The Scarlet Letter-Writing Campaign
The dismissal of Dr. Morgan Medlock, a Black community leader, from her position as the BHA Commissioner sent shockwaves throughout the state. Dr. Medlock's unjust removal sparked this JFM movement, seeking to shed light on the harm inflicted upon Leaders of Color by political structures and to demand justice. The absence of Dr. Medlock in the Governor's cabinet has created a void in steady and transformational leadership within the BHA. Her focused work on systems change and unwavering integrity served as an inspiration for those without a powerful voice, providing hope for marginalized communities. The removal echoes the silencing and punishment experienced by Black leaders advocating for justice and representation.
Michelle Barnes’ recent appointment as BHA Interim Commissioner at the detriment of Medlock feels eerily familiar with the murky circumstances of Reggie Bicha’s resignation. Barnes was originally appointed as CDHS Executive Director in 2019, replacing BIPOC-identifying Bicha who resigned after state lawmakers delivered the Governor a letter of no-confidence. Bicha was appointed by Hickenlooper and replaced by Polis with Barnes, signaling much more nuanced themes of racism, internal bias, and supremacy culture.
The letter-writing tactic tied to Bicha’s removal is curious, and was a key action in Medlock’s dismissal. This tactic was weaponized to provide evidence for Medlock’s removal through public disparagement and capital-building rumors. The disparate and coordinated disparagement of Medlock is now further supported by the uncovering of letters and emails supporting Barnes’ Interim Commissioner placement sent to Governor Polis in the care of Chief of Staff Alec Garnett. These letters have been mentioned in part by journalists, but JFM is now releasing them in full with the help from our network.
The letters have similar themes in celebrating Barnes, calling out the transition, and citing false narratives about the BHA’s performance. There are similar patterns in the writing such as the phrasing of “transforming Colorado’s behavioral health system” and bringing up the same illegitimate reasoning across each text. Others have the same cadence to praise Polis, condemn the BHA, and then mention their excitement over Barnes, in that order. These are not organic letters of support but appear to be part of a public relations ploy.
JFM wonders: Did someone create a template to fill out in order to validate Medlock's removal and share it among this network?
In JFM’s analysis, none of the letters were sent to the Governor before Medlock’s dismissal. Representative Young’s response has the earliest time-stamp at 10:14 pm in the evening on April 17, the day Medlock was dismissed with the subject line: Thanks.
A majority of the letter writers also share a commonality in being former members of the Behavioral Health Task Force (BHTF) which was led by Barnes and Gathercole, who are now the sole members of the BHA’s senior leadership team, signaling another conflict of interest as Maycheco and Chief of Staff Andrew Rauch resigned and Senior Advisor of Children, Youth, and Family, Chris Meyers was reportedly demoted by Barnes and Gathercole securing their leadership above community, not for community.
Response author Van DeMark is a former director of the Office of Behavioral Health in the Colorado Department of Human Services and a former Barnes direct report. This is another relationship connection within the OBH/CDHS circle of influence. This is of importance because all of the former OBH and CDHS parties mentioned along with BHTF members, were active, engaged, and involved in Colorado behavioral health work when the behavioral health crisis peaked, and Colorado was ranked as having one of the worst mental health care systems in the nation. In one year, the BHA’s efforts under Medlock’s leadership significantly improved the National Behavioral Health Overall Ranking and the Youth Ranking. JFM covered The Revolving Door of State Employment for Privileged Identities in a drop from August 5.
The letters and responses were sent to Alec Garnett from:
Vincent Atchity of Mental Health Colorado, with Lauren Snyder as cosigner
Nancy Van DeMark, former director at OBH
Many of the people who sent their letters seemed to have a dislike for Medlock and were waiting for the opportunity to exclaim their feelings for her once she could not respond or hold them accountable. Sources say, Lauren Snyder, Vice President for Government Affairs for Mental Health Colorado, was a participant in the video meeting when advocates asked Medlock, “to explain why she ‘talks so much’ about the mental health needs of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities” and remained silent. Darting’s letter cites “missed deadlines for deliverables by the BHA” as reasons to support the dismissal, which JFM has already debunked. In JFM’s analysis of the BHA's progress reporting, implementation dashboard, and strategic plan we have not found any instances of delayed timelines. We also included Dr. Medlock’s public engagements, press coverage, and statewide tour activities in our information gathering. JFM did find the BHA's current leadership delayed timelines as their first act after Dr. Medlock’s dismissal. It is noticeable that “behind on the timelines” is a reason cited for Dr. Medlock's removal but isn’t the same standard for also holding the BHA’s new, white-identifying leadership, Gathercole and Barnes, accountable.
