To the editor:

When you take a Discover Bert Nash Tour, you are presented with myths and facts. Surrounding Proposition 1 there are myths and facts. Myth: There is another plan, and there will be another ballot initiative in November. There is no other plan. “No jail” a plan? If Proposition 1 fails, the crisis center likely will fail too.

Proposition 1 presents a plan for a shared funding source to maintain a safe, secure and appropriate environment for all inmates. It also provides for an integrated system of medical, mental and behavioral health services that is sustainable over time; and that provides short- and long-term housing. There are 18 groups involved, ranging from Bert Nash, LMH, DCCCA, Heartland and the Housing Authority, to all the county public schools (WRAP), to name a few. Proposition 1 provides for the ongoing funding of mental health services; it’s not just a building. This plan has resulted from years of collaborative conversations.

Can we really afford to fail here? Can we really afford to just say no? The jail is the obligation of the county; the crisis center is not. Improving the jail is something we must do; providing mental health and substance abuse services is something we should do. Before voting no jail, please consider this quote from “The Worst Hard Times”: “I didn’t know that so much costly misinformation could be put into a single brief sentence.” Please research the myths and the facts.