A couple weeks ago at a Chico Clean and Safe Stakeholders meeting, City Council member Randall Stone boldly announced that he had prompted Butte County Behavioral Health to "deal with" the mentally ill in Downtown Chico. He bragged that it was among his top priorities as a new Council member, and that as a result of his efforts the mentally ill had "been taken care of." He specifically pointed out that in dealing with problems in Downtown, the mentally ill would no longer be among them because he had "handled it." He actually inferred that "they" had been herded somewhere else, as he hadn't seen any of "them" for awhile. Most disturbing was the fact that this guy really seemed to believe the drivel he was spewing!
So last night around 9, as we drove home through Downtown Chico, we saw 2 of Chico's most well known homeless mentally ill....James and Jason. Within a block of each other, they were actively engaged in talking to whichever of the voices in their respective heads was active at the time. No doubt, they were each also beginning to think about which bench they would curl up on for a few hours of sleep. I was evident to anyone that the demons who haunt these two men are still at work in this continuing manifestation of their illness.
Uh Randall? You either missed these two guys when you had everything taken care of, which is strange because they are two of the most prominent Downtown fixtures, or you just don't have a clue what you are talking about. Methinks its the latter. Before you assert yourself so strongly on something like this, it would behoove you to not only know your audience (as you also failed to do in this meeting) but to know something about the topic as well. The "problem" has NOT "been handled."
Oh....James and Jason? They are still around. We'll drop off something for them to eat every once in awhile, as many others do. They are hanging in there....but "taking care" of them will take much more than an ignorant elected official trying to look important proclaiming them "handled."
If he did indeed proclaim that, he is incredibly naive and ignorant about the complexity of the problem and seriously overrates himself. Does he really think that Behavioral Health hasn't been involved, along with a host of other organizations and individuals, in trying to address homelessness/ It is such a multi-faceted problem that needs many answers. Maybe he should spend a few days on the street before he opens his mouth.
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