Gov. Nathan Deal's choice to be the state's mental health ombudsman is dating the governor's chief spokesman and was chosen without following procedures outlined in state law, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has learned.
Deal named Corinna Magelund to the position earlier this month at a salary $25,000 above what her predecessor made, while also giving Magelund more responsibility. Magelund, who previously served as then-Gov. Sonny Perdue's scheduler, does not have direct hands-on experience in mental health. Deal's office said she was not hired because of her relationship with Brian Robinson, Deal's deputy chief of staff for communications, but for her experience in state government.
The mental health ombudsman is an important job in Georgia, which continues to operate under an agreement with the federal Justice Department to change its mental health system. The agreement followed an investigation into the abuse and deaths of dozens of patients in state mental hospitals, abuse uncovered by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution starting in 2007.
Magelund, in an interview with the AJC,said that while she doesn't have direct mental health experience, her role in Perdue's administration forced her to serve "every constituency there is. "I’ve just seen, with my time with the Perdue Administration, the progression the mental health program in Georgia has gone through."
Magelund, who has a bachelor's degree in communications from Valdosta State and has worked most recently at the Department of Community Affairs, rejects the implication that her relationship with Robinson led to her appointment.
"It has nothing to do with it," she said. "My state service record and job is the reason for this appointment."
Magelund is only the second person to fill the job since it was created in 2000. While the General Assembly created the position, lawmakers did not fund it until 2009 when Jewel Norman became the inaugural ombudsman. Norman, who has a bachelor's and master's degree in psychology, is a former mental health industry executive and served for just more than a year before resigning in August 2010 for health reasons.
The job has since been vacant and mental health advocates have repeatedly called for Perdue and then Deal, who took office in January, to fill it. Magelund, who was paid about $53,000 as Perdue's scheduler, will see her salary double to $107,000 as ombudsman. Norman's salary was $82,000 for the fiscal year that ended June 30, according to state records.
Deal's office referred all questions on the appointment to Bart Gobeil, the state's chief operating officer and a member of Deal's senior staff.
Legislation that created the ombudsman's position says the governor is to appoint a committee of advocates, psychiatrists and law enforcement to choose three finalists for the job. But that did not happen in this case.
"We vetted a number of individuals for that position and considering it was almost a year that it was vacant, and considering the history of that position for not being filled, we wanted to go ahead and put somebody in that job as quickly as possible," Gobeil said.
Gobeil would not provide information about other candidates for the job or say if the state advertised for the position. But, Gobeil said, the governor was sensitive to the advocacy community's desire for action.
"We wanted to do it as quickly and effectively as possible," he said.
Gobeil said he made the decision to hire Magelund and Magelund said she was approached by the governor's office and encouraged to apply. Robinson was not involved, Gobeil said. She was chosen, Gobeil said, for her "unique skill set and understanding of state government that others do not and cannot get that without working in the trenches and bowels of state government like she has."
Much of the job involves helping patients and their families navigate the state bureaucracy to get the services they need. Besides investigating complaints, the ombudsman also collects data on problems and appoints a medical group to review deaths of people under state care.
As Perdue's scheduler, Magelund is steeped in the bureaucratic maze, Gobeil said.
Perdue agreed, and said Magelund had to know agencies and departments inside and out.
"Corinna had as tough of a job as anyone in the Governor’s Office, a job that required her to interact with agencies and people across all of state government," Perdue told the AJC. "She knows how to break through the bureaucracy, reach the right officials and get the answers to her questions, which are all essential to the role that the ombudsman plays in our mental health delivery system."
Gobeil said Magelund will have additional duties. In addition to being the mental health ombudsman, Magelund will also handle the state's response to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the Olmstead case, which requires that the disabled be served in the community, instead of institutions, unless doing so fundamentally alters state services.
The state had been paying an independent contractor $50 an hour for Olmstead response Gobeil said, or $104,000 a year. That contractor's position is being eliminated and Magelund will assume those duties.
Mental health advocates, a vocal and influential community in Georgia, say they will take a wait-and-see approach to Magelund's appointment, but warned they will be watching closely.
"The jury is out," said Nora Haynes, a director of the Georgia chapter of the National Alliance for Mental Illness.
Haynes served on the nominating committee that eventually recommended Norman for the job.
Noting that Magelund does not have that experience, Haynes said nevertheless that she's impressed with Deal's "passion" for the subject.
"And as far as I'm concerned, until I know differently, I am going to trust his judgment," Haynes said.
Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, who chairs the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, is among the most active legislators on mental health issues. She agreed that Magelund had better be ready to learn.
"Whoever is hired, and I don't know this individual, they really have a big plate to step up to," Unterman said. "I don't know how this person was chosen, but whoever it is, within six months you'll know how to do it."
Cynthia Wainscott, a former national chairwoman of Mental Health America, who was instrumental in convincing a federal judge to keep the state's settlement with the Justice Department open, is pleased Deal filled the position.
"It's irrelevant to me who is in the job if that person is behaving with integrity, if they are focused on the people served by the system and are persistent in their advocacy," Wainscott said. "
Sue Jamieson, an attorney with Atlanta Legal Aid who was lead attorney in the Olmstead case, is more concerned those duties are being consolidated under one person.
"To just put that in that office with a person with limited background and somewhat suspect credentials is really disturbing," she said.
Magelund knows she has her work cut out for her, but vowed to serve her new constituencies.
"I am going to work hard to serve the consumers and advocacy community and act as their voice," she said. "Using my contacts and my years of state service and to make sure the state is doing what it can. I’m going to fight tooth and nail for them."
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