises should be required to step down.
Samide said the commissioners could pass a resolution emphasizing the commissioners’ concerns to the state regarding state-appointed board members.
As to the future, any replacement members would have to meet certain criteria. One requirement is that every member must have a background in mental health, Rear said.
“We appoint them on the recommendation of someone who knows the criteria,” he said.
Commissioners should do more than accept recommendations about who to appoint, added Samide.
“We need a better vetting process,” she said.
Spidalieri said he is disheartened at the position the MHRS board took; namely, when the individuals who received the huge raises returned the money, the board considered the problem solved.
“It really opened my eyes,” he said. “The recommendations for a lot of this came from the director (Adams).”
After the meeting, Spidalieri said he understands the commissioners do not have the authority to fire Adams because the MHRS board hires the CEO. Only the board would have the authority to fire him, he explained.
The MHRS board determines salaries — which are reflected in the annual budget reviewed by the Geauga County Auditor’s Office — and approved rolling raises for Adams in 2013 from nearly $112,000 to nearly $154,000, according to payroll records.
The commissioners have said in previous meetings that they and the auditor have no control over the MHRS payroll.
Four staff members who report directly to Adams received raises between 20 percent and 25 percent during the same time period, raises that Adams authorized, Spidalieri said at an April 22 meeting.
