Community Services Board Getting Smaller

All three local governing bodies have approved a resolution calling for a reduction in the number of members on the Rockbridge Area Community Services Board from 15 to 10.

Lexington and Buena Vista city councils each approved the resolution Jan. 2 and the Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors adopted the resolution at its meeting in December.

The RACS Board was created by resolutions of the cities and Rockbridge County in 1982, with Bath County joining in 1992. RACSB provides mental health services to the localities and is currently overseen by a 15-member board comprised of three appointed representatives apiece from Bath County, Buena Vista and Lexington, and six from Rockbridge County.

The reduction came at the request of Community Services Board Executive Director Kate Shaw, who cited potential benefits to doing so, including making it easier to obtain a quorum to hold meetings. The goal is to keep the distribution of membership even, so the proposed reduction will drop Lexington, Buena Vista and Bath County from three members each to two and Rockbridge County from six members to four.

The reduction is to be achieved through attrition over the next year or two - by not reappointing some members when their terms expire.