Motion to fund mental health coordinator position fails: Commissioners’ vote is split

(By Leslie Bray Evans, The Stokes News) - As it stands at this time, the relatively new mental health coordinator position in Stokes County will not be funded again for the 2009-2010 fiscal year. The motion made by Dr. Ron Carroll to commit funding for this position and to put it under the operation of the health department failed when the vote by the county commissioners split on Monday afternoon.

After much discussion of the issue at the last meeting in February, Stokes County Manager Bryan Steen investigated the recommendation by the board of health to continue the position by making it part of Stokes County Public Health. He found that it could indeed be done. An option was to let the public health educator take over the mental health coordinator duties.