Candidates find common ground over mental health

Candidates’ views on the complexities and challenges of addressing mental health needs received a nearly-two-hour airing at a candidate forum on Oct. 2 hosted by the Yamhill County chapter of National Alliance On Mental Illness (NAMI).

Aligned opinions and concerns, more than differences, were on display in the event, attended by more than 100 people at McMinnville Senior Center. The NAMI board’s focus was on how the hopefuls in county, state and federal elected races will work to address mental health and addiction services and related issues.

Moderator David Beck of Amity, a NAMI chapter board member, said “as a core interest we are trying to triangulate a strategy that would lead us to most effectively benefit those who are near and dear to us.”

Appearing were candidates for State District 24, incumbent Lucetta Elmer and her challenger, Lisa Pool; county commission candidates Lindsay Berschauer, the incumbent, and her challenger, Bubba King; county Sheriff Sam Elliott (who is running unopposed); and U.S. House Dist. 6 incumbent Andrea Salinas, who is a Democrat. Her challenger, Republican Mike Erickson, was not present.

Candidates expressed common themes, such as the need to strengthen collaboration, and for detoxification centers and peer support programs to augment the developing reforms under House Bill 4002 (which repealed Measure 110 and its drug decriminalization component.) Elliott emphasized the training as well as deputies’ understanding of the critical need to identify options besides incarceration for people who are addicts or experiencing a mental health crisis.

“So (we will make) some of those judgement calls and maybe keep driving right on past the exit into town and go out to the hospital and try to get them engaged with providers who are able to help them,” Elliott said. He added that his patrol and jail staff are seeing increased interaction with “folks who wind up in crisis or exhibit behaviors that get them corralled into law enforcement. And we are dealing now with more people who are in our care. We’re trying to provide services that meet their needs. I feel for them. We look for ways to help them in their recovery.”

Opponents frequently agreed and echoed one another, or pointed to programs or initiatives that already work, such as Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training for law enforcement, the inter-departmental Community Outreach Service (COS) program, the McMinnville Task Force, county Drug Court, and overall collaboration between law enforcement, the courts, District Attorney and Health and Human Services (HHS). Elmer said she and her fellow state legislators “really do care about those in need” and would work to address problems. Elmer said she is “a huge proponent of public-private relationships” for addressing social service needs.

Pool called for a long-term approach to solutions and said programs should identify and address “branch problems and root problems,” noting that “the root solutions are more expensive.

“Many of the issues we have can be addressed by preventive steps,” said Pool, an acupuncturist with a practice on Third Street. “I hear it from people every day, the lack of providing services. We need to bring in more technology, enhance the ability of the community to get the care they need.”

Berschauer noted that the county is a strong partner with Yamhill Community Action Partnership, and pointed to the county’s focus on allocating federal money “on the highest needs.”

King acknowledged the work the county board has done, “but I want lots more work on prevention,” citing detox centers, and recovery high school. “I will work to bring those things in the works.” King pledged “to find the resources with the people here at this table.”

He said, “Every board serving the local communities needs representation from all walks of life, Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated.”

In the one clear departure point between any opponents, King reiterated his criticism made early in 2024 of the decision by Berschauer and the rest of the commission to cut the HHS budget by more than $600,000, a move that also involved cutting the department’s grant-writer position. Berschauer defended the cuts, citing the need for the board to consider the requirements of all county departments in deciding how to allocate budgetary resources.

Berschauer said when she ran four years ago she had identified as a priority the establishment of a recovery high school to serve youths who are dealing with addiction. If reelected, she said, her primary focus will be creation of a county detoxification center to support HB4002-mandated deflection and support services.

“We all know that untreated mental health and addiction lead to criminality,” she said. “Yamhill County is blessed with strong leadership, everyone from courts and justices to the DA office, folks who understand we need to do a better job than incarceration.”

King said, “I was not a huge fan of 110, and I am still learning about HB4002. I haven’t had a chance to be at the table with implementation, and am glad we at least have a plan. I agree with the sheriff that arresting your way through this is not a great plan, just passing the buck to a different department. I plan on trying to support HHS as best as I can and working within those guidelines and agree with Rep. Elmer about public-private partnerships. I think we do have people in this county, and organizations that feel called to do this work, and a lot of times can do it more efficiently.”

One question put by Beck to the candidates regarded how “vulnerable community members can find themselves drawn into law enforcement system, and further complicate their ability to function or recover.

“What can you do, or what should be done to benefit afflicted people with mental health issues?” Beck asked.

Elmer replied, “We did work very hard during short session to pass House Bill 4002 which addressed Measure 100 because Oregon was at a crisis. We see it here in McMinnville, but it’s all over the state. We couldn’t look the other way, nor did we want to. We worked hard to put tools back into the hands of the lawn enforcement, while working together, listening to all parts of the conversation.

