The following open letter to California Governor Jerry Brown was recently circulated among folks in Sonoma Valley concerned about recent moves to limit services to the developmentally disabled and downsize, and possibly close, the State's few remaining developmental centers. The letter has now been posted by The Sonoma County Gazette; you can find it online here: OpEd: Open Letter to Governor Brown - What happened to you? It is re-posted here in its entirety.
Dear Governor Brown,
You must excuse the informal and impolite tone of this letter, but what the hell happened to you?
Where is the man that walked with Chavez and stood up for civil rights? Where is the Jesuit and Zen trained man who met with Mother Teresa and appointed Gary Snyder, and acknowledged that the poorest and most vulnerable among us must be respected and cared for?
Where is the man who spoke for years on KPFA, the only radio station dedicated to free inquiry, human rights and rational, moral thinking?
Where is the man who led meditations and gave dharma talks at Spirit Rock?
Where did that man go, or was it all just a lot of crap and BS?
That the same man could consider closing the regional developmental centers in CA, which house and care for some of our most profoundly ill and incapacitated citizens is incongruous beyond words. Where is the morality behind this? Is this all just to save a few bucks, because that’s relatively what it is, while at the same time promote major projects that will cost hundreds of billions? You would do this on the backs of those patients who are our human responsibility to aid and care for? What manner of man are you? Who are you, truly?
I suggest that before you jettison these people and their families you come to Sonoma’s Developmental Center and spend a day in the presence of these folks and the people who take care of them. I suggest that you hang with them for a time, talk and eat with their caregivers and then decide what you should do for them.
I’ll tell you this though. There’s a contingent in Sonoma comprised of land trust organizations, environmental organizations, political organizations and concerned citizens who will fight every step of the way, as it was done before, to prevent the SDC lands from going to private developers so they can glean more profits. If it takes years, as it did before, I guarantee we will not relent on this.
It should not be necessary to tell you this, you of all people, but it is our collective responsibility and obligation to provide the patient populations at developmental centers the highest and best care we can muster, not shunt them off to insufficient small private care facilities ill equipped to meet their needs. Government can’t run away from this waving a monetary excuse. Are you a governor or an accountant?
And whatever happened to the man that used to be Jerry Brown?
Will Shonbrun, Sonoma
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Find more local Sonoma County news online with The Sonoma County Gazette.
At a time when society is questioning the divide between the wealth of a minority of it's citizens against the struggling majority, we have another divide against profoundly disabled citizens. This is not a large budget issue, but it does define the kind of society we are becoming. It is a moral issue that helps to define us. I hope you, Governor, will lead us to be a people respected for our humanity. Please reconsider any actions against the Regional Developmental Centers in CA.
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