Answers to National Alliance for the Mentally Ill Candidate Questionaire 2002 

 Support Civil Rights and Community Tolerance. 

Question: What is your opinion regarding the use of mental illness descriptions as colloquialisms?

I am the only male in the last four generations of my family not to be subject to radical bi-polar manic-depressive mental illness: my great-grandfather, grandfather, father, uncle, and brother were and are all subject to this disease, and thus I have an intimate and personal understanding of the impact of mental illness on an individual and the family surrounding them.

To me, the use of mental illness descriptions as colliquialisms is the same type of unconscious prejudice as anti-queer epithets such as "that's so gay", "they just bent him over and went to town", etc. People don't even realize they are denigrating a whole class of people. I've dealt with this my entire life on a personal level (and respectfully pointed this out to individuals engaging in the practice), and thus I understand the need for addressing it very well.

At the same time, the solution isn't condemnation, it is education and awareness. Most people do not have malice in their hearts towards the mentally ill, and when made aware of the impact of their language, will voluntarily correct themselves. We need to ensure that diversity awareness and cultural competency trainings include these issues, and I will work with advocates to ensure that they do. Such training will probably help me, as well, to be honest.

 Work against discrimination in zoning laws and land use decisions. 

Question: If elected, how would you respond to neighbors concerns about a proposed home or facility for mentally ill persons being located in their neighborhood? Would you support such a home/facility?

Neighborhood opposition is often a product of fear and ignorance of the facts, motivated by a concern for the well being of children and families, as well as the less honorable fear of decreased property values. The best way to deal with these issues, is to prevent them from occuring in the first place; to organize, educate, and advocate. Part of this process is to involve members of the community as advocates and supporters from the very beginning - it is a lot easier to rail against bureaucrats in City Hall and "strangers", than your next door neighbor with a mentally ill child or brother.

A central part of my agenda is to develop strong neighborhood organizations and business improvement districts, as vehicles for dialogue with city government, and for developing workable solutions to issues of this sort prior to their appearance before the City Council. These would allow residents in the area where the project is being contemplated to be involved in the process from the very beginning and feel listened to and empowered. They would also serve as a forum for voices supporting the project. Neighbors must educate neighbors about the issues involved.

Housing and homelessness are two major concerns and areas of activism for me, thus I am familiar with the process of sheparding "controversial" projects through to completion (and of preventing them from being controversial in the first place). If elected, I promise to work closely with the mental health advocacy community at a grassroots level to build the broad base of support necessary to ensure that proposed projects are approved (and to ensure that the process by which projects are proposed and arrive in the public eye is politically productive).

Ultimately, I intend to vote my conscience and values, and those favor the disenfranchised and those historically discriminated against. If I believe the concerns of those opposing the project are irrational, and the product of prejudice and bigotry, then I will vote for it.

At the same time, I must be convinced that the advocates for a project have done their homework, and have made serious and substantial efforts to address the concerns of the community as they emerged - because, realistically, elected officials have only so much political capital to spend, and ramming projects down the throat of an unconvinced community is a good way to unproductively burn large quantities of it. Advocates can't depend on elected officials to do their work for them.

 Support Health Care Reform – equality for mental & physical illnesses. 

Question: As an elected official, how would you help us to end discrimination in the health care system against people with serious mental illness?

We need to restructure our health-care system to focus resources on preventative medicine, wellness, and early intervention. An important part of this is ending the stigma associated with mental illness, and requiring that treatment for mental illness be put on an equal footing with physical illness - as well, many studies have shown that these illnessess have a significant physical basis, although the exact mechanisms are often still obscure. We need to abandon the age-old prejudice that mental illness is a matter of willpower, or that it is more easily "faked" than physical illness, and thus has a higher potential for abuse. Many of the victims of these illnesses, if they had been covered by medical insurance, would have received treatment much earlier in the progression of the illness and thus much suffering, not to mention additional costs associated with the physical traumas often incurred during the progession of these illnesses (as are often incurred by homeless mentally ill people) and the aggravation of the core illness by stress and secondary illnesses.

 Support Mental Health Services in our Community. 

During tight budget years, the State has historically sacrificed funding for mental health services in support of programs considered by some people to be more essential, such as more police and jails. One result of decreased funding for mental health services is that persons with serious mental illness lacking these services end up in jail.

Question: Would you help to increase the funding for mental health programs during your term in office?

My agenda prioritizes investment in "social services" over spending on police and prisons - especially for programs which have proven to be cost effective and help develop self-sufficiency and avoid suffering. I think the State's policy of benign neglect is a moral tragedy, and also counter-productive and costly - programs like the day care program recently forced to limit itself to operating three days a week save money in the long run - study after study has shown that investment in this area produces returns in terms of lessened law enforcement and medical costs, and increased productivity, etc. I am a strong advocate for cutting police budgets and redirecting the funding to services that save money in the long run - we need to stop fighting fires (such as having 60% of arrests made by police be for drug and alcohol intoxication) and start preventing them.

Question: Are you aware of the various mental health facilities in Santa Cruz County helping the severely mentally ill? Would you like to tour the facilities?

I do not have direct knowledge or experience of any of these facilities (other than having been given a tour of the County Jail during my Leadership Santa Cruz County course, which effectively serves as a mental health facility for many folk), and would be open to arranging a tour and sitting down and discussing the issues faced by these institutions with management and advocates (such as your board members).