Community Mental Health Board discusses vacant chair position
OTTAWA COUNTY — Following the abrupt resignation of Board Chair Robert Brown last month, the Ottawa County Community Mental Health Board of Directors hopes to select a replacement in the coming weeks.
Brown resigned Wednesday, Aug. 9, seven months shy of completing his second three-year term on the board. In his absence, Vice Chair Vonnie VanderZwaag is presiding.
Brown resigned following an email exchange with fellow board member Donna Bunce, who was appointed in April. Bunce said she felt the CMH system is “broken,” that “thousands” of parents were feeling frustrated and unserved, and that she herself was frustrated with how meetings were conducted.
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Brown responded by saying the mental health system “no doubt has its imperfections” and, at times, can be confusing and difficult to navigate, but said Bunce’s claims were an exaggeration.
During a monthly meeting Monday, Aug. 28, Gretchen Cosby — one of three Ottawa County commissioners on the board — suggested an election should be added to the agenda for the board’s next meeting. She is joined by commissioners Sylvia Rhodea and Lucy Ebel.
Later, when reviewing the board’s bylaws, Rhodea noted there are no specific steps listed for replacing a board chair. The bylaws state the vice chair shall preside over meetings in the absence of the board chair, but don’t list a process for replacing the chair altogether.
“I’m just wondering if we have in our bylaws what we’re supposed to do when a chair steps down,” Rhodea said. “If we don’t, maybe we need to figure that out.”
Executive Director Lynn Doyle agreed the process isn’t outlined.
“You’re right, it’s not very clear in here what happens when a board chair steps down,” Doyle said. “It does say under the duties of the vice chairperson, that they shall preside at all meetings of the board in the absence of the chairperson. That’s, I believe, why we agreed Vonnie was going to step in until we decided what to do with filling that vacancy.”
Cosby then pointed out a section of the bylaws stating “upon completion of a term as chair, the exiting chair may not serve as an officer on the board of directors for a period of one year.”
Rhodea and Cosby asked if VanderZwaag was eligible to be chair because she served as the acting chair from January to April after previous chair Matt Fenske lost his seat (he was no longer a member of the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners).
VanderZwaag and Doyle said, because VanderZwaag was also serving as vice chair presiding in the chair’s absence at that time, the exiting chair bylaw would not apply.
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Doyle said she would work with VanderZwaag to add steps for replacing the board chair and bring the bylaws back to the committee.
The board’s next scheduled meeting is Sept. 25.
— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Community Mental Health Board discusses vacant chair position
