The Community Mental Health Board meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by

Members of the Ben Gordon Center Board and the Community Mental Health Board introduced themselves.

Mrs. Parker moved to approve of the agency claims for October 21 as submitted; seconded by Mr. Gilbert. On a roll call vote the motion passed unanimously.

Mrs. Parker moved to approve of the October 21^st office claims as submitted; seconded by Mrs. Fullerton. On a roll call vote the motion passed unanimously.

Board President Bob Krogman welcomed Mike Flora, Jerry Strachan, John Lewis, Chuck Kaiser and Tom Brotcke to the meeting, and explained that the Community Mental Health Board had invited them to ask questions regarding planned renovations at Ben Gordon Center.

Mr. Flora said demand for services has risen to 3,500 consumers annually, resulting in the demand for more staff and more space. In addition, the lease for space presently rented in the Crumb-Halstead Center will end in January, when Ben Gordon Center must vacate. At this time Ben Gordon Center employs twenty-four therapists but has only twelve therapy rooms. BGC operates on a $1.3M budget with 70 staff. In comparison, the Janet Wattles Center in Rockford has a budget of $12M, 269 staff, and saw 3,700 unduplicated clients in 2003! Mr. Flora has met with a number of officials to find ways of procuring greater State funding for BGC, to date to no avail.

Funding continues to be a problem for Ben Gordon Center, in part because funders, both private and not-for-profit, believe that all the needs of a county-owned facility are covered by taxes. The present proposal is for $801,924 if construction is completed at one time, $908,909 if done serially. Although the project is more expensive if done one piece at a time, it is the most practical approach because fund raising is slow.

Ben Gordon Center asked the Mental Health Board to assist them in the renovation. They have taken a number of bids, local and out-of-town, and decided to use the most economical local bidder. (The book of bids was left for MHB members perusal). Ben Gordon Center has managed to maintain its license, in spite of having no handicapped accessible bathrooms because they were grandfathered in by the State of Illinois. However, if the cost of renovation exceeds the original cost, Ben Gordon Center must upgrade the bathrooms, thus, at this time the bathrooms must be made handicapped accessible. In addition, fire codes call for a new sprinkler system and rewiring.

When asked what will become of BGC in another ten years, the BGC Board members said that expansion into the north end and the far south part of the county will become necessary. At the present location Ben Gordon Center is landlocked, and they will need a larger facility. Programs presently are running in Sandwich and Reality House is being used during the evenings to expand programs.

Ben Gordon Center has approached Monsanto about either purchasing or having them donate the old Ag building across Rte 23. Monsanto did not respond. The present arrangement with the Mental Health Board is a ten year lease agreement, renewable at the end. One option is for the Mental Health Board to propose a referendum, but the risk is that it could be turned down just as the jail expansion was, even though it is needed by the community. It is too late for this year, and an election year is bad timing anyway, and too late for 2005 as well. If the Board decided to have a referendum it could not take place until 2006. The DeKalb Community Mental Health Board also has the authority to issue bonds, but the problem is in finding ways to pay back investors.

After answering numerous questions from the Mental Health Board members, the visitors from Ben Gordon Center left the meeting. Discussion followed.

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The search for a new Executive Director goes on. Preparation for the interviewing process continued with several Board members attending a workshop on Behavioral Interviewing with Dr. Terry Bishop of NIU. Members of the search committee have developed a format and questions for candidates. The Board determined that the top six candidates will be Interviewed, beginning next Monday. If Board members cannot attend, the interview will be videotaped. The Board will review all six candidates and discuss their ranking. Times to meet will be determined by the schedules of candidates, as soon as possible. Board members will take home the list of questions to make the best determination of candidates.

The Special Projects request from the DeKalb County Training Consortium was discussed. LCPC, continuing education credits will be awarded to attendees.

Discussion of dinner meeting at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 1, 2004, to honor Mr. Lane. The location for the dinner meeting will be Johnny’s Charhouse. Gifts and a plaque will be arranged for in the interim.