Mental Health Funds Battle

The Times article on mental health was offensive to the tremendous bipartisan numbers of effective mental health volunteers like me who lobbied hard, and happily successfully, to ensure the appointment of Roberto Quiroz by the Board of Supervisors.

In suggesting that Marcia Nay was puling the strings that make our director jump, your writer appears to have purposely ignored Nay’s knowledge, motivation and abilities. Like most deputies of our supervisors, she puts in about 150% more time than she’s paid for, and fully understands the total mental health system to which she is completely devoted.

Quiroz has proved time and time again his unique ability to give the taxpayers the best possible “bang for the buck” while always retaining his own independence plus his primary concern for mental health patients. His character, knowledge and disposition are all we could hope for.

Your reporter portrays both above persons as Ms. Machiavelli and the Wimp, which is an unforgivable hatchet job.

I do wish he had interviewed and quoted other parents of the mentally ill who have expressed different philosophies of care than referred to in the article.

SYLVIA CHERNY

Van Nuys