COMMISSIONERS QUESTION TASC ON PLAN TO BECOME NON-PROFIT

A local government agency that works on drug treatment and drug prevention
programs is trying to become a non-profit corporation separate from the
Athens County government.

And while the agency tries to evolve, at least two Athens County
Commissioners have some questions about how the agency is being organized
and whether it's the best way to fight the drug war.

The agency in question is the Athens/Hocking/Vinton Treatment Alternatives
to Street Crimes (TASC). Charles Walker, director of operations for TASC,
discussed the changes that TASC wants to undertake with the commissioners
last week.

TASC currently does not charge for its services and receives all of its
revenue from grant funding. By becoming a non-profit corporation, TASC can
bill for its services and receive funding from other areas, Walker said.
Much of the billing, he added, would be through government programs such as
Medicaid.

The agency wants to become self-supporting, and this is a natural process
that it is going through to become a more effective agency, Walker said. In
order to become a non-profit corporation, it needs the assistance of the
Athens County Commissioners, who currently oversee TASC. The assistance
Walker sought last week involved reorganizing TASC because some currently
vacant positions are being eliminated and new positions are being created.

During their meeting last Tuesday, the commissioners said they want to help
TASC grow, but Commissioners Mark Sullivan and Bill Theisen raised some
questions about that growth.

Sullivan particularly questioned why TASC is going to pay $26,000 a year
for the new position of a part-time, 20-hour-a-week internal auditor.

Walker said the position is needed for all of the financial paperwork
connected with the reorganization.

Sullivan said, however, that he doubts that all of the work the agency is
talking about can be completed in 20 hours a week. If the position is
pushed up to full-time, that would raise the salary to $52,000 a year, he
said. If the salary is that high, Sullivan added, people in positions above
the internal auditor likely would want their salaries raised as well.

Walker said he does not want to deceive the commissioners and added that
it's likely that the position could be moved to full-time in the future.

Commissioner Theisen said that the agency is continuing to grow and grow
and cost more and more, and he wondered if it is worth all of the money.

With all of the drug problems in the country, Theisen said he wonders if
more money shouldn't be spent in law enforcement and stopping the drug
problem that way, instead of on treatment programs.

Walker responded by saying how the majority of money already is spent on
law enforcement and trying to stop drugs from entering the country. He said
it's very important to fund programs such as TASC. He and Theisen, Walker
said, simply have different philosophies on the best way to solve the drug
problem.