NAMI CALIFORNIA BOARD MEETING MINUTES
January 20, 2007
LARKSPUR LANDING
555 Howe Ave., Sacramento, CA 95825
DIRECTORS PRESENT:
Mark Gale; Ralph Nelson Jr., M.D., President; Brenda
Scott; Richard Alvarez; Sharon Roth, First Vice President;
Karen H. Henry, J.D.; Paul Cumming; Jeri CrumVanlandingham; Donna Wallis, Second Vice President
BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT:
Darlene Prettyman, Secretary; Coleen Peters, Treasurer;
Candace Jackson
STAFF PRESENT:
Grace McAndrews, Executive Director; Heidi Grether,
Board Secretary
GUESTS PRESENT:
Jeff Borders, IT Consultant
____________________________________________________________________________
CALL TO ORDER
President Nelson called the meeting to order on January 20, 2007 at
9:00 a.m.
ESTABLISH
QUORUM
President Nelson declared that a quorum was present to conduct
business.
COMMITTEE
REPORTS
Education Committee: Donna Wallis went over the Education
Committee Report. (Handout # 9). The board discussed the
possibility of funding a statewide Parents and Teachers as Allies
program.
Mark Gale explained that NAMI C.A.R.E. is still waiting for
funding to expand the program nationally. Donna will do some
research on NAMI C.A.R.E. and bring it back to the board at the
next meeting.
Donna Wallis, Nancy Carter and Donna Pollard have been invited
to Arlington Virginia to participate in the Young Family Program.
Finance Committee: Mark Gale has been replaced as Chair of
the committee by Paul Cumming.
Mental Health Services Ad Hoc Committee: Ralph Nelson
explained that Dede Ranahan, MHSA Policy Coordinator will be
attending most meetings as the NAMI California representative.
The “expert pool” that is being developed will then speak to the
commission. Ralph also stressed the importance of expanding
the membership reception of NAMI California News in order to
educate members on laws and upcoming legislation. Dede
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Ranahan and Rebecca Hawkins will be visiting NAMI Affiliates to
encourage family members and consumers to attend MHSA
meetings.
Donna Wallis announced that MHSA Orange County will be using
the NAMI Orange County office for an outreach to the Hispanic
community.
Observer Corp:

CA Coalition for Mental Health: Sharon Roth was unable
to attend the meeting. She referred everyone to the
minutes included in the board packet.

Housing: Jeri Crum-Vanlandingham went over her report.
(Handout #10).
Consumer Committee: Karen Henry, Chair explained that she
has received about ten applications for the Consumer Committee.
She and Paul Cumming, Vice Chair, will be going through the
applications and choosing five. She is working on putting
together a cost estimate to hold a meeting in April.
Government Affairs Committee: (Handouts #11, #12, & #13).
Karen Henry, Chair presented the Comparison of Perata, Nunez,
and Schwarzenegger Health Care Reform Proposals, Assembly
Bill 8 and Senate Bill 48.
Ralph explained that as Vice Chair of the committee Mark Gale
will be in charge of monitoring federal legislation and keeping the
board informed.
OLD BUSINESS
Board Member/Affiliate Liaison Discussion: The board discussed
the board member/affiliate liaison assignments. Ralph feels that
board members should not be the liaisons to their own affiliate as
this may cause a conflict of interest. Mark Gale feels that it’s
important for the board members to be assigned affiliates that are
close to where they live so that they can attend the affiliate
meetings and stay in close touch.
CLOSED SESSION
The meeting went into closes session from 11:06 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
NEW BUSINESS

Inmate Medication Information Form Update: Mark Gale
informed the board that on at the next meeting which will
be held on February 8, 2007 the Board of Directors of the
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California Inmate Association will be discussing the inmate
medication form. Mark would like this form to be available
to the public via affiliate websites as well as being
available in the public visitors lobby for families to fill out.

Creation of NAMI California State Hospital Committee:
This is a subdivision of the Criminal Justice Committee but
has never been implemented due to lack of funding.
Ralph would like the sub-committee to be re-addressed by
the board. Ralph would like to see a NAMI member sitting
on the advisory committee for every state hospital.

Implementation of Laura’s Law: Mark Gale would like
NAMI California to take the lead on implementing Laura’s
Law around the state. Ralph Nelson feels that NAMI
California needs to take a realistic look at what we can
and can’t do. Ralph also reminded the board members
that it is up to each county whether they want to
implement Laura’s Law or not. The board discussed the
different restrictions on the funds that may be in effect.

Re-think Two-day Board Meetings: Ralph Nelson
explained why the board meetings were extended to twoday meetings. The board agreed that due to the agenda
it’s necessary for the meetings to remain this duration.
Sharon Roth explained that Mondays no longer work for
her due to her work schedule, therefore, the April board
meeting dates have been moved to the evening of
Thursday the 12th – Saturday the 14th.

Presentation on Affiliate Membership Update: Jeff
Borders, IT Consultant presented his updated affiliate
membership database to the board. Jeff suggested
forming an IT Advisory Committee of like minded people
from the various affiliates. He has also created an Affiliate
Membership Information Form template that can be
customized for the individual affiliates. The board
discussed the best way to collect data from the members
and affiliates.
MOTION 1: 1/20/07: Move to adopt the document for membership
the way it is presented to us. Brenda Scott moved. Sharon Roth
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seconded. Mark Gale asked to amend the motion to read that
“illness of concern” information be collected as a new column with
an “illness indicator” for each individual family member. Donna
Wallis seconded. The vote was unanimous. The amendment
passed. The motion passed as amended.
Jeff also demonstrated MemberNet to the board. The
final product should be up and running by the April board
meeting. Mark Gale expressed his concerns with the fact
that the website is incomplete, he asked how project turn
around time can be improved. Jeff explained how some
of the current membership issues have come about and
how they will be resolved. Membership calls are directed
to the accounting department.

RECESSED FOR
THE DAY
2007 Conference Theme: The theme for the 2007
conference will be “From Dream to Reality”. The board
discussed who this year’s key note speaker will be.
The meeting recessed for the day at 5:30 p.m.
April 13, 2007
Date
Sharon Roth, First Vice President
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