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Maine Recovery Council Members
The membership of the Maine Recovery Council is established by the Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) between the Attorney General and certain litigating Subdivisions in Maine, as amended on June 13, 2022, and state law, 5 M.R.S.A. § 203-C. The MOU charges the Council members to direct the disbursement of recovery funds for recovery purposes on a statewide basis for the uses allowed by the MOU (see exhibits 1 and 2 of the MOU).
The MOU provides for eleven (11) Council members, as follows:
- The Litigating Subdivisions shall appoint at least four (4) members;
- The Governor shall appoint two (2) members;
- The Speaker of the House or his designee;
- The President of the Senate or his designee;
- The Attorney General shall appoint three (3) public members from among the following:
- Individuals or family members impacted by the Opioid Crisis;
- Individuals with substance use disorder and recovery community experience; and
- Public health experts in treatment or prevention.
State law, 5 M.R.S.A. § 203-C, provides for four (4) additional voting members as follows:
- One member who is a medical professional with direct experience providing medication-assisted treatment, appointed by the President of the Senate;
- One member representing reentry services for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals and their families, appointed by the President of the Senate;
- One member representing a nonprofit community-based provider of mental health treatment, appointed by the Speaker of the House; and
- One member representing the harm reduction community, appointed by the Speaker of the House.
Recovery Council Members
Litigating Subdivisions Appointees
- Liz Blackwell-Moore, MPH; Public Health Director, Cumberland County
- Todd Brackett, Sheriff, Lincoln County
- Betsy Fitzgerald, County Manager (retired), Washington County
- Eric Small, Deputy Chief of Police, City of Sanford
Governor Appointees
- Gordon Smith – Director of Opioid Response, Office of the Governor
- Benjamin Mann, Deputy Commissioner for Finance, Maine Department of Health and Human Services
Speaker of the House Appointees
- Hon. Lydia Crafts, LCSW; Maine State Representative – District 46
- Joseph Everett, President & CEO, The Opportunity Alliance
- Chasity Tuell, Northern Maine Director of Harm Reduction Services, Maine Access Points
President of the Senate Appointees
- Myles Ouellette, MBA, LADC, CCS, Van Buren
- Dr. Kinna Thakarar, Infectious disease/addiction medicine physician
- Bruce Noddin, Executive Director/Founder, Maine Prisoner Re-Entry Network
Attorney General Appointees
- Dr. Paul Vinsel, Physician practicing addiction medicine, Tri-County Mental Health Services
- Pat Kimball, Hermon
- Courtney Gary-Allen, Organizing Director, Maine Recovery Advocacy Project
Executive Committee
- Pat Kimball, Chair
- Courtney Gary-Allen, Co-Vice Chairperson
- Bruce Noddin, Co-Vice Chairperson
- Ben Mann, Treasurer
- Betsy Fitzgerald, Secretary
- Gordon Smith, At Large
- Eric Small, At Large
Governance Committee
- Pat Kimball
- Gordon Smith
- Courtney Gary-Allen
- Betsy Fitzgerald
- Eric Small
Finance Committee
- Ben Mann, Chair
- Myles Ouellette
- Paul Vinsel, Secretary
- Todd Brackett
- Courtney Gary-Allen
- Pat Kimball
- Rep, Lydia Crafts
Program/Grants/Needs/Planning/Collaboration Committee
- Joe Everett, Chair
- Myles Ouellette
- Chasity Tuell, Secretary
- Liz Blackwell-Moore
- Kinna Thakarar
- Gordon Smith
- Bruce Noddin
- Todd Brackett
- Pat Kimball
An ad hoc working group (MS Word) provides recommendations to the Council for long-term prevention funding.