FACILITY: Loss a painful reality

I’ve been searching for a word to describe my reaction to the news that the “mental health facility went south.” Dismayed? Appalled at the lack of vision by our North Idaho legislators? Disgusted?

If the legislators from our area who didn’t support this have had the good fortune to not personally deal with mental illness, maybe it would help us understand their position. However, as legislators, they surely had to understand the financial benefits these centers will provide to their communities. As taxpayers, we should be able to demand responsible choices in the use of government resources. If indeed Coeur d’Alene was favored in the running for the center, my mother had a saying that fits their decision to not support the center: “Cutting off your nose to spite your face.”

I hope this issue will be covered again with full financial analysis by The Press prior to the upcoming election. Voters need to be fully informed of the consequences of losing this opportunity for a center.

The only good news is that Idaho Falls will get the center. Our loss is their gain. As a former state board member of NAMI, the National Alliance for Mental Illnesses, I know some of the Idaho Falls people personally. They are a deserving group actively working for the welfare of those with mental illnesses. If the center proves successful, they will be working with the state legislature to ensure that the other two centers will be opened as planned.

It’s not about expanding government; it’s about facing realities and making wise choices when it comes to needed government services.

VINETTA R. SPENCER

Coeur d’Alene