Gov. Cooper names new appointees for state boards and commissions

Gov. Roy Cooper has appointed 21 new members to five North Carolina Boards and Commissions. One of the appointees to the North Carolina Commission for Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services, Brett Schulthorp, is from Asheville. Also hailing from Asheville, is Hartwell Carson, who joins the North Carolina Sedimentation Control Commission. Natalie Berry of Hendersonville will be on the same commission. The other 18 are from other regions of North Carolina.

Press release from the office of the governor:

Today, Gov. Roy Cooper named 21 new appointees to various state boards and commissions, including the North Carolina Commission for Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services and the North Carolina Sedimentation Control Commission. “I appreciate these North Carolinians offering their time and expertise to serve their communities and our state in these important appointments,” Gov. Cooper said. Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individuals to the North Carolina Commission for Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services: Danielle Coleman of Charlotte as a member who is a mental health professional. Coleman currently serves as the Clinical Director of the Psychosocial Rehabilitation Services Program for Empowerment Quality Care Service in Charlotte. Coleman is also an outpatient therapist at Salisbury Psychiatric Associates, PC. Ann Akland of Knightdale as an immediate family member of a consumer of mental health services. Akland is a longtime member and leader at the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Wake County Affiliate. The Honorable Carla Cunningham of Charlotte as an immediate family member of a consumer of mental health services. Rep. Cunningham serves in the North Carolina House and is a lifelong advocate for mental health causes. Dr. Randall Best of Raleigh as a member who is a professional in the field of developmental disabilities. Best is currently an attending physician in both the Emergency Department of Durham VA Medical Center and in the Division of Emergency Medicine at Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Anthony Haire of Fayetteville as a member who is a qualified professional in the field of developmental disabilities. Haire is a behavioral therapist who works with the Community Re-Entry Program in Fayetteville. Barton Cutter of Raleigh as a consumer of developmental disabilities services. Cutter is the co-owner and manager of Cutter’s Edge Consulting, LLC, which provides individual and team coaching to business leaders and professionals. Azell Reeves of Greensboro as an immediate family member of a consumer of developmental disabilities services. Reeves has previously served two terms as an appointed member of the North Carolina Council on Development Disabilities (NCCDD) and co-founded the Guilford County Schools Exceptional Children Parent Advisory Council. Brett Schulthorp of Asheville as a member who is a substance abuse prevention specialist. Sculthorp is currently a therapist at the Asheville Counseling and Wellness Center and previously served as a therapist for Parkway Behavioral Health. Chief Thomas Bashore of Nashville as a member with experience in controlled substances. Bashore is the Chief of Police for the Town of Nashville Police Department and previously worked in the Rocky Mount Police Department. Chief Bashore started the HOPE Initiative in February 2016 which has helped more than 200 individuals with substance use disorder start their recovery. Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individual to the Governor’s Teacher Advisory Committee: Deborah M. Brown of Cary as a member who is an active classroom teacher. Brown is the English Department Chair and the Director of Professional Development at Research Triangle High School in Durham. She was named the 2017 North Carolina Charter School Teacher of the Year. Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individual to the Medical Care Commission: Karen Moriarty of Raleigh as an at-large member. Moriarty is the founder and CEO of Carillon Assisted Living, an assisted living provider in NC. Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individuals to the Governor’s Advisory Council on Aging: Loris McLellon of Whiteville as an at-large member. McLellon is an employee of WENC 1220 AM and previously served as the Director of the Lower Cape Fear Hospice Center and a home health nurse. Steve Mostofsky of Greensboro as an at-large member. Mostofsky is the President and CEO of TTI Global Resources, which specializes in the sale of hosiery and apparel. Mostofsky has also served as the Director of Sourcing for Sara Lee Hosiery.  Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individuals to the North Carolina Sedimentation Control Commission:  Hartwell Carson of Asheville as a non-governmental conservationist. Carson serves as the French Broad Riverkeeper is also an elected council member of the International Waterkeeper Alliance. Carson previously served as a member of the City of Asheville’s Watershed Policy Committee and Flood Damage Reduction Task Force. Heather Jacobs Deck of Washington as a non-governmental conservationist. Jacobs Deck is the deputy director of Sound Rivers, Inc., where she serves as the Pamlico-Tar Riverkeeper. She also serves on the NC Lagoon Advisory Committee and as the treasurer for the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Conservation Network. Dr. Albert Rubin of Pittsboro as an Environmental Management Commission representative. Rubin retired from NC State’s Department of Biological Sciences and Agricultural Engineering in 2004. He is an expert on the performance and reliability of wastewater treatment systems, and wastewater management, and biosolids recovery and disposal. LeToya Ogallo of Raleigh as a public utility representative. Ogallo is a senior environmental specialist with Duke Energy, where she is a subject matter expert on issues of environmental permitting and compliance for coal, natural gas, and nuclear power plants. She previously worked as an environmental engineer for the North Carolina Division of Water Resources and the Division of Water Quality. Natalie Berry of Hendersonville as a member nominated by the League of Municipalities and Association of County Commissioners. Berry is a project engineer for Henderson County Engineering Department, and she has served on the Henderson County Technical Review Committee. Jonathan Bivens of Wilson as a member nominated by the Association of General Contractors. Bivens is the vice president for engineering for S.T. Wooten Corporation. He also serves on the NCDOT/AGC Roadway and Design/Build Committees. Mark Taylor of Greensboro as a member nominated by the Professional Engineers of N.C. Taylor is a senior consultant with Golder Associates, Inc., an environmental services company. He has more than 35 years of experience in consulting, engineering design, construction management, and teaching. Dr. Susan White of Raleigh as the chair of the Commission. White is the executive director for the North Carolina Sea Grant and the Water Resources Research Institute (WRRI) for the University of North Carolina. She also serves as interim director of North Carolina Space Grant, a program in partnership with the NASA and the University of North Carolina system.