Merger of Agencies

* The merger-unmerger battle continues! The front-line troops get slaughtered, as usual, while the Lady Generals seem to dine on “peasant under glass” (taxpayers and the mentally ill) free from blame.

The latest in a long line of fabrications appeared in The Times article “Behavioral Health Funds Drained Off for Hospital,” March 14. For the busy taxpayer, I offer this list to save time:

* Supervisors Susan Lacey and Kathy Long sit on the various boards that advise this problem-plagued area. I am talking about the mental health board and the various homeless and merger boards along with the hospital boards.

* Lacey and Long also pushed for the disastrous merger. They are currently trying to resurrect the merger in a different form, while the federal government is still trying to determine how many millions of dollars in fines we will have to pay for their first try! This goes on while various supervisors urge county employees and others to write to the federal government begging for mercy.

* Lacey and Long authorized the funding at the source of the latest hospital imbroglio. The Times quotes county employees with plain vanilla comments--you can’t expect the county employees to say “It’s the supervisors’ fault.” Then there are quotes by unidentified sources and anonymous critics--what is one to think?

This is truly a situation of the Queen of Hearts yelling “Off with their heads!” Can’t we please have a (nonpolitical) blue-ribbon panel study and report on this situation?

The mentally ill and the taxpayers deserve no less, after all this.

RICHARD CLEMENCE

Ventura

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* I would like to commend Times staff writer Catherine Saillant’s coverage of the demise of the Behavioral Health Department. She has made a convoluted series of events quite clear in her various articles. I am quite concerned about “Behavioral Health Funds Drained Off for Public Hospital,” March 14.

In recent weeks, Ventura County Chief Administrative Officer Lin Koester has said that he was unaware of any diversion of funds from Behavioral Health to the county hospital. Why then, in this article, does Mr. Koester confirm that it has been the county’s practice for several years to transfer funds? How many years?

If the Health Care Agency was supposed to have requested written permission from the California Mental Health Planning Agency to transfer those funds, why was that not done? Why should the Behavioral Health Department help to support administrative costs for the hospital, as is common practice, according to Supervisor John Flynn?

Pierre Durand has said that there was a $1.5-million deficit from Behavioral Health. Is it a coincidence that that is the same amount of money that auditor Tom Mahon says is being transferred this year from Behavioral Health to the Health Care Agency?

I have seen numerous television ads as well as heard radio ads regarding the county’s medical facilities, appealing to patients with “all types of medical coverage.” If the Health Care Agency is competing for private and public dollars, along with operating its own HMO, shouldn’t it be generating its own profits without having to use millions of dollars that should be used to treat the mentally ill? If the hospital cannot support the wonderful neonatal unit, then why hasn’t the board insisted that Mr. Durand work harmoniously with our neighboring hospitals to share services and costs?

As a taxpayer I am pleased to know that state Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) has asked for an audit to determine exactly where these moneys are going. I am also curious as to why, before all audits are complete, changes were made to the state model, Systems of Care.

I would be greatly appreciative if the board would also start working together to resolve this issue. Perhaps the grand jury needs to take a look at what is going on and finally put funding where it belongs.

JOHN MOORE

Simi Valley