The Drug and Alcohol Advisory Board exists to review the five-year plan to eliminate drug and alcohol abuse as prepared by the Drug and Alcohol Program Administrator. The Board also advises the Board of Supervisors on issues related to substance abuse prevention and treatment.
The Drug and Alcohol Advisory Board is authorized at eleven members. Currently there are three vacancies. These vacancies were advertised and we conducted interviews of applicants. We are recommending the appointment of the following individuals:
Deborah Vargas who is a resident of South San Francisco and the Executive Director of Free at Last in East Palo Alto.
Reginald Duhe who is a resident of Millbrae and the Executive Director of the East Bay Leadership Foundation.
Dr. Sang-ick Chang who is the Medical Director for Outpatient Services at the San Mateo Medical Center. Dr. Chang is not a resident of San Mateo County. The County Charter requires that members of advisory boards and commissions required by general law and established by ordinance shall be County residents. The Board of Supervisors may provide that less than a quorum of a Board or Commission may be composed of members who are not County residents. We believe that this would be appropriate in this case as there is a great need to expand the collaboration between the Drug and Alcohol Program in the Human Services Agency and the Outpatient Clinics of the San Mateo Medical Center.
Historically, the appointments to the Drug and Alcohol Advisory Board have been made in specific categories. Under the most current County ordinance that reflects current state law, there are revised membership categories. While it is contemplated that members shall be selected that reflect each of the categories, there is no mandatory requirement that individuals be appointed to reflect a specific category. The Program Administrator is required to consult on the five-year plan with individuals representing the suggested categories that are not represented on the Advisory Board.
We recommend that the Program Administrator work with the Drug and Alcohol Advisory Board to clarify categories and that future recruitments for this Board attempt to reflect the unrepresented categories. Once the Program Administrator and the Advisory Board have clarified categories for current members and these new appointees, that information should be forwarded to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors who will need to update the Boards and Commission Roster.
|