3 Officers of Mental Health Panel Skip Meeting

Outraged over the dismissal of the panel’s chairman, executive officers of Ventura County’s Mental Health Board did not show up for a scheduled meeting Monday, forcing its cancellation.

The advisory panel’s three executive members are infuriated by a vote of the Board of Supervisors last week removing John Chaudier from his post and skipped Monday’s meeting in protest, said Susan Kelly, a panel member who attended the meeting.

Supervisors John K. Flynn, Judy Mikels and Frank Schillo voted Sept. 14 to remove Chaudier from the Mental Health Board even though a majority on the community advisory panel recommended that he be reappointed to a third term.

“Why bother being on the board? What power do we have?” said Kelly, who favored Chaudier’s reappointment. “Many of us are not sure if we will continue serving as members.”

Shlomo Kreitzer, secretary of the Mental Health Board, declined to comment Monday, but said he would ask the Board of Supervisors today to reconsider Chaudier’s dismissal. The two other absent officers--Vice Chair Karen Bates and Second Vice Chair Tina Urias--were not available for comment.

Although a quorum of the 10-member board was present for Monday’s meeting, panel members decided to postpone it until Sept. 27 so the full board is present when a new chairperson is chosen.

Flynn, who sits on the panel, also noted that Monday was Yom Kippur and that some panel members may have been absent to observe the Jewish holy day.

“Some people may have had a misunderstanding about whether we would meet today,” Flynn said.

But Kelly said there was no confusion: The executive officers purposely stayed away to make a point about what they believe was the unfair removal of Chaudier.

Flynn had urged colleagues to oust Chaudier, saying it was time for a change in leadership. Chaudier had been the target of complaints by minority members of the Mental Health Board, who alleged he cut off comments and made it difficult for new panel members to join the board.

But Kelly said Kreitzer and the other executive members believe Chaudier was ousted because he has been a vocal critic of Dr. David Gudeman, director of the county’s troubled Behavioral Health Department.

“John has always spoken his mind, and now he is paying for it,” Kelly said. “The lack of integrity and the manner in which this was done is not good.”

Gudeman said he believes the current flap will blow over and that the Mental Health Board will return to its statutory function as an advisory panel on mental health issues.

“I am looking forward to a vigorous, well-functioning advisory board,” he said.

Kelly said the executive members may appeal the supervisors’ decision to the state Department of Mental Health.

But state law indicates that the Board of Supervisors was within its right to reject Chaudier’s reappointment.

The county’s mental health system has been in tumult since last year, when a split Board of Supervisors voted to combine mental health and social service agencies.

The board is still dealing with fallout from that decision, including paying a $15.3-million settlement to the federal government for improper health billings uncovered in the mental health agency.