“We do have a process now that is a start, it has a long ways to go but it is a start. We have deflection and 4002 has been in place sort of a road map so we can actually get people and take them in front of the court if that’s where they need to go, but also knowing that, for an addict or someone suffering from mental health, that isn’t the best place so that we do have other options. It’s very important and a really good start. We need to bolster that up in all areas. We need help on the criminal justice side, and behavior health and mental health side.

“We still have a ways to go but I love we have started that journey and are getting help for these people. We sincerely do want to help these people; suffering on the street is not any place for anyone.”

Said Pool: “One of the things we recognize is that it is all connected. Housing is connected to the addiction, the addiction to mental health, so it’s really important as we are addressing this issue that we are understanding the connection between all these elements, because one of the primary issues people are having with pain if you can’t regulate your pain, and they don’t have access to, you have people turn to drugs that help them cope with the pain and if it’s not regulated it turns into addiction and just keeps going and they lose their house or they lose their job and it keeps going. And when you don’t have and address you can’t get the services you need and you can’t get a job. It’s all connected.

“I think one of the problems we are compartmentalizing a little too much. We need start looking at how these intersections and how important stable housing is to addiction and addressing it as well as looking at how it has a greater impact on the quality of life. We talk about keeping people alive, but are we talking about how they’re living, how they’re doing in this world? I want my neighbor to feel supported and, for whatever is going on for them, if they are looking for help, to get it. We have to look at all of those components and how they are fitting together and how they are working together or in this case how they are not. We need to address them not only as one to one but as a system, and once we do that we can also address the fact that a person is a whole person,

“We want to treat people with dignity and not just punishing people but we are looking at a system that allows them to make changes, and looking at the long-haul to help them be successful.”

The candidates were asked what they felt was “the number one problem” facing the county, the state, or the county.

Salinas said that mental health is “the only issue I have taken on outside my committees.

“This is the one issue where we either fail or succeed as a country, and if we don’t address it we are going to fail, which is why I think it needs to be elevated in a way we have not seen before. This is the number one issue.”

Elmer said divisiveness is the state’s biggest issue.

“It’s not that the legislators are in the building fighting. We work hard to build relationships with each other but the media and the general society culture we are in just loves to elevate this nastiness. It’s really hard to do your job when you have to combat this before you even get to the issues that matter. It sets us back too many paces and we can’t do our job effectively. I work hard to build relationships. I think that is so valuable that is truly where you will move the dial. You build the relationships and build respect and work together.

Pool said, “Absolutism is killing us, that everything has to be 100 percent decided to fix and everything has to be perfectly aligned before we move forward on anything. In reality, that’s not how life is. We need to consider what it is to move forward on a plan, and that means as we take steps we are not going to get to 100 percent all the time. The goal is to get there but if we don’t allow the possibility to move forward on topics and allow ourselves to fail we are also never going to succeed. I feel like we keep seeing this ‘me versus we’ and ‘if I don’t have 100 percent of what it is I want, then nobody can have anything.’ And we have to stop that. You heard we have a lot of overlapping, We have to build on that and keep going.”

Elliott pointed to “the lack of regard for others, for individual property, the sanctity of life. We have devalued the sanctity of individuals to not have to be in fear when they go down the street. To not be in fear if their items are going to be stolen or be a victim of a violent crime, just having that respect for others, to respect what they have is theirs. And to be in support of each other and not be divisiveness and arguing over things that we probably agree on 80 percent.

Berschauer said, “I came in during Covid and everything was shut down and one of the things that frustrates me is, coming out of Covid, that government can solve all problems. Government cannot and will not solve all problems. We’ve seen what that looks like during Covid, That was a disaster. What I’ve always seen is a lot of isolation after Covid. We’ve seemed to have gone to our respective silos and it’s feeding the cycle of people feeling like they’re just on the edge. There’s so much insecurity and uncertainty. Our kids are losing hope, the cost of living is astronomical. It’s driving people to do things that they wouldn’t normally do and it’s unhealthy for our society. I feel like that’s the biggest challenge. I feel like I come to work every day and I carry that on my shoulders, and it’s all connected. And I just hope we can get back to not feeling so isolated and starting to build the teams, the churches and the nonprofits and all those groups that used to solve all the problems, societal problems. We’ve lost a lot of that. I hope we get back to it.

King said, “Ultimately in Yamhill County, the country and Oregon, it’s the polarity we have. Our county is made up of three different factions and if you’re not on my side you’re wrong. I hate that. It couldn’t be more divisive, it couldn’t be more disruptive to our community. I think that’s why the representation is so important, that you feel heard. I think that is one issue I would love to find a solution on.”