Minutes of June 8, 2006 Meeting

Committee members present: Gary McElligott, Joe Anne Bowerman, Angela Nelson, Bill Gilkey, Ken George, John Foster, Sammie Johnson, Denna Lacefield, Elizabeth Carter, Leanne Duvall, Hayley Hogue, Jeff Phillips, Chuck Dunn, Vicki Sutton, Tom Tatum II, Lynda Baxter, Pat Briley, Marti Wilkerson Montie Sims, Marie Lawrence, Robin, Martin.

The meeting was called to order by Gary McElligott. Mr. McElligott welcomed and thanked everyone for coming. He gave a brief overview of what the drug coalition was all about and what some of the future goals are for the organization for Yell County.

Sheriff Bill Gilkey was introduced and told everyone that he is pleased to see that we are trying to get this project started in Yell County, that we have a sever problem with meth and drug abusers here in our area. He said that he would most like to see Yell County add a Drug Offenders Court to help aid in the fight against drug abuse, and would free up jail space and cut down on the overloaded court dockets. He stated that Detective John Foster would be assisting in and designing a new web page for the coalition. Some of the other goals would be to give “on call” bags to kids from Child Protection Services, as well as have laminated cards made to give out at schools. Chuck Dunn from the Yell County Record also stated that he would be able to help inform the public of the impact drug abuse is having on our community, as well as provide printing for brochures and leaflets free of charge to help get things started.

Marti Wilkerson presented a PowerPoint presentation that showed some of the issues and problems that the Pope County Drug Coalition has been working on. She stated she was pleased to see how much support that Yell County is willing to give to such a needed cause.

The committee then broke up into three groups who met for a few minutes. The groups were; “Distribution”, “Production” and “Use”. Each group made notes for their goals and they are as follows:

• Website - John Foster
• Articles
• Drug Courts
• Lead Sheet Flyer
• Meth Awareness (Teachers, etc.)
• School Programs

• To get the policies together and implement a structured one.
• Get trained in the protocol of how to handle the situation.
• Assemble a "mock" situation.

• Add school representation to future meetings.
• Ask Freedom House Director and Judges to attend meetings.
• Make it a "court ordered" requirement for offenders/abusers to attend mandatory group therapy if available.
• Get members of child developement centers and the Boys & Girls Clubs involved with the coalition to aid in early prevention and detection.
• Recruit a Spanish speaking interpreter to assist with the Hispanic population.

Mr. McElligott then asked a representative from each group to come forward and tell the group of the topics discussed and their goals. It was discussed among the attendee’s as to when would be a good time for everyone to have monthly meetings that would rotate between Dardanelle and Danville. The next meeting was set for July 6th, and future meetings will follow on the first Thursday of each month.

The meeting was then adjourned.