Mercer County Behavioral Health Commission Inc. has done a U-turn on buying a Bonneville SE. A question remains, however, on exactly when that U-turn was made.

In a statement faxed to The Herald last week and saying the offer "did not meet our standards for spending tax dollars," Behavioral Health's Chief Executive Officer Dana Frankenburg wrote that the commission "never purchased the vehicle that was questioned on June 26, 2003. Only one bid was received; opened and reviewed on June 24, 2003, as we had advertised would occur, and rejected; this all taking place prior to the question being raised."

That question about the Bonneville SE originally was posed to county commissioners June 26 by James Campbell of Transfer. It raised the eyebrows of commissioners Cloyd E. "Gene" Brenneman, Olivia M. Lazor and Kenneth A. Seamans, and county Controller Tom Amundsen.

Although Frankenburg's statement indicated the bid had already been rejected, Sheila Yatsko, Behavioral Health's chief financial officer, said June 27 that the commission had "not finalized the deal, but we'll be making a decision in the next few days."