IRON MOUNTAIN — Town hall informational meetings will take place in the three counties served by Northpointe Behavioral Healthcare System as the mental health agency deals with claims of “deficiencies” raised during a joint meeting last week of the three county boards.

The first question-and-answer session is scheduled for Wednesday in Dickinson County, followed by a meeting Thursday in Iron County and one in Menominee County on a date yet to be set.

The Dickinson County Board met Monday morning to discuss Northpointe, spending part of the 90 minutes hearing members of the public defend the agency.

George Wiedenhoeft of Iron Mountain asked “Where is the evidence?” of wrongdoing. The controversy amounts to “a few people wanting to stir the pot” and “playing political games under the rug,” he said.

Wiedenhoeft, in a talk sprinkled with mild expletives, said he feels “anger and embarrassment” over the conduct of some county board members.

Last Tuesday’s tri-county meeting ended with resolutions being offered for a no-confidence vote on Northpointe CEO Jennifer Cescolini. Dickinson board member Barbara Kramer, who’s raised numerous Northpointe issues, said Monday the Dickinson board planned no action until Iron and Menominee counties meet individually.

Cescolini attended Monday’s session and acknowledged “a lack of communication with the county boards” but said she’s committed to moving forward and answering all questions. Her main worry, she said, is that people could lose confidence in Northpointe’s services.

The Daily News on Saturday published Cescolini’s summary of Northpointe’s funding — of which county appropriations are 1% — and barriers to providing crisis services in Menominee County, where most staff are not licensed to practice at the area’s main hospital in Marinette, Wis.

Robert Roberge, who has represented Dickinson County on the Northpointe Board for five years, said his initial impression was the agency was “dysfunctional” but much has improved since Cescolini became CEO.

Commissioner Ann Martin, who serves as the county board’s direct representative on the Northpointe Board, criticized Northpointe Board Chair Kevin Pirlot for “becoming an arm of the CEO,” explaining she’s “found his leadership to be partisan.”

Martin said there are “deep divisions on the board,” although minutes of a Dec. 7 meeting show that when Pirlot offered to be replaced as chair there were no takers among 10 other members present.

Martin also complained of “harassment of employees and board members,” including an occasion where a Freedom of Information request was filed for her own emails.

Both Martin and Kramer were critical as well of getting too much paper from Northpointe, with Martin displaying what appeared to be several hundred pages that were received in response to a query from the county board. Kramer said her interest in the agency was piqued when she attended a meeting as a proxy and received about 320 pages of material.

“Too much paper, too much overload,” she said.

Pirlot, in response, said it appeared some of the dialogue had turned petty — “too short of a (board meeting) packet, too big of a packet.” Pirlot also said he’s “been threatened to be sued five times” in recent months.

Cescolini said documents and packets are provided for a reason. “It’s not for smoke and mirrors,” she said. “It’s to give the information that’s asked for.”

Northpointe, Pirlot noted in introductory remarks, has a $22 million budget with 180 to 200 employees and roughly a hundred people performing contracted services. It’s “a struggle,” he added, “to maintain employees.” He later pointed out he’s paid $40 per meeting.

There are problems on which Northpointe is making good progress, Pirlot said, and he agreed that communication needs to be improved.

Commissioner John Degenaer Jr. said the county board should support the Northpointe Board, rather than overreaching.

The Dickinson County Northpointe town hall will be 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday in the administrative building at 715 Pyle Drive, Kingsford. In Iron County, the session is from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday at 703 N. Second Ave. in Iron River.

The Menominee County meeting is being rescheduled due to a conflict, according to the Northpointe Facebook page.