While I'm pleased to report that I was successful in resolving the Brown Act mess relative to a confusing proposed administrative merger of Public Health and Behavioral Health (formally Mental Health) under a single Director, this issue needs careful reflection before implementation.
So the Supes' unanimous decision at their May 21 meeting to do what should have been done in the first place, i.e., discuss and take action in open session where the public will be allowed to participate in the process, is obviously a huge step in the right direction. Presumably, this corrective action will occur at the June 4, 2024 meeting where the issue(s) will be posted on the regular, open session agenda.
Ultimately, the record speaks for itself and I'll just leave it at that. Mulheren's revelation and apology at the Supervisors meeting were the right thing for her to do given the circumstances surrounding this thorny matter.
On the substantive side of this issue, recently retired Julie Beardsley, who served in government for over 30 years, and was the Mendocino County Senior Public Health Analyst (acting as the Epidemiologist) for eight years, did an excellent job of summarizing this puzzling proposal:
"The Board of Supervisors is debating once again whether to combine Public Health and Behavioral Health into one department. Having a "Health Department" may make sense in our small community and could save money. But as things stand now, Behavioral Health staff are running Public Health, despite the fact that they have no expertise or knowledge of how a Public Health department should function. Our Mendocino County Public Health does not run hospitals like some larger counties do. Public Health does provide some treatment modalities, for example, treating tuberculosis patients. They run vaccine clinics at times. Public Health Nursing provides home visiting for families at risk for child abuse or neglect. It provides education and information about oral health, tobacco use, and nutrition. The Women's Infant's and Children's (WIC) program and Environmental Health are also a part of Public Health. Public Health also monitors children in foster care and children with special needs.
"The decision to create a 'Health Department' is fine and may be appropriate for our county. But to have BHRS overseeing Public Health is not appropriate. BHRS staff are not trained in the science of Public Health modalities or its functions. Trying to force BHRS policies and procedures on Public Health department functioning is not appropriate and is counter-productive to the functioning of the Public Health department. Combining the two departments may be an okay idea, but the tail should not wag the dog. BHRS should be under Public Health, and not the other way around. There may be someone who could manage both departments, but honestly, it is not Jenine Miller and her staff. They lack the training and knowledge necessary to fulfill the core functions of a Public Health department. I urge the Supervisors to look for someone who has the qualifications to oversee both departments, OR to resist the temptation to act suddenly without a real plan."
Mark Scaramella, of the Anderson Valley Advertiser, explained the messy Public Health-Behavioral Health blow-up this way:
"If you want to understand the turmoil in the County's Public Health and Behavioral Health departments, you won't get far listening to comments at Supervisors meetings. On the one hand you have the line employees Union president demanding an investigation into a culture of fear, retaliation and intimidation in Public Health involving whoever may have pressured some employees to sign a hurry-up letter in support of the appointment of Dr. Jenine Miller as Health Director two weeks ago which would have made official an arrangement that has been informally in place since late last year. On the other hand a number of current public health staffers, most of them saying they worked in finance and administration, came to the podium on Tuesday in support of the consolidation of the two departments headed by Dr. Miller. One of them, a youngish woman who spoke so quickly that it was hard to understand what she was saying as she nervously sped through a letter she had written, said that somebody had been "falsely accused" of something and perhaps been a victim of "gender discrimination." She demanded to know which supervisor "leaked" the letter in support of Dr. Miller signed by over 40 of Dr. Miller's staffers to "Julie Beardsley and the AVA," concluding, "Who do we turn to when our leaders are constantly attacked?"
This is just another example of why this county is seemingly in a perpetual mode of governing dysfunction.
I keep saying the answer to this dilemma is right in front of everybody:
Problems just don't happen, people make them happen.
It's time for the people making problems happen, to reverse fields and make the problems un-happen.
Jim Shields is the Mendocino County Observer's editor and publisher, observer@pacific.net, the long-time district manager of the Laytonville County Water District, and is also chairman of the Laytonville Area Municipal Advisory Council. Listen to his radio program "This and That" every Saturday at noon on KPFN 105.1 FM, also streamed live: http://www.kpfn.org
No comments:
Post a Comment