Rules Committee forwards two Mental Health Board nominees to full Board

The Rules Committee on Nov. 4 voted to forward two nominees to the Board for appointment to the San Francisco Mental Health Board for terms ending Jan. 31, 2016.

Eugene Porfido, who had previously applied, told the committee he would withdraw his family-seat application and pursue a consumer-seat vacancy in January. Deborah Hardy said she had cared for her brother for 25 years and emphasized concern for both the most severely mentally ill and broader community access to services; she said she invites input from diverse groups, including youth and veterans.

Benny Wong, a clinical social worker and program director at Stepping Stone/Delta Health Center, described 13 years working in the city’s mental-health system, advocacy for Asian American seniors, research on suicide and life satisfaction and examples of client outreach. Ulash (Elish) Dunlap, a licensed marriage and family therapist and school counselor, highlighted work with Richmond Area Multi Services, experience serving undocumented students and families, and leadership roles in Asian-American mental-health organizations; Dunlap said he wants to represent South Asian and other underrepresented communities.

Supervisors praised the applicants and discussed representation and city needs — including youth services and outreach to immigrant communities — as factors in their deliberations. Supervisor David Campos noted a lack of South Asian representation on the board and said that consideration helped inform his preference.

Following discussion, Supervisor Campos moved to forward Deborah Hardy for seat 13 and Ulash (Ulash) Dunlap for seat 15 to the full Board. With no objections, the committee forwarded both nominations with a positive recommendation.