Bennett gets earful at own public meet
By Kelly Feser Eells

At the July 7 Municipal Advisory Council meeting, Supervisor Steve Bennett assured a standing-room-only audience that Ventura County's preliminary study of the Ojai Honor Farm's potential as housing for the mentally ill would be "an open process."

True to his word, Bennett has already convened the first - of what he emphasizes will be many - "public dialogues" on the subject, held last Tuesday night at the Oak View Community Center.

He welcomed yet another standing-room-only crowd, pleased to see a mix of both familiar and new faces: "Apathy is the worst thing that can happen to a community."

Bennett explained that, in addition to taking public comments, he planned on addressing some of the questions raised at the July 7 MAC meeting, especially the "issue of security. A number of you were concerned that there would be mentally ill people walking along Rice Avenue (should this facility be built.) There were also concerns about the range and time frame of this 'planning' process," said Bennett, adding that no final decisions would be made "without taking all of your input" into consideration.

Dan Dube's concerns were economical. "The state is $39 billion in debt," he said. "When the sheriff's department had the facility, they were paying $900,000 a year in rent" - which apparently, they can no longer afford. "And with the $2 million projected for renovations, well, where's this money going to come from? How does this project make any sense?"

Deidre Daly worried that, if the facility did become housing for the mentally ill, "is that what it stays," a concern echoed by Riki Strandfeldt.

"The property's currently zoned open space," said Strandfeldt. "I'd assume it would require a zoning change. And, if so, would there be a public vote?"

Bennett noted that, while it was a "good question," he did not yet have an answer.

Glen Fishera said that, though he had a number of questions, he was primarily concerned with the County's policy of "curbside release.
"It's 'see you later,' Fishera said, explaining that, "once a person's released (from the County's Camarillo-based mental health facility) that's it. There's no transportation, no nothing. They just walk. And if they do make it here, well, they're being shipped from the easternmost part of the county to the westernmost, and that's just unfair. To them and to us. Whether you call them homeless or not, you're taking them away from the only home they know."

Fishera added that, "iI this was to become a conservatorship-type facility, and there's talk that it might, that would be wonderful. But if that permit lapses then what? My concern is community safety. It's important that we take care of our mentally ill, but we should be guaranteed that this facility won't have an open-door policy," he said, earning an appreciative round of applause.

Patty Perry, who, along with Kim Stroud, operates the non-profit Raptor Center, suggested that there were "safer, more productive uses for the property.

We do wildlife rehabilitation," said Perry, "as a community service. And we've been looking for (such a) property. I think it would be a much better use of it."

Several audience members agreed, wondering why this and similar suggestions - including the possibility of turning the property into a combined youth/wildlife rehabilitation center - weren't being actively explored.

Bennett allowed that, while he, too, thought such proposals had merit, "the county can't afford to maintain the 24 parks it has now. Also, please keep in mind that county government is mandated to take care of these people, the mentally ill, and, yes: it's high on the list (of the supervisors') priorities."

However, "there are a lot of people interested in housing for the mentally ill who aren't in County government."

Including Kristin Belshe, who said that "my first thought when I heard about this (proposal) was, 'What a great idea.' Then, when I read that hardly anybody was for it, I thought, 'I've got to go to that, tonight's, meeting.'" Belshe added that she hoped the community would demonstrate more "support and love" (in the future).

One unidentified audience member noted that, "just because we're against this facility where it is, doesn't mean we're insensitive to the plight of the mentally ill."

Lori Zimmermann, who leads a grassroots neighborhood group called "Committee for Honor Farm Options," concurred. "I just want to make sure it's known that we're not against anything. We just want to make sure people are informed and that the community knows what's going on. Range, scope; if this is to become housing for the mentally ill, what kind, exactly? There a re a lot of different types of facilities. The current Conditional Use Permit, for example, allows for 460 inmates; that's a lot of people."

Bennett stated that the laws governing such facilities were entirely different, and that "fewer than half, maybe even one third" that number of people would be housed. "Also, I did say at the last meeting that the one thing I'd oppose was a 247-bed unlocked facility, where a patient could walk right out along Rice Avenue. I still oppose that."

However, the County's study, he conceded, "could include a look" at this type of facility.

"I have to be honest with you," Bennett smiled. "Politically, it would have been very expedient for me to not touch this with a ten-foot pole. But I don't think you'd have wanted me to not even have taken a look at it. And that's all we're doing right now, is taking a look. That's all I asked for."

As to the length of the study, Bennett said it is being done in stages, and that the "earliest it could be concluded was the fall. There's to be a legal analysis, a feasibility analysis - including full engineering reports, etc. - and then a financial analysis. And that's going to be the primary thing holding this up, what's going to take the longest. With the budget crisis, well, fall is the very earliest these studies could come together."

© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

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