The Post-Standard

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Mental health chief denies getting check

Cayuga County Mental Health Director David Blair Wednesday denied allegations he received money from a local nonprofit mental health agency to help pay for his legal fight against the county.

Blair said he’s going to meet with a different lawyer next week to start the process for suing the county for allegedly smearing his reputation.

“I’m going to move forward at this point. Defamation, libel — call it what you will but to say somebody is taking money improperly, that’s the last straw,” he said.

However, county Legislator Ann Petrus, R-Brutus, stood by her story that Blair received a check for an undisclosed amount of money to cover his legal fees from the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Cayuga County.

Petrus said she believes Therese Wasilenko, president of the nonprofit agency, “cut the check” for Blair and his lawyer at a Community Services Board meeting this year.

“It was for services for an attorney,” she said.

A board member, Petrus said she never saw Wasilenko give the check to Blair or to his lawyer, Joseph Glazer, of Albany, both of whom attended the meeting.

She said she left the meeting when it appeared Wasilenko was going to write the check because she felt it was improper for Blair to receive money from an organization that works with him.

Since then, the county ethics committee been investigating the matter.

Tuesday, County Attorney Frederick Westphal asked acting state Supreme Court Justice Mark Fandrich to uphold a subpoena from the committee that would compel Wasilenko to answer questions and furnish NAMI’s checkbook and register to the county.

Riccardo Galbato, Wasilenko’s lawyer, asked Fandrich to deny the request.

He said neither Wasilenko nor her organization should have to comply with the subpoena because she doesn’t work for the county and NAMI is not a county agency.

Fandrich asked the lawyers to permit him to review the checkbook and register in private. They are to meet with their clients and respond to him by Tuesday.

Wasilenko declined to comment other than to say “the truth will come out.”

Blair, who’s in his 20th year as mental health director, said he’s never taken money from NAMI “and that will become apparent in the judge’s chambers.” He volunteers for the organization, which advocates for the mentally ill.

Besides the ethics investigation, Blair has also tweaked the noses of county officials on several other fronts for some time. Among them, say county officials:

Failing to keep the county fully informed about his plans — which could require spending local tax dollars — to bring the mental health clinic into compliance with state standards.

Failing to seek county legislature approval of contracts he has authorized for independent mental health providers.

County Manager Wayne Allen said he has “written up” Blair for insubordination, including missing his most recent job performance evaluation.

In turn, county lawmakers have pulled giving a $2,757 raise to Blair next year. He makes $86,178.

“This is an issue between an employer and an employee and the terms and conditions of employment, and he ... needs to fall in compliance,” Allen said.

Blair said he works for the community services board — which is appointed by the county legislature — and not for the county.

He believes the county is trying to take control of the mental health clinic and that is spurring an ongoing power struggle between him and county officials.

However, Allen, Petrus and county Treasurer James Orman all said Blair works for the county and draws his pay from the county.

“We’ll stop the check, then we’ll see who’s working for who,” Petrus said.

Scott Rapp can be reached at srapp@syracuse.com or 253-7316.