Ottawa CMH board president resigns after fellow member claims system is 'broken'

OTTAWA COUNTY — The president of Ottawa County's Community Mental Health Board of Directors resigned suddenly Tuesday after a fellow board member framed the county's system as "broken" and claimed thousands of people needing services go "unheard."

Robert Brown sent a letter to the 12-member board Aug. 9 tendering his resignation as president and board member, effective immediately.

He was most recently appointed to the board in June 2018; he was seven months shy of completing a second three-year term set to expire in March 2024. As of Thursday, Brown was no longer listed as board president on the CMH page within the county's website.

Brown's decision came on the heels of an Aug. 8 email from Donna Bunce, who was appointed to the board April 1.

In emails provided to The Sentinel by two independent sources, Bunce — who has an adult autistic son — tells her fellow board members she applied to serve on the board to "make a difference, make life better, and make Ottawa County be the premiere place for families with children with autism, cognitive impairments, physical disabilities."

Then, she alludes to frustrations about how the board is operating.

"I continue to struggle with the agendas, the format of the meetings, and just the lack of time for the board to ever have meaningful discussion," Bunce wrote. "I keep wondering, 'When we will talk strategy? When we will take the time to problem solve the issues that these parents put before us, month after month?' Friends, these parents are not going to go away."

Bunce is the executive director of Compassionate Heart Ministries, a Christian nonprofit serving families and individuals with mild to moderate disabilities.

Bunce did not return a message left with Compassionate Heart Ministries on Friday morning. Contact information for Brown was not immediately available Friday.

Bunce didn't elaborate on specific people, services, programs or strategies she found problematic, other than saying "with the changes made by the Ottawa Area Intermediate School Board, we are moving away from the support that (I thought) made Ottawa at (sic) great place to be."

"We have so much focus on mental illness (which is important), but I am hearing little to nothing about how to help families with children and specifically adult children with Intellectual/Developmental Disability. We can do better."

In his response, Brown expressed disappointment in Bunce's criticisms, saying he's been advocating for improvements to the county's mental health services system since 1999. He said he helped create a coalition of parents who organized and successfully advocated for changes to better serve residents.

"I, along with the parents who fought the past battles, know what a 'broken' system looks like and the system we have today is not it," he wrote.

Brown said the mental health system "no doubt has its imperfections" and, at times, can be confusing and difficult to navigate, but Bunce's claims of thousands of parents "frustrated, beaten down by the system, unheard ... defeated, tired, stressed, and really just kind of kicked to the curb" were greatly exaggerated.

"When I continually hear of these 'thousands' of parents who are 'feeling frustrated,' 'unheard,' 'not helped,' 'defeated' and 'kicked to the curb' — who are they and where are they?" Brown wrote to the board. "Why are they not showing up at board meetings, in force, expressing, with specificity, how this 'broken' system has failed them and how their sons and daughters are not getting the services they are legally entitled to?"

He admitted there were two parents who routinely attend board meetings, but described them as "chronic complainers" who "have personal agendas."

Michigan's Mental Health Code requires community mental health departments to have a board of directors "representative of providers of mental health services, recipients or primary consumers of mental health services, agencies and occupations (with) a working involvement with mental health services, and the general public."

The majority of the organization's budget comes from Medicaid funding, with some money from the state’s general fund meant to help people who are uninsured or underinsured. Medicaid dollars are distributed from the federal government to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, then to prepaid inpatient health plans and, finally, to community mental health organizations across the state.

Additional money comes from the state grants and local dollars from the county.

Brown previously served on the CMH Board of Directors in the mid-2000s. Prior to his most appointment, he was a proponent of the county's 0.3-mill mental health millage, which received broad support from voters in 2016. The 10-year millage, which helps fill gaps in Medicaid funding shortfalls, won’t have to be renewed until 2026.

The millage generates an estimated $3.2 million annually and helps fund certain programs, including employment services for mentally ill youth and adults, and expanding mental health treatment for those who don’t qualify for other funding.

The money also funds community hubs and recreational clubs and camps, transportation services, mental health awareness programs and expanded jail services.

More: Ottawa mental health committee member uses ableist slur in leaked email

Brown's resignation comes less than a month after an email in which another board member used an ableist slur surfaced. The email was sent to a magazine reporter.

"Miles, I'm concerned about you," Jason Monroe wrote to the journalist. "You seem to have fallen victim to the deadly woke mind virus. I'm happy to say, there is a solution. It's either that, or you're re******. In which case, there is no solution. Please let me know if I can help."

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The comment came after Monroe, appointed to the board in March, disagreed with the writer’s review of the controversial movie “The Sound of Freedom.”

At the time, Brown said the board did not condone Monroe's statement.

“We do not support the use of any word or phrase that perpetuates the stigmatization or prejudice against individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities or other communities we serve. We will continue to inform and educate our board members, staff and the public about the importance of the words we use.”

Monroe responded to The Sentinel's request for comment Friday, saying: "I can promise you that this will be the last time The Holland Sentinel publishes confidential communications from this board."

When asked about his controversial comments in July, he said, "No. I’ll respectfully decline the 'opportunity' to respond."

— Sarah Leach is executive editor of The Holland Sentinel. Contact her at sarah.leach@hollandsentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter @SentinelLeach.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Ottawa CMH board president resigns after fellow member claims system is 'broken'