GT County rescinds Northern Lakes appointments

Mar. 5—TRAVERSE CITY — Re-appointments of two Northern Lakes Community Mental Health board members were rescinded by Grand Traverse County commissioners in the latest governance muddle to befall the region's largest provider of mental health services.

Randy Kamp and Mary Marois must now re-apply for the positions and be interviewed by members of an ad-hoc committee — who may also consider other applicants — instead of being preemptively reappointed, as previously recommended by Commissioner Penny Morris.

"My thought was that because Northern Lakes was changing CEOs, it seemed like a good idea to keep continuity and keep the ship righted," Morris said Wednesday, during a regular meeting of the county board.

"Clearly I'd made these recommendations without having all the facts and nuances," Morris said.

Northern Lakes provides services in six counties — Crawford, Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Missaukee, Roscommon and Wexford — and as many as 16 board members are appointed to three-year terms by their respective county commissioners.

Morris did encourage Kamp and Marois to reapply, though added proper procedure called for opening the process to additional candidates and formal interviews.

Commissioners agreed and unanimously rescinded the previous appointments — applications now are being accepted through March 18 and application forms are available on the county's website.

Kamp, who chairs the Northern Lakes board, did not return a request for comment; Marois who chaired the recent search committee, said she will reapply.

Recent actions by Northern Lakes' board show what Morris called efforts to "keep the ship righted" go beyond procedural issues.

Hiring process questioned

Following the July retirement of former CEO Karl Kovacs, some current and former employees of Northern Lakes characterized working conditions there as a "culture of fear" and mental health advocates have spoken out about what they said were systemic problems with collaboration and transparency.

"The board is pretty much in the dark of what is going on and they have no power," said Toni Stanfield, a psychotherapist in private practice and co-founder of BDAI, a nonprofit advocacy group.

"They hire and promote people who are loyal but not necessarily competent," Stanfield said. "We as a community have an organization that does not work."

BDAI President Tom Bousamra, who for more than 30 years has served as a volunteer deacon in Grand Traverse County's jail, last week addressed what he called "backroom dealing" in a sudden decision last month to offer interim CEO Joanie Blamer the permanent position after another candidate, Dave Pankotai, declined the job over salary differences.

"This does not even pass the smell test," Bousamra said, of a Feb. 17 decision by the board to offer Blamer the job when three board members who served on the CEO search committee and supported Pankotai over Blamer were away on vacation.

Board members signaled they would conduct a new search and Kamp suggested spending up to $36,000 to hire a professional firm to identify qualified candidates, after Pankotai critiqued the process.

Pankotai, who has more than three decades of experience in community mental health and is CEO of Macomb County Community Mental Health, said his initial application to Northern Lakes was lost, the email offering him the job was delayed for reasons unknown and there'd been little opportunity for negotiations over his terms of employment.

Kovacs was making $146,020, plus access to a car when he retired in July, board records show.

The board advertised the CEO position as paying between $135,000 and $165,000; Pankotai was offered $160,000 and later said he was seeking a salary closer to $200,000, which the board — including Kamp — balked at paying.

At a subsequent meeting, Kamp advocated spending as much as $36,000 on a search committee.

A second CEO job offer

Kamp on Feb. 17 allowed a motion by board member Barbara Selesky, who represents Crawford County, to extend an offer to Blamer proceed for a vote, prior to a vote on his own motion to hire a search firm, and Selesky's motion passed, 6-4.

Four board members were absent or were watching the meeting remotely and could not vote, and no timeframe was attached to the motion, which would have dictated when a formal offer would be presented to Blamer.

Kamp abstained, stating the chair only votes to break a tie, though a review of board policies posted on the organization's website does not include this rule, nor does the Carver Model, which the board chose as its style of governance when Northern Lakes was formed in 2003.

Some say use of the Carver Model, which gives a board the authority to hire the CEO but no authority over any other employee or over the workings of the organization, has caused or at least contributed to the organization's management problems.

One of those is Kate Dahlstrom, a retired certified public accountant and self-described parent advocate for improved access and quality of mental health services in the region.

Dahlstrom spoke at Wednesday's county commission meeting, decrying what she called "highly questionable maneuvering" by some Northern Lakes board members and a style of governance that appears to shield board members from the public.

"Their governance policy apparently dictates that neither the board as a whole or individual board members are able to respond to emails from the public," Dahlstrom said. "This is just one of the problems that we see day to day."

Carver Model questioned

Kamp has said in board meetings the Carver Model also keeps the chair and other board members from speaking to the press, and as a matter of course, all questions emailed to the board by the Record-Eagle via the single email address listed on the Northern Lakes website, have gone unanswered.

Academic publications about the Carver Model do state a board should "speak with one voice or not at all," yet information available on carvergovernance.com, policy author John Carver's website, does not bar board members from speaking to the press or from answering questions from the public.

Still, a larger issue may loom for the organization.

"Has Northern Lakes Community Mental Health exceeded the size where it can competently serve six counties?" Dahlstrom asked commissioners on Wednesday.

Some community leaders agreed that's a good question, including Grand Traverse County Board Chairman Rob Hentschel, who on Wednesday appointed commissioners Morris, Betsy Coffia and Brad Jewett to the ad hoc committee which will soon interview prospective Northern Lakes board members.

"I have a strong feeling that this Grand Traverse County board would be open to providing services in a way that would depart from Northern Lakes," Hentschel said Thursday.

"We've not taken any votes," Hentschel added, "but it would start with a motion for staff to explore options and come back with recommendations."

The enabling resolution that created Northern Lakes in October 2003, stated any county can terminate its participation with a majority vote by their county board and notification of the state's community mental health authority.

The termination would be effective one year from the date of that notification, or sooner if the state agreed, records show.

If one county leaves, the organization is automatically dissolved, according to the resolution, and all assets such as buildings, equipment and supplies, would be transferred to a successor organization or to each of the six counties.

If that happened, Dahlstrom said there are several community organizations, like BDAI, standing by to help.

"We have to do better," Dahlstrom said.