Supervisors Order Review of Spending on Furniture

At the urging of a union official, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday ordered a review of a plan by the county’s financially strained Department of Mental Health to spend $800,000 on office furniture. Acting mental health Director Francis Dowling said the money would fund badly needed improvements for 340 middle managers.

But J. Guido DeRienzo, of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, told the board that the money should be used for patient services. The supervisors asked county Chief Administrative Officer Richard Dixon to look into the matter.

Because of a reduction in state funding, the county has been forced to close more than half of its 23 mental health clinics. The department has also been criticized for failing to provide adequate security for mental health workers. Two years ago, a psychiatric worker was stabbed to death by a patient.