After staying silent far too long, Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty surfaced Tuesday to address the tragic fatal shooting of a mentally ill 52-year-old woman by members of the city police department.
Doherty came on “Corbett” without a formal invitation.
He showed up on the air after I explained in no uncertain terms that his political aspirations would stop unless he spoke to the people of the city about what he will do to decrease the odds of city police killing another mentally ill person.
I wonder if he heard the show and decided to call. I wonder if somebody else heard the show and suggested that he call. I wonder if some paid political consultant heard the show and decided that he better call if he wants to run for higher office.
But Doherty is not solely responsible for the disconnect that exists between city police and the policymakers in the mental health community.
Lackawanna County commissioners also shoulder the burden of Williams’ death.
Corey O’Brien and his Democratic colleague Mike Washo head up mental health services for the county. They hire and fire mental health professionals who contract with a Scranton counseling center.
But O’Brien has yet to call the show and talk about what the county could have done differently or what the county might do in the future to help safeguard the quality of life for the mentally ill.
And I’ve personally invited him.
In a formal email I asked O’Brien’s press secretary if the commissioner would come on the show and address the sad death of Brenda Williams. She said she would pass along my request. That was the last I heard from her or O’Brien about the matter.
Guess he has more pressing matters on his mind.
This very morning O’Brien is quoted in a Times-Tribune article about proposed repairs to the baseball stadium included in an expensive report issued by a well-paid consultant.
A woman whose daughter is mentally ill emailed me a response she received from O’Brien after she wrote him an impassioned letter about the death of Brenda Willams. In sterile language O’Brien told her that he had referred her concerns to the head of county human services.
The woman deserved a real response from O’Brien.
We all deserve a real response from O’Brien.
Like I said, O’Brien apparently has other more pressing matters on his mind – most recently playing cute when asked by a reporter if he plans to challenge U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski for his seat in Congress.
The same woman who wrote O’Brien also wrote Republican minority Commissioner A. J. Munchak, who at least responded to her concerns without handing her off to somebody else.
Let’s see if any of the commissioners show up on Mayor Doherty’s “task force” that he called a “steering committee” when we spoke off the air about his plan on Wednesday.
When Doherty called “Corbett” Tuesday he announced on the air that he planned to put together this group to look into the city government’s response to Williams’ crisis.
The next day he called to tell me that the members of the “steering committee” would be announced today and that he would call “Corbett” to talk about their plan.
We need to hear from Doherty as well as the members of his task force.
We need to hear from anybody and everybody who cares for or cares about the mentally ill.
I spoke yesterday on the air with Gov. Ed Rendell who called to pitch his 16 percent personal income tax increase and $2 billion state services cut. Included in those cuts are about $14 million in mental health/mental retardation cuts.
Local, county and state government priorities are jumbled. Money and time is going into projects that are simply not necessary while crucial services are at risk. When bureaucrats reduce services such as mental health services and police training in caring for the mentally ill, we’re all at risk.
Repairs at the baseball stadium might be nice.
But the overhaul of a system that might save lives is far more important.
The sound of deadly gunfire should get priority over all the paint-chipped seats in all the baseball stadiums in the world.
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