Easley goes into denial
Saturday's lead editorial.
Mike Easley had a lousy week. But, if the governor could turn back the clock, he should retreat seven years rather than seven days.
In 2001, the state legislature embarked on an ill-conceived plan to reform the delivery of mental-health services throughout North Carolina. The result was an unmitigated disaster, wasteful of taxpayers' money and harmful to patients.
Many newspapers, including the News & Record, have reported about the problems. Last week, The News & Observer of Raleigh completed an exhaustive investigation, setting the cost of failure at $400 million and 82 avoidable deaths in state mental hospitals.
Easley responded with a news conference in which he contended his administration “vigorously opposed” the reforms from the beginning.
That was absolutely not true. His secretary of Health and Human Services at the time, Carmen Hooker Odom, boasted of developing the reform plan in collaboration with the legislature and formally presented it to the people of North Carolina “with pride and enthusiasm.”
If Easley harbored reservations, he didn't express them openly or exercise his power to block the legislation. Nor did he act to fix obvious deficiencies in the years since then.
Easley's office apparently did order the firing of Debbie Crane, a longtime public affairs officer with the Department of Health and Human Services, who provided information to News & Observer reporters — information that she insisted the public had a right to know. A spokesman for the governor accused her of hindering access to information and called her “dishonest, untruthful and insubordinate.”
Someone must have blocked Easley's access to information because he misstated several facts at his news conference. It looks as if the governor has been disengaged from and in denial about the state's mental-health system problems for a long time. He finally proposed some changes this week, asking for greater state authority over local mental-health agencies. Legislative leaders also promise to explore ways to repair the system.
The idea in 2001 was to put people with mental-health needs in the hands of private service providers. Because of poor oversight, too much state money was paid for unnecessary care while people with severe, more-expensive-to-treat problems were neglected. Drastic budget cuts left state mental hospitals understaffed and patients at risk.
These troubles caught up to the governor this week and were laid at his feet. He tripped trying to dance out of the way — not his best moment.
He can't turn back the clock, so he should use the rest of his time in office trying to fix what's broken.
Comments (1)
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You bet the governor is in denial of the mistakes he has made and the lives lost off of his malicious negligence. My son is a victim of such abuse by the state of North Carolina and the governor knowing the problems within mental health by my son being used for fraud by extortion. It is a travesty of injustice how those who knew and know there are problems that are called to their attention turn their heads and pass their crimes on to others to suffer at the expense of losing their jobs while the governor still has his. When is anyone going to see what is spelled out before them. It is the same problem with yet another srew up by the police department in destroying files while the police department was under the direction of one of two chiefs, now departed without being investigated for what they knew was done. Those former police chiefs go back to Sylvester Daughtry, Robert White during the time frame from 2004 to 2005 that the Klan Knatzi files are missing and currently under investigation. My my my, from one corruption to another. John Shore dumped his negligence upon Robert Williams, as Robert White dumped his negligence upon David Wray, and now the governor dumped his responsibility to the mentally challenged and disabled upon lawyers who do nothing as of July 2, 2007. It is upon the disabled and mentally challenged person to know in there state of mind that they are to call an attorney for any relief they may seek. Now just how many do you think know to do this, if the local chapter, Guilford County Mental Health, does nothing to assist such person even to cause an unnecessary death. When does such corruption stop? Will it take yet another death, since those victims of such abuse by our state government do not have psychologists to vent to, nor do they have case managers since the care takers who abuse the system driving up its cost (like my ex - Jim Dye) works a full time job while denying my son a case manager to establish life skills that my ex has intentionally neglected in order to collect disability benefits by fraud as my sons illegal guardian and payee recipient of his benefits paid out to Kitty Hatfield as legal fees in a case without any jurisdiction and overt actions under color of law. What do you think Mike Barber is going to do legally when you have a divided council on the Klan files in question? God forbid, how stupid are your ignoramises? How much more do you need to have spelled out to you that we have corrupt government leaders that are crooked because of the stupid people who voted them into office. Like good ole Thomas Wright, represented by none other than a local yo yo attorney, Doug Harris, who by the news couldn't fight corruption for his client and years of ethics violations based in deceit, lies, and fraud. Just what the news stated. Do you really think this kind of filth is going to be re-elected. Oh, by the way this idiot was the brother to the last attorney I paid high dollars to involved in the fraud by extortion conspiracy in my case involving the Hatfield's, both Kitty and the fed fraud partner, Joe Turner, the Greensboro Police Department and a recent council member until 2006, that being Don Vaughn. Praise GOD, THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE. STAY TUNED TO THE NEXT EVENT THAT WILL EXPOSE THE CORRUPTION INVOLVING THE POLICE, ATTORNEYS, JUDGES, LAWYERS, SHERIFF'S OFFICERS (BY THE WAY ALL ARE SUPPOSED TO BE OFFICERS OF THE LAW) BUT PERPETRATE THE VERY CRIMES THEY ARE TO PROTECT US AGAINST, ALONG WITH DSS AND GUILFORD COUNTY MENTAL HEALTH. You the tax payer will suffer off of such corruption, but yet your chose to do nothing because it was and is in the hands of a stupid attorney, Mike Barber and Doug Henderson, your so called dumb ass district attorney - sorry for the meaning of his title since he too is involved in the financial fraud by extortion crimes by Kitty Hatfield over many years and most recent last six years and currently since I am blamed for my ex's and Kitty's crimes using my son for fraud by using my father as her ascertained source of fraud and the DA's, former, past, and present, as a free attorney service for my ex pedophile's crimes using my son as his weapon. Let's see if any of you recognize that this is how corruption operates, at the hands of those in high places who abuse the laws that we are protected by and yet we GET NO JUSTICE. TAKE THAT TO THE BANK IF YOU WILL.
Posted on March 8, 2008 3:28 PM