Sangamon County’s newly formed Mental Health Board held its inaugural meeting on May 27, with retired Judge Steve Nardulli elected chair. The board elected Lawyer and lobbyist Brian Wojcicki as vice chair and re-entry coordinator Jennifer Douglas as secretary. Other inaugural members include Janice Gambach, former CEO of Memorial Behavioral Health; William Moredock, president of Sacred Heart-Griffin High School; Margaret Seymour, a psychiatric clinician; and Leigh Steiner, former CEO of Andrew McFarland Mental Health Center.
The board approved a motion to add two additional members—Michael Gaines, corrections coordinator for the Illinois Department of Public Health, and David Racine, former executive director of the Center for State Policy and Leadership at University of Illinois Springfield—bringing the board to a maximum of nine members. The board will hold meetings at 3 p.m. on the fourth Wednesday of every month in room 223 of the county building, open to the public.
Funds from a 0.5% sales tax levy beginning July 1 will not be available for distribution until at least October, according to the board’s acknowledgment that the coming months will focus on organization. County administrator Brian McFadden estimated the sales tax levy would bring in $14.7 million annually, providing sustainable, consistent funding unlike grants that may arrive and disappear.
Community Input and Planning
Chair Nardulli emphasized that the board will need to solicit community input regarding funding priorities, noting that while the $15 million annual projection is significant, it cannot address all issues that require attention. “It is extremely important that we involve the community to the greatest extent possible,” he said. He stressed the importance of adapting to community needs rather than solely following previous commission recommendations. Nardulli also highlighted the importance of valuing mental health across the entire county regardless of background or ethnicity, noting from his experience in juvenile court that differences between communities stem from pigmentation, not from core issues like alienation or substance abuse problems.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.illinoistimes.com/news/new-mental-health-board-convenes/