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From: - <br />To: Council -Diane Howard; Council-Giselle Hale; Council -Alicia Aguirre; Council-Lissette Espinoza-Garnica; Council - <br />Jeff Gee; Council -Diana Reddy; Council -Michael Smith; PD Dan Mulholland; MGR -Melissa Stevenson Diaz <br />Subject: Community Wellness and Crisis Response Team Mental Health Partnership <br />Date: Monday, January 25, 20219:33:07 AM <br />CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution when <br />opening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders. <br />Dear Mayor Howard, Council members, Chief Mulholland, and City Manager Stevenson - <br />Diaz, <br />As a member of SURJ San Mateo and a resident of Redwood City, I am writing to comment <br />on the proposed Community Wellness and Crisis Response Team Mental Health <br />Partnership. <br />I am glad to see the City looking into creative responses to mental health crises. However, I <br />urge you to reconsider the initially proposed model. Instead of sending mental health <br />professionals to accompany police, please use this opportunity to create a crisis response <br />team composed solely of mental health clinicians, social workers, and emergency medical <br />support. <br />There are multiple models, both locally and nationwide for programs with response teams <br />that do not include police, including in Santa Clara County, San Francisco, Denver, Los <br />Angeles, and Eugene, OR. I urge you to consider these programs as examples of how the <br />San Mateo County pilot program can be structured. <br />While I appreciate the sense of urgency around this issue, I urge you to make time for <br />public input on the design of the program before approving and launching it. <br />Sincerely, <br />Vicki Martell <br />Redwood City, CA 94062 <br />