OP-ED: Assist the Mentally Ill, Protect Our Public Spaces

The following Letter to the Editor was submitted for publication by Lake Elsinore Councilman Robert Magee:

Riverside Councilman Mike Soubirous got it right in his December 20, 2018 Op Ed piece in the Press Enterprise: “It’s time for a statewide mental health system overhaul.”

Several months ago I published a piece that challenged Governor Jerry Brown to join Local Governments and assist us in our struggles with a rising Homeless population(Valley News 4/27/18). Jerry’s response has been to set aside a small portion (approx. $50 Million) of his $15 Billion Taxpayer funded budget surplus to offer Local Governments the opportunity to apply (read grovel) for a sliver of those funds. The City of Lake Elsinore is already pursuing this.

But there remains no real leadership from the Governor’s Office on this issue. If a bus load (or white van) of Homeless descended upon Governor Brown’s 2,500 acre family ranch, you can bet he wouldn’t sit still for a minute. But he won’t lift a finger to protect our 3,000 acre lake!

We need comprehensive mental health reform with the dollars and the intestinal fortitude to take some very bold action to help the mentally ill get off the streets, get healthy, get sober and to take back and protect our public open spaces which have become their bedrooms and bathrooms.

For those of us that enjoy the outdoors, we must register our off-road vehicles with the State (Green Stickers), we must purchase our annual fishing licenses from the State and the Department of Fish and Wildlife is there to enforce those rules….on some.

Two years ago while in a meeting with Five State Fish & Wildlife Officials seeking their intervention on Homeless polluters along our lake shore I was informed that the Department does not engage with the Homeless and CalFire will not extinguish their campfires. While the State will restrict what a property owner can do on his/her property and extort payments in the form of mitigation measures and fire prevention fees to protect our environment by-in-large the greatest amount of environmental damage along our lake shore is done at the hands of the Homeless.

Our State Government cannot continue to take money from those of us who follow the rules while turning a blind eye to those who pollute and need our help and intervention to stop.

When we pay our fees we expect those fees to enforce the environmental laws and enhance our natural open spaces, to ignore the violators does a disservice to us all.

So that leaves me with this question: What will Gavin do?

Robert “Bob” Magee
Lake Elsinore City Councilman