A world of cliches
To the Editor:
The world in cliches What you see is what you get. The one constant is change. Were the good old days really good.
Absolute power absolutely corrupts.
Money buys power, politicians and immunity.
There is a difference between justice and law.
If the U.S.A. is so bad why does everyone want in.
Everybody's perception of truth is different.
Bad things happen to good people.
Evil is obvious goodness not so much.
Common sense is not so common.
Everyone is anti-something. Jumping to judgement is poor judgement.
Affect change by being the source.
To make war is human to make peace Devine.
Poor education invites villainy.
Full understanding between genders is elusive.
Morality is extinct as soon will I. — M. Lee Wachs, Ukiah
No on Prop. 1
To the Editor:
I'm urging everyone to vote “No” on Proposition 1, the $6.4 billion bond issue that will be on the March 2024 ballot in California. This proposition would dramatically change the Mental Health Services Act, a 20-year-old program that pays for California's mental health services. This terrible bond issue would take money away from counties trying to provide outpatient mental health services and use the money for rent subsidies, which is why it is opposed by disability organizations.
According to the non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office, if voters approve, “Counties would provide more housing and personalized support services, but would have less MHSA money for other mental health services. This means counties may need to use other county, state, or federal money to keep current service levels.” Hear that, county officials? Just use some of that “other money” you have laying around.
The bond is being pitched as a way of fixing homelessness, but it doesn't do that. As the Legislative Analyst's Office says: “The number of housing units built by the bond would reduce statewide homelessness by only a small amount.”
Luke Bergmann, director of behavioral health services for San Diego County, told the
Los Angeles Times that the changes proposed by Proposition 1 seem to be “coming all at once from multiple directions but not always coordinated.” He continued: “What we're facing now are many simultaneous efforts, which may work together or against one another.”
In a statement in the voter information guide for the March election, Heidi Strunk, CEO of Mental Health America of California; Andrea Wagner, Executive Director of the California Association of Mental Health Peer-run Organizations; and Paul Simmons, Executive Director of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance of California; say this: “Prop. 1 doesn't “fix” a broken system, it BREAKS something that's WORKING: the MHSA. DON'T RAID current mental health programs to pay for Prop. 1. Please vote NO!”
Proposition 1 is a rushed, chaotic, expensive effort to shift money around in the hope that voters will be tricked into thinking this is effective policy. Don't be fooled. Vote “No” on Proposition 1.
— Tief Gibbs is a District 2 congressional candidate who will be on the ballot in the March 5 primary running
against Jared Huffman. Her website is https://www.
tief4congress.com/.