The Coast News, Feb. 25, 2011

OPINION &EDITORIAL
A4 FEB. 25, 2011
Seeking qualified writer for weekly local column
The Coast News Group is looking
for a new columnist to write a weekly
opinion column to run on our Op Ed
pages.
We are looking for an opinionated
column writer who is immersed in
local issues. From hot-button issues to
talk around town, as long as it relates
to coastal North County, we want to
hear about it.
We are only looking for LOCAL
writers with opinion writing experi-
P.O. Box 232550, Encinitas, CA 92023-2550 • 760-436-9737
www.thecoastnews.com • Fax: 760-943-0850
MAKING WAVES IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER CHRIS KYDD
ACCOUNTING BECKY ROLAND
MANAGING EDITOR LAURIE SUTTON
COMMUNITY NEWS EDITOR JEAN GILLETTE
ASSISTANT EDITOR ERIC MURTAUGH
PRODUCTION MANAGER RICK DOWLING
GRAPHIC ARTIST PHYLLIS MITCHELL
PRODUCTION EDITOR CHUCK STEINMAN
ADVERTISING SALES KRISTA LAFFERTY
LISA HAMEL
MIKE EASTON
RECEPTIONIST CHERYL PLONTUS
ence. This is not a reporter position
and it is not a business, health, food
or otherwise focused column. We are
looking for someone with strong
opinions about local issues. This
columnist would need to have newspaper
writing experience and thorough
knowledge of AP style and ability
to meet weekly deadlines. It
would require a weekly submission
of 500 to 700 words.
There is so much happening in
COMMUNITY COMMENTARY
The Coast News is a legally adjudicated newspaper
published weekly on Fridays by The Coast
News Group. It is qualified to publish notices
required by law to be published in a newspaper of
general circulation (Case No. 677114).
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The advertising deadline is the Monday preceding
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is the Friday proceeding publication.
INDEPENDENT FREE
PAPERS OF AMERICA
our coverage areas — from Oceanside
through Del Mar and Rancho Santa
Fe — and we are looking for just the
right person to touch on it all.
If interested, please send two to
three writing samples to
lsutton@coastnewsgroup.com.
No calls, please. We will respond
to let you know we received your submission,
and will be in touch if we are
interested in discussing it further
with you.
The Community Commentary section is open to everyone. Opinions expressed in the Community Commentary
section are in no way representative of The Coast News Group. Send submissions no longer than 700 words to
lsutton@coastnewsgroup.com. Submission does not guarantee publication.
Should Felien and Kern be making
financial decisions for Oceanside?
By Lizbeth Altman
The sordid saga of the headquarters
move of the San Diego
County Republican Party moves
many, including me, to challenge
City Councilmen Gary Felien and
Jerry Kern’s view that they are the
most qualified of the five on the
Oceanside City Council to review
Oceanside city government and recommend
reforms.
Perhaps you didn’t know the
Republican headquarters has
moved since the party website still
has the old Oberlin address.You better
update your address books since
the headquarters moved in
December and rent is now paid for
the same address that houses the
San Diego County Republican Party
chair’s financial planning business
office. Lots of things got broken in
this move, including the Oberlin
office lease.
Recent discussions on the lack
of financial wisdom and budgetary
wastefulness of this headquarters
move have been so heated and
angry that comments on the
Republican favored website
SDRostra had to be restricted.
“Local GOP Turpitude,” an
article on SDRostra, refers to the
investigation of the office move personally
performed by Tea Party
leader Leslie Eastman. Eastman,
after gathering information from
both county Republican Party leadership
and the owner of the former
headquarters building on Oberlin,
TURN TO DECISIONS ON A12
Contact a Reporter
CARLSBAD
ALYX SARIOL
asariol@coastnewsgroup.com
DEL MAR / SOLANA BEACH
BIANCA KAPLANEK
bkaplanek@coastnewsgroup.com
ENCINITAS
WEHTAHNAH TUCKER
wtucker@coastnewsgroup.com
OCEANSIDE
PROMISE YEE
pyee@coastnewsgroup.com
RANCHO SANTA FE
PATTY MCCORMAC
pmccormac@coastnewsgroup.com
SAN MARCOS / VISTA
editor@coastnewsgroup.com
CRIME / COURTS
SHELLI DEROBERTIS
sderobertis@coastnewsgroup.com
PHOTOGRAPHER
DANIEL KNIGHTON
dan@pixelperfectimages.net
Contact the Editor
LAURIE SUTTON
lsutton@coastnewsgroup.com
Views expressed in Opinion &
Editorial do not necessarily reflect the
views of The Coast News.
