Commissioners collide on Trillium Board vote

WADESBORO – At the commissioner meeting on Feb. 20, commissioners were charged with voting on two new members to be inducted into the Trillium Regional Anson Advisory Board.

According to officials, Trillium provides specialty care for residents suffering with serious substance abuse issues, mental illness and intellectual or developmental disabilities. Trillium Regional Advisory boards include one County Commissioner from the county they are operating in, as well as one other candidate, meeting Trillium’s outlined criteria, to be appointed by the Board of Commissioners.

A unanimous vote was made by commissioners to select fellow Commissioner Priscilla Little-Reid to the Trillium Health Resources board following a motion made by Jarvis Woodburn and seconded by Lawrence Gatewood.

“Next we have two candidates listed and we need the appointment of one of these candidates to serve along with Commissioner Little-Reid on this board,” said Chairman Jamie Caudle.

Answering the call, Gatewood made a motion to select one of the candidates, Kishia Dunlap to the position.

“Mr. Chairman, I would like a discussion before we appoint Ms. Dunlap,” interjected Little-Reid. “Because a lot of the commissioners are not aware, including yourself and Mr. Bricken, I don’t think y’all really know Kishia or Sherika [Staton], for the simple fact that she just came to the board meeting. I want to give y’all a little more detail on what they are expecting because we had a meeting with Mr. David Peterson and Anthony Ward (Representative of the Trillium board), the County Manager and myself. Mr. Mims, he was invited, but he didn’t show up.”

Little-Reid stated, “I want everybody to have a paper on what the criteria and that statute is so that way you (Caudle) and Commissioner Bricken can get a little bit more details about the two that is running instead of we just nominating somebody.”

“Normally this is not how we do it, we just have one person and go on, but this particular time we have two,” she said.

Outlined in the paperwork Little-Reid provided the commissioners with was a detailed synopsis of the criteria requirements for serving on the board. According to general statute 122C-118.1, potential candidates must have social service expertise and experience in the field of mental health, intellectual or other developmental disabilities or substance abuse services.

Stating a desire for commissioners to have a detailed picture of the criteria required for the position and of the candidates in the running, Little-Reid went on to read to commissioners the bio provided by Staton: A representative for the Sandhills Board of Directors, Staton has 18 years experience serving in the field of mental health, participating in a psychosocial rehabilitation program for Sandhills Mental Health. She has a degree in criminal justice focusing on victimization, and is the chair for the Juvenile Crime Prevention council. A former employee of the Anson County Department of Social Services, Staton has five years of experience with the Child Protection Service Department.

After stating her recommendation that the board consider Staton for the position, Little-Reid added, “Before you vote, everybody needs to look at what the criteria is and listen to what is being said and not just vote because you were asked to vote for somebody else.”

Wrestling back control of the meeting, Caudle requested the board proceed with voting on the motion previously made by Gatewood and seconded by Robert Mims to appoint Dunlap to the position — unless commissioners had a need for any further discussion on the matter.

“I have some discussion,” Little-Reid interjected. “Commissioner Mims, that is his sister-in-law, so is that not a conflict of interest?”

“No, it is not,” confirmed County Attorney Scott Forbes after Caudle directed Little-Reid’s question to him regarding the legality of the vote.

With legality determined, Commissioners Caudle, Bricken, Gatewood and Mims voted in favor of appointing Dunlap to the board, with Commissioners Little-Reid and Woodburn casting the only dissenting votes.

Commissioner Harold Smith, who has not been present for eight out of 10 meetings, was again not present to vote and again did not designate someone to vote in his stead.

Signaling the discussion did not end with the vote, Little-Reid then inquired, “I would like to say that this has never happened before because we never had two people to take the motion. When I talked to several of you, and I am not going to call your names because I don’t want to put you out there, but you said you didn’t really know her and you were going to look to see what the other Commissioner, Commissioner Mims said. I am not going to call your name but if you don’t know somebody and then you haven’t researched the person, how can you vote for them?”

Eliciting laughter from the crowd, Little-Reid continued, saying, “I am just asking a question. I am not pertaining it to no one person, you know how you voted, and you know whether or not you knew the person that you voted for.”

Meeting the stare of his fellow commissioner, Caudle asked, “Are you expecting a response… I don’t know who you are addressing.”

“Do you know Kishia?” demanded Little-Reid.

Appearing surprised by his colleagues’ request for a defense of how he cast his vote, Caudle answered, “I do not know Ms. Kishia Dunlap or Ms. Sherika Staton. I did my research on both candidates and spoke with individuals who know both candidates and I made my decision.”

“Oh, did you? What about you, Mr. Bricken?”

Responding to Little-Reid, Bricken answered, “I know Ms. Dunlap and I have always felt like she was a very qualified candidate.”

Continuing to follow up, Little-Reid then asked Bricken, “Is it because you know her because she comes to the meetings or because you know her personally?”

“I just know of her experience. I know the position she has in social services and I made my decision,” he stated.

Dunlap was appointed with a 4-2 vote, with Little-Reid and Woodburn dissenting.