Wolfsheimer Off Base
I am writing in response to Armando Acuna’s Nov. 3 article, “Port Commissioner Assails Presence of ‘Crazies.’ ” Centre City Planning Committee member and Port Commissioner Louis Wolfsheimer was quoted as saying he thought he would catch “a lot of hell” for his statements. I hope he catches something else as well: an understanding of what it must be like to suffer from two conditions most disparaged by society--mental illness and homelessness.
To be homeless is hard enough. To be homeless and mentally ill means that a person is both distressed and shunned, made powerless and dependent. The homeless mentally ill suffer three times the morbidity and mortality rates as their counterparts in the general population.
Mr. Wolfsheimer is correct about one thing he reportedly said: conditions downtown are worsening. But for whom are they getting worse? Apparently, Mr. Wolfsheimer feels that he is the victim of the increasing plight of the homeless mentally ill.
Having to listen to someone “screaming to the heavens” is uncomfortable. But as hard as listening might be, it is infinitely more terrible to be the ones who are screaming. Those are not screams of joy or delight. They are screams of pain and fear, of hope that someone might hear, listen and help soothe the terror of being homeless and mentally ill.
Unfortunately, all Mr. Wolfsheimer suggested to help ease the pain was to call the police and have them take these folks to the County Mental Hospital. He must know that CMH is a revolving door for these people. Indeed, he is quoted as saying that it will at least take them “five hours to get back downtown.”
I suggest that our police have more to do than to waste five hours transporting mentally ill patients to CMH and back.
Mr. Wolfsheimer’s remarks suggest that the homeless mentally ill are grist for the criminal justice mill. Glasnost notwithstanding, the Soviet Union is the only place I’m aware of that views mental illness in that framework. It should be clear to Mr. Wolfsheimer that mental illness and homelessness are social service and treatment issues, not criminal justice issues.
It is disappointing and frustrating that Mr. Wolfsheimer, a person in a position of leadership and trust, offers simplistic, knee-jerk solutions to complex human and social problems. I am concerned that he blames the victims and, at best, is insensitive to their rights. I am even more concerned that he is in a position to make public policy judgments that affect all of us.
In order for the people of San Diego--the homeless and domiciled, mentally ill and “normal”--to move forward and succeed, we need real leadership. We need problem solvers, not blamers. We need people with foresight and insight, not tunnel vision. We need people who feel the connection among all of us, not those who perpetuate the myth of “us versus them”. We need people with heart, not just mouth.
STUART BARDACH
Director, Vista Hill Foundation Homeless Project
