Anger and Hope on Future of Hospital

Re: “Campus Must Pay Its Way. . .” March 19.

OK, now I get it. This unseemly rush to convert a mental hospital built 50 years ago into a California State university--almost literally throwing some of the patients out on the street--is nothing but a land grab by developers.

And as such, it has its own beautiful logic: You can’t convince people and businesses to cluster around a mental hospital, no matter how rural and charming the environment. Besides, the state owns the land. But, put a university there, one that won’t take up too much space or interfere with those profit centers or create too many parking problems for the “sprawling retirement community”--well, that’s much more fashionable.

Once again, California’s legislators, working hand in hand with big developers, have shown the rest of the country what innovative thinking can achieve.

I guess they call that “pushing the envelope.” I call it something else.

KEVIN DRONEY, Westlake Village

*

Much has ben written about converting Camarillo State Hospital into a university. However, in the oversight hearing I attended in Sacramento on Feb. 25, state Sen. Mike Thompson, chairman of the Committee on Developmental and Mental Health, stated that Camarillo State Hospital is far from being closed.

The hearing room was crowded with hundreds of citizens from all over California who came to express their concerns about closure of the hospital. Sen. Thompson noted that patients cannot be moved from the facility without the approval of the respective conservators.

From a conversation I had with Gov. Pete Wilson’s top aide recently, I was told also that it is not uncommon for the governor to change his decision especially when the majority of the Legislature is so concerned about the issue.

Mental health advocates should not despair. We must continue the fight as CSHDC, the jewel in the crown of the mental health system, is worth fighting for. There is nothing definite yet as to the fate of the facility.

LITA Z. BIEJO, Moorpark

*

Cal State Channel Islands President Handel Evans will be receiving 700-plus acres of land to establish a university.

Now, Evans has made it public and perfectly clear that he does not want the mentally ill on the campus--he says they constitute a poor mix for his kind of people.

Because of his attitude and prejudice, in my opinion, he should not be allowed to open up a dog obedience training school. Most likely he wouldn’t allow mongrels because they are not papered. A poor mix.

KATHLEEN PAYNE, Simi Valley