Community Commentaries
As a community newspaper,
our readers are our news. We
would like to open the opportunity
for you to write a Community
Commentary to run on our Op Ed
pages.
We are looking for submissions
500 to 700 words, in a first
person voice, that explore an issue
COMMUNITY COMMENTARY
By W.D. Hardy
Battle lines are drawn. On one
side are advocates for Laura’s Law;
on the other side are activists
against it.The outcome will directly
affect public safety and our county’s
budget. With so much at stake,
why has Laura’s Law coverage been
under-reported, vague and confusing?
What is Laura’s Law, who does
it affect, who are the partisan advocates
and what do they contend?
AB 1421 was signed into law at
the end of 2002. Known as Laura’s
Law, now California Welfare and
Institutions Code 5345, allows
court-ordered, assisted outpatient
treatment for a small population of
mentally ill individuals who revolve
in and out of jails, hospitals and
homelessness. The operative words
are “assisted outpatient treatment.”
Unfortunately Laura’s Law
was not state funded; county government
must ante-up.
Currently the Lanterman-
Petris-Short, or LPS, act addresses
civil commitment for mentally ill
citizens. It provides for involuntary
commitment (hospitalization) of
citizens only if they pose an immediate
danger to themselves, to others
or are judged to be “gravely disabled”
(unable to care for themselves).
Once one of these obstacles is
overcome, an individual may be
committed to an emergency psychiatric
unit for a 72-hour holding period.
In other words, a treating psychiatrist
has 72 hours to evaluate
and treat the individual. With that
said, it’s extremely difficult to treat
an individual using LPS.As a result,
mentally ill individuals enter into
what is called the “revolving door
syndrome” of hospitalization, jail or
homelessness — an extremely
expensive and ineffective cycle.
Advocates for Laura’s Law
speculate: Why wait for a mentally
ill person to severely decompensate
in order to help them when W&I
5345 will enable a qualified person
to petition a local Superior Court
THE COAST NEWS
The Community Commentary section is open to everyone. Opinions
expressed in the Community Commentary section are in no way
representative of The Coast News Group. Send submissions no
longer than 700 words to lsutton@coastnewsgroup.com.
Submission does not guarantee publication.
Is outpatient treatment
more appropriate than jail?
for treatment of the individual? The
county mental health director must
then conduct an investigation to
determine if the individual qualifies
for an outpatient treatment
program.
Advocates against Laura’s Law
opine assisted outpatient treatment
is involuntary treatment;
involuntary treatment doesn’t
work.They say mental health treatment
works best when it’s done in
full partnership between the consumer
and mental health professionals.
“Forcing treatment on
someone shatters all trust. Singling
out mentally ill people as dangerous
is discriminatory and stigmatizes
them.”They suggest voluntary
treatment as herbs, meditation and
peer counseling.
Main proponents of Laura’s
Law are the California Treatment
Advocacy Coalition, the California
Psychiatric Association, the Police
Chiefs Association and the
National Alliance on Mental
Illness.
The main opponents are the
California Network of Mental
Health Clients, the Psychiatric
Survivors Movement, the Church of
Scientology and surprisingly, the
federal government. It has an indirect
but influential role in undermining
Laura’s Law. Specifically,
the Department of Health and
Human Services, Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services
Administration provides funding to
obstructionists programs like
Protection and Advocacy for
Individuals with Mental Illness.
These taxpayer-funded organizations
are lobbying against the passage
and/or implementation of
assisted outpatient treatment.
In Dr. Sally Satel’s May 28,
2007, article “Sane Mental Health
Laws,” Dr. Satel states “Federal
advocates are standing in the way
of reform.” Satel cites Rael Jean
Isaac and Virginia Armat in their
TURN TO TREATMENT ON A12
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Improve mass transit before
expanding freeway
Bravo to Sen. Christine Kehoe
for introducing a bill regarding
improving mass transit in coastal
communities before we expand the I-
5 freeway. Most people thought that
the freeway expansion would be a
continuation of what was done in
Solana Beach which would continue
TURN TO LETTERS ON A12
Letters to the Editor and reader
feedback are welcome. Views
expressed in letters do not
necessarily reflect the views of The
Coast News. Letters are subject to
editing for length and clarity.
Unsigned letters and letters
without city of residence will not
be published. Letters should be no
longer than 300 words and include
a contact telephone number.
Submission does not guarantee
publication. Send letters via e-mail
to letters@coast newsgroup.com.
Share your opinion
or idea relevant to you as a North
County resident.
Submissions longer than 700
words will not be considered.
Not all submissions will be published.
Send finished editorials to
lsutton@coastnewsgroup.com. You
will be contacted if your piece is
chosen for publication.