Washington County delays filling three Behavioral Health Council seats; recommends one alternate

Washington County officials recommended pausing appointments to three vacant voting seats on the county’s Behavioral Health Council and presenting a single alternate appointment for board action on May 6.

The recommendation came at the Board of County Commissioners work session on April 22, when Maris Mantle, director of Health and Human Services, and Nick O'Cone, division manager of Behavioral Health, briefed commissioners on the 2025 recruitment.

Mantle told the board the Behavioral Health Council is a 15-member advisory body that “provides direction to the board on behavioral health needs and priorities in our community.” O'Cone said the county received eight applications for three open seats, but two candidates formally withdrew and four did not respond to staff requests for clarification or attend an applicants' meeting held March 26.

O'Cone said an applicant the county planned to recommend, Maya Keller, withdrew after being told by her employer that serving on the council would create a conflict of interest. As a result, staff and the council recommended against forwarding any of the three identified voting applicants for appointment at this time.

Instead, the council recommended appointing Larissa Thomas — a current council member who has served since 2019 — to the council’s first alternate seat. O'Cone told commissioners that Thomas “is a Washington County resident who lives in District 1” and that the council considered, but declined to advance, other applicants who either did not appear for the applicants' statement session or failed to respond to follow-up questions.

Commissioners asked whether outreach had targeted K-12 employers and clarifications about whether the K-12 seat refers to an employee of the K-12 system; O'Cone confirmed the seat is intended for “somebody who works on the K-12 system” and said staff are continuing outreach to school-district contacts.

The board was told the recommendation will be put on the May 6 agenda for formal consideration and that remaining seats will remain open while staff continues recruitment efforts.

The presentation noted the council reduced its voting membership from 19 to 15 during a bylaws update last year and added four alternate seats. County staff emphasized the council’s priority of centering lived experience in membership and seeking broad representation.

If advanced on May 6, the appointment of Thomas would be processed as an alternate appointment; no final appointments were recorded during the April 22 session.

Outlook: Staff will return to the board with the May 6 recommendation. Commissioners directed staff to continue outreach to K-12 contacts and to update the applicant matrix before the May meeting.