Debate Over Ballot Statement

* Re “Morgan Ordered to Cut Remarks About Long on Statement,” Aug. 26.

Supervisor Kathy Long’s debating Mike Morgan’s ballot statement is absurd. The loss of taxpayers’ money caused by the merging of the county Behavioral Health Department and the Human Services Agency continues to escalate.

Long should have resigned a long time ago for voting in favor of the merger against the advice of then-Chief Administrative Officer Lin Koester and the feasibility study conducted by consultants Deloitte & Touche. She and Supervisor Susan Lacey drove Ventura County almost to bankruptcy, and these two proud and arrogant women continue to insult the intelligence of the voting public.

The public should not forget that in 1998, the year of the merger, Ventura County had Southern California’s highest fatality rate among the mentally ill who died of suicide or were killed by police. The county’s attempt to shift care from psychiatrists to social workers contributed to these less-fortunate human beings’ demise. Why is it that no one has been made accountable for the wrongs of the officials who created the merger and attempted to cover up the resulting fiasco?

Let us support Morgan for having the guts to stand up against Long.

LITA Z. BIEJO

Ventura County

Mental Health Board

Moorpark