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Board recommends Douglas Brinker to Lifeways board; full board votes to appoint
Summary
After a public comment in which he described his experience with Lifeways, Douglas Brinker was nominated by the Human Services Committee and recommended to the full Jackson County Board, which approved his appointment as Lifeways primary consumer member through March 2028.
Douglas Brinker, who spoke during public comment about his lived experience and veteran peer-support work, was recommended by the Human Services Committee and appointed by the Jackson County Board to serve as the primary consumer member on the Lifeways Community Mental Health board through March 2028.
Brinker told commissioners he first sought treatment at Lifeways in September 1999 after suicide attempts and later worked for nearly eight years as a veteran peer support specialist with Lifeways. “I sought treatment at Lifeways in September 1999,” he said during public comment, and later described his veteran-peer work as coming “full circle.”
Human Services Committee chair Earl Pulaski said the committee received roughly half a dozen applicants for the vacancy and moved to recommend Brinker. During the committee vote, Pulaski called for the ayes in recommending Brinker; the committee supported forwarding his name to the full board. The full board later voted to approve the appointment; commissioners voiced appreciation to all applicants and welcomed Brinker to the Lifeways board.
The appointment fills the primary consumer seat on the Lifeways board for a term expiring March 2028. Commissioners did not attach additional conditions to the appointment in the recorded discussion.
No formal legal authority beyond the county’s appointment procedures was cited during the nomination and vote.
