Santa Rosa is Evil
Saturday, 6. September 2008, 22:09:18
Reunification of Courthouse Square
Courthouse Square, the heart of Santa Rosa, doesn't actually contain a courthouse. And it's not really a town square. And, if the truth be told, it's not much of a "heart of the city" either.
Unlike the squares in Sonoma and Healdsburg and now even Windsor, Santa Rosa's square is not a central meeting ground. Granted, Santa Rosa is larger than these towns and it has several neighborhood gathering spots. But, even big cities have their central hub. If something happens in the world that calls for an impromptu celebration, New Yorkers know to head to Times Square. Where would Santa Rosans go to spontaneously? Courthouse Square? The mall? Railroad Square? The neighborhood bar? No one knows for sure. And therein lies the problem. There is no unifying center. We have no nucleus.
Keep in mind: This isn't simply a matter of closing off that stretch of Mendocino Ave. that cuts through the square. Instead, this reunification plan, which is estimated to cost around $5.3 million
Insane Situation: Sonoma County’s Mental Health System is Nothing But Crazy-Making
Nowhere to Go
Sonoma County’s mental healthcare system made headlines recently over the closures of two acute psychiatric inpatient facilities. Last June, the county shut down Santa Rosa’s Psychiatric Emergency Services, known more familiarly as the Norton Center, saying it was losing $2 million to $3 million a year because the average daily population had dropped to less than half the facility’s capacity. And this February, Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital closed its psychiatric hospital on Fulton Road, claiming $22 million in losses.
That leaves the county with no inpatient care for people facing acute mental health problems. The county provides emergency care at Norton for 23 hours or up to three weeks in a six-bed halfway house. After that, it sends patients to Marin General in Greenbrae and two Seventh-Day Adventist-run hospitals in St. Helena and Vallejo.
If a program were already in place, it’s possible that Sebastopol teen Jeremiah Chass might still be alive. His family might have had the resources to help him before he had a March 2007 episode of mental decompensation and was shot to death by sheriff’s officers in his own driveway.
With at least two other police killings of mental health patients in less than a year, the county is experiencing a mental health crisis of its own. Families of two of the victims have filed suit in federal court. Chass’ family is suing the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department, and both the wife and mother of the late Richard De Santis, a bipolar man killed by police in September 2007, are suing the Santa Rosa Police Department.
Courthouse Square, the heart of Santa Rosa, doesn't actually contain a courthouse. And it's not really a town square. And, if the truth be told, it's not much of a "heart of the city" either.
Unlike the squares in Sonoma and Healdsburg and now even Windsor, Santa Rosa's square is not a central meeting ground. Granted, Santa Rosa is larger than these towns and it has several neighborhood gathering spots. But, even big cities have their central hub. If something happens in the world that calls for an impromptu celebration, New Yorkers know to head to Times Square. Where would Santa Rosans go to spontaneously? Courthouse Square? The mall? Railroad Square? The neighborhood bar? No one knows for sure. And therein lies the problem. There is no unifying center. We have no nucleus.
Keep in mind: This isn't simply a matter of closing off that stretch of Mendocino Ave. that cuts through the square. Instead, this reunification plan, which is estimated to cost around $5.3 million
Insane Situation: Sonoma County’s Mental Health System is Nothing But Crazy-Making
Nowhere to Go
Sonoma County’s mental healthcare system made headlines recently over the closures of two acute psychiatric inpatient facilities. Last June, the county shut down Santa Rosa’s Psychiatric Emergency Services, known more familiarly as the Norton Center, saying it was losing $2 million to $3 million a year because the average daily population had dropped to less than half the facility’s capacity. And this February, Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital closed its psychiatric hospital on Fulton Road, claiming $22 million in losses.
That leaves the county with no inpatient care for people facing acute mental health problems. The county provides emergency care at Norton for 23 hours or up to three weeks in a six-bed halfway house. After that, it sends patients to Marin General in Greenbrae and two Seventh-Day Adventist-run hospitals in St. Helena and Vallejo.
If a program were already in place, it’s possible that Sebastopol teen Jeremiah Chass might still be alive. His family might have had the resources to help him before he had a March 2007 episode of mental decompensation and was shot to death by sheriff’s officers in his own driveway.
With at least two other police killings of mental health patients in less than a year, the county is experiencing a mental health crisis of its own. Families of two of the victims have filed suit in federal court. Chass’ family is suing the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department, and both the wife and mother of the late Richard De Santis, a bipolar man killed by police in September 2007, are suing the Santa Rosa Police Department.
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