Macon County Mental Health Task Force
Minutes – 02/15/08



Members present:  Ronnie Beale, Jim Bruckner, Robert Holland, Jane Kimsey,
Paula Ledford, Kathy McGaha, Mike Neidig, Don Sandoval and Andy Shields

Welcome and Introductions:  Ronnie Beale welcomed everyone to today’s meeting
and asked everyone to introduce themselves.  Mr. Beale welcomed Judy Kuehn, 
with Smoky Mountain Center, and asked her to give a brief description of her
job duties.  Mr. Beale also welcomed Colin McCandless, Marla Dalrymple and
Christy Raby to today’s meeting and thanked them for attending.

Approval of minutes:  Jane Kimsey made a motion to approve the minutes with 
one correction.  Mike Neidig 2nd the motion, with a unanimous vote for 
approval.



Action Items:
Mike Neidig presented a rough draft of a preamble for the task force members
to review.  Ronnie Beale asked Jim Bruckner and Jane Kimsey to take 
Mr. Neidig’s recommendations and come up with a Mission Statement that covers
this task force and service to citizens of Macon County.  Mr. Beale stated 
this Mission Statement would a focus and foundation for the task force.

Ronnie Beale informed the task force members about a website -
www.ncmentalhealthvote.org.  Mr. Beale asked the task force members to check
out the website, especially the section titled Solutions.

Paula Ledford passed out a handout for the task force members to review.  
Ms. Ledford briefly explained the information and statistics included in it.
Ms. Ledford explained the positions of Early Intervention Counselor and Student
Service Coordinator.  Ms. Ledford also described the FOCUS Classrooms, Union
Academy and English as a Second Language Population.

Ronnie Beale asked the task force members how many got to attend the Providers
Fair sponsored by Smoky Mountain Center on February 8th.  Mr. Beale asked them
to briefly state their observations and/or opinions of this event.  Kathy 
McGaha stated that most of the providers were not based in Macon County.  Jim
Bruckner said that most of the providers were specialized in services.  Ms. 
Kimsey said two employees from her department had attended the fair and had 
collected information from each provider and organized it in a file folder. 
The task force members agreed that the provider fair was informative and they
wished more people had attended.  


Ronnie Beale next discussed setting up a meeting with the Providers.  The 
task force members agreed on the date of March 14th from 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM.
The location is to be determined and will be announced later.  Lunch will be 
provided.  Mr. Beale asked Ms. Kuehn to obtain a Provider List from Smoky 
Mountain Center.   Ms. Kuehn said she could provide a list by next Tuesday.
Mr. Beale asked Mr. Neidig to review the list.  Rhonda Blanton will send out
invitations to the Providers on the list and include an RSVP.  

Jane Kimsey passed out a draft letter to Smoky Mountain Center.  Ms. Kimsey 
asked the task force members to review this draft letter and make suggestions
or changes.  The task force members made several suggestions/changes.  Ms. 
Kimsey said she would redo the draft letter incorporating the 
suggestions/changes and send the letter to Tom McDevitt within the next week.

Ronnie Beale also asked the task force members to consider a date for a 
meeting with Consumers.  The tentative date of April 4th was suggested, with
the task force members to reconsider this date after the meeting with the 
Providers.

The task force members also discussed about adding a member from Smoky 
Mountain Center to the task force.  Mr. Beale asked to first complete the
meeting with the Providers with a follow-up group discussion during the 
meeting being held on March 14th.  A representative from Smoky Mountain Center
could be asked to attend the following meeting, March 28th, as a task force
member.  The letter being sent to SMC will request Tom McDevitt to recommend
who he wants to represent SMC and Mr. Beale will have this representative 
appointed to the task force.

The next meeting will be held on Friday, February 29th.  The meeting will
start at 8:00 AM in Meeting Rooms A/B at the Health and Human Services 
Building.

Minutes recorded by Rhonda Blanton