Staff of Mental Clinic Facing Cuts Questions Consultant Fees

Twenty-seven staffers at the Tri-Cities Mental Health Authority have signed a letter expressing concern over $90-per-hour fees paid to a management consultant when the financially strapped clinic is considering slashing mental health programs.

“These expenditures lead us to wonder whether you have complete and accurate information regarding actual services provided and the billing for same,” said the letter, presented to the governing board of the Tri-Cities Mental Health Authority on Tuesday.

The agency serves La Verne, Pomona and Claremont and has been without a director since last fall. Its $1.8-million budget is funded by the state and the three cities. Facing a $300,000 deficit, the agency is considering dropping its program for the mentally ill homeless, consolidating its crisis intervention unit and cutting employee benefits.

The letter referred to payments to consultant Nicholas T. Conway and Hughes, Heiss & Associates, a Pasadena firm. Conway could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

But Martin Lomeli, La Verne’s city manager and interim executive director of Tri-Cities, called the letter unfounded. “Given the documentation and the work product, Nick Conway’s costs are totally defendable,” Lomeli said. Lomeli estimated that Conway was paid about $21,000 for his consulting services, or about $7,200 per month, from March to May. He received a flat hourly rate for such tasks as a taking a salary survey, revising personnel rules and regulations, revising recruitment procedures, and helping to develop the annual budget.

In addition, Hughes, Heiss was paid for a management audit last fall and a search for a new executive director, Lomeli said. “I OKd them to be paid . . . but I don’t have those bills in front of me, I can’t give you the total dollar amount,” Lomeli said Wednesday. La Verne Mayor Jon Blickenstaff, who is on the Tri-Cities board, said he did not know how much Conway or Hughes Heiss had been paid. Blickenstaff said the board has no plans to investigate concerns in the letter, which was signed by physicians, social workers and administrative staff.

He said new Executive Director Douglas Buche, who started work this week, would meet with the staff to address their concerns.