First 5 Riverside Unable To Rescind Controversial Grant

On Thursday, First 5 Riverside did not have enough voting members to rescind a controversial, $11.7 million grant to Riverside County's Department of Mental Health or to extend an existing contract with the department. Four of the commission's nine members recused themselves from the decision on rescinding the grant because of conflicts-of-interests. A majority of the commission's voting members approved both actions, but their votes did not represent a majority of the entire commission.

• "First 5 Riverside Has Too Few Votes in Favor of Rescinding a Controversial Grant" (Glick, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 1/16).