FARMINGTON — Franklin County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to remove a Wilton man from the Franklin County Opioid Settlement Committee.
The action followed a nearly hourlong executive session and another April 2 involving Keith Amato. No information on his dismissal was given.
Chairman Lance Harvell of Farmington, Bob Carlton of Freeman Township and Terry Brann of Wilton voted to remove Amato from the volunteer panel.
The Sun Journal reached out to Amato for a comment after the meeting via Facebook Messenger.
“I am a person in recovery and suffer (post-traumatic stress disorder) due to childhood trauma,” he wrote. “That is why I signed up for the committee. I am sad that my voice didn’t matter and that I had to find out from a newspaper reporter rather than the commissioners.”
County Administrative Assistant Jamie Sullivan said Wednesday that she sent an email right after Tuesday’s meeting to inform Amato that he was removed. Another person from the county also sent an email to him.
Amato said he saw the emails when he opened his office email after the Sun Journal reached out to him.
County Administrator Amy Bernard said in 2023 that the county anticipates receiving $777,000 over the next 18 years from the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical settlement. Money from other settlements is expected. Two grants for $10,000 each have been approved.
The nine-member advisory committee was set up in 2023 to recommend grant applications to commissioners using settlement funds from a lawsuit related to overprescribing opioid medications. The committee is made up of health care and behavioral professionals, the OPTIONS liaison for Franklin County, and community stakeholders. Applicants must support one or more of the following goals: prevention, treatment, harm reduction and recovery, and must support work in Franklin County, according to the county website.
The committee now has eight members.
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