DATE: Friday, November 21, 1997             TAG: 9711210634

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B4   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   60 lines

COMMUNITY SERVICES BOARD: 5 CANDIDATES LEFT FOR TOP POSITION BEACH PANEL HOPES TO HIRE THE NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR BY EARLY NEXT YEAR.

Two months after firing its executive director over a building plan gone bad, the Community Services Board is poised to begin the serious business of picking a replacement to Dennis I. Wool.

On Thursday, the board learned that a field of 59 applicants has been whittled to five by the city's Human Resources Department, which oversees the screening of all city workers.

The final advisory and selection panels are nearly in place that will bring the city a new director by January or February.

``We think we have some really good, well-qualified candidates,'' said Fagan D. Stackhouse, the city's human resources director. Citing city policy, he declined to name any of the candidates.

Stackhouse and Donna Weidner, staffing and placement coordinator at human resources, and Margaret Grubbs, a personnel assistant who has worked with the agencies overseen by the board, narrowed the original field based on the job application that was publicized after Wool resigned Sept. 25.

Wool, who served as executive director for almost 14 years, became involved in a controversy over the board's still pending plans to consolidate its services to a new location on Bonney Road.

The project has been put on hold because it is anticipated to cost possibly $3 million more than originally projected. The board, at the request of City Council, is undergoing a complete review of the project, its costs, and, significantly, the projected income streams from the various funding sources that will help pay for the project.

The job notice was posted from Oct. 26 to Nov. 11 in local newspapers, three national publications, the city's Web page and in a North Carolina newspaper. The initial screenings were held Nov. 12.

The posting described the range of services provided by the board's three main divisions: mental health, mental retardation and substance abuse services. The Community Services Board has an annual budget of $19 million, a staff of 373 and more than 700 volunteers who support programs. The director's salary range is $62,330 to $93,496.

The interview process will involve two groups. The first will be an advisory panel composed of five to seven people from city management, members of consumer advocacy groups and a board director from another jurisdiction. Its role will be to narrow the final candidates to one or two.

The second, a nine-member selection panel, will be made up of board chairman Donald V. Jellig; vice chair Priscilla M. Beede; Mitchell D. Broudy, an attorney who chaired the mental health committee; Forrest Sullivan, the secretary treasurer; and board member Stanley Sawyer, who chairs the substance abuse committee. Sawyer will chair the selection committee.

Three additional people who represent the areas of clinical concern for the board will serve on the panel: Dr. James M. Laster, a psychiatrist who works in the mental health division; Kathy Hall, substance abuse program director; and John E. Richardson, a former board member and chairman who has a son in the system. One more board member will be appointed later.

The selection panel will have final say on who is appointed, and Jellig said the panel is under no obligation to make a selection if it finds the final applicant wanting in some way.

The final candidate also must pass a background check before the job will be offered.

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