JFM can imagine that the authors of these inflammatory letters were not expecting a movement of solidarity for a harmed Medlock, but bullying should never be tolerated and silence is never an appropriate response.
In a prior post, JFM cited a direct act of harm towards Medlock, noting that during public testimony with the Joint Budget Committee, legislators rolled their eyes and scoffed in response to Dr. Medlock’s presentation. One of these legislators was letter-writer Senator Pelton. The other was Senator Kirkmeyer. The treatment of Medlock by Pelton and Kirkmeyer marked a stark difference from the treatment of Medlock’s peers, Barnes and Joseph, who testified before her. JFM believes there are publicly available recordings of these hearings and instances of othering. The inappropriate behavior was flagrant enough to prompt an apology call from Senator Zenzinger, chair of the JBC, to Medlock expressing disbelief in what she witnessed but didn’t stop.
Many of the letter writers hold senior leadership positions at their respective organizations or serve in the legislature. How did their public and outright support of dismissing Medlock, a Black-identifying leader, and the appointment of Barnes, a white-identifying leader, make their staff and constituents feel?
Complicity to racism, oppression, and harm is an act of racism, oppression, and harm.
Vagueness as a Tool for Whiteness to Harm
JFM has documented and provided evidence of a toxic, hostile, racist, and retaliatory culture. Vincent Actchity’s letter, cosigned by his colleague, Snyder, cites staff discussing racism within the BHA as the “BHA culture has been described as ‘toxic,’ ‘hostile,’ ‘racist,’ and ‘retaliatory’—none of which inspired confidence or are characteristics suitable for the successful implementation of this challenging transformation of our state’s health care system.”
This is another act of harm linked to the use of vague language. These behaviors listed in quotation marks by Atchity and Snyder, without context or examples, are obtuse. Atchity and Snyder’s letter demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of what equity means and contributes to a climate of fear, mistrust, and division.
These claims without context or examples are a dog whistle. A dog whistle refers to coded language or subtle expressions that may not be overtly racist but carry underlying messages targeting specific racial or ethnic groups, appealing to prejudices or discriminatory attitudes.
Snyder cosigned the letter claiming characteristics like racism and hostility, the very acts that she herself witnessed being deployed to harm Medlock in the advocate meeting. A possible sign of a deeper moral conflict, Snyder was the loudest voice decrying Garnett’s Fentanyl Bill in a COLab event with journalist Susan Greene, but joined his letter-writing campaign against Medlock when convenient? JFM believes the cited criticism of Dr. Medlock and those applauding her removal raises ethical and accountability concerns missing from the current public narrative.
Support for Medlock Dismissed
JFM has copies of three group letters written in support of Medlock’s reinstatement sent to the Governor by local BIPOC community leaders and National behavioral health leaders. In addition, nearly 500 people have signed the petition to reinstate Medlock, sharing positive notes about her leadership and transformational contributions.
The JFM movement shared an update about a group of ten influential Black-identifying Colorado community leaders who support Dr. Medlock and call for her reinstatement. The Black leaders received no response to their outreach. Now that the Mental Health Colorado letters and emails have been uncovered, it is clear that Mr. Atchity did get a response. This is another example in an exhausting list of mistreatment against those with BIPOC identities by the State of Colorado.
Community Letter from Denver-Rocky Mountain Association of Black Psychologists
Community Letter from Black Psychiatrists of America, Inc. (BPA)
Why are the BHTF letters supporting her dismissal given more weight than the growing movement in support of her reinstatement? It is safe to theorize that racism is involved, as many members of the Justice for Medlock movement and network are BIPOC-identifying and represent the global majority.
Have you been confronted about your racist, harmful, and oppressive behaviors? Have you considered apologizing? JFM encourages you to explore the concept of "processing right to comfort" to better understand its significance. In our efforts to dismantle systemic racism and foster inclusivity, uncomfortable conversations and confrontations are bound to occur. It's essential to remember that JFM’s intention is not to be adversarial but to promote growth and awareness. If you find JFM’s words hitting close to home, take the opportunity to introspect and understand the reasons behind your reactions.