Husband, father, and grandfather. Don Horsley, who lives in Emerald Hills, in the hills above Redwood City, and who was elected to the Board of Supervisors for a third term in June 2018, which expires on December 31, 2022, knows perfectly well how hard and cold a mental health hospital can be, he lived it with his grandmother, so his call to protect and promote decent mental health care is part of his legacy before he retires.
Years of experience and service, as well as a thorough understanding of the needs of the area, led Mr. Horsley to take on one of the most ambitious mental health projects in the county.
The opening of a $155 million campus built for some of San Mateo County's most vulnerable mentally ill residents brought back memories for Horsley and the importance of mental health in the area.
“I remember going to visit her — her grandmother — at Napa State Hospital. And Napa State Hospital was not much different than this,” Horsley said, “this” being the Cordilleras Mental Health Center that will be demolished once the new campus is completed.
“It was all concrete and slamming doors. So being a young kid, seeing a state hospital and women who are essentially locked in a concrete monstrosity, I think it touched something inside me, so I was always interested in making things better for people who have mental health issues,” he said.
“Making it better for people” is a theme that has run through the years for Don Horsley, a former teacher, police officer and elected sheriff of San Mateo County.
It is worth noting that, now that Horsley's third and final term on the Board of Supervisors representing District 3 is coming to an end, the local official has supported actions that have had a significant impact on the area, such as:
In San Mateo County's four largest cities—San Mateo, Daly City, South San Francisco and Daly City—a mental health clinician partners with police to respond to people experiencing a behavioral health crisis. An action that is showing promising results.
In Half Moon Bay, the city contracts with a local nonprofit, The Freedom Center, to respond to mental health-related emergency calls that are traditionally answered by fire, ambulance or law enforcement, from Devil's Slide to south Half Moon Bay. The Crisis Assistance Assessment and Response Team, or CARES, was launched in March 2022.
And among the oaks and forests in the hills above Redwood City, a new era in treating the county’s most vulnerable residents is taking shape. The 121-bed Cordilleras Mental Health Campus will replace a drab, decades-old concrete building — a site that prompted Horsley to recall visiting her grandmother in a similar facility.
Together, these programs — which receive county funding and support — and the $155 million project to build a new mental health campus represent a cultural shift in mental health treatment, one championed by Horsley.
His legacy includes the rebirth of parks, such as Tunitas Creek, which flows into the Pacific and will soon become a new park, the first beach park managed by San Mateo County Parks.
“Don has always understood and valued the synergy between protecting open spaces and natural habitats with preserving and maintaining coastal agricultural lands,” said Ana Ruiz, general manager of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District.
“Their sponsorship secured Measure K funding to help Midpen acquire Cloverdale Ranch near Pescadero, which will become our 27th open space preserve, as a tangible and lasting example of their legacy of serving the Coastside community,” he added.
He has also spearheaded housing projects for the most vulnerable. As Board President in 2022, Horsley led what the Los Angeles Times called “a bold promise”: to end homelessness by the end of the year.
While the County has not declared an end to homelessness, significant progress is being made on several fronts, including the County’s first-ever Navigation Center, which will provide 240 safe, temporary housing spaces for individuals and couples along with intensive support services, and awarding $2.4 million in grants to launch or expand innovative initiatives to end homelessness.
As well as purchasing five former motels/hotels to convert into permanent or temporary housing for people who are unsheltered or at serious risk of becoming unsheltered, investing a total of $254 million in Measure K funds to create and renovate affordable housing throughout the county.
“When we asked voters to approve Measure K in 2016, we specifically mentioned the need to provide affordable housing. We are delivering on that promise,” Horsley said.
“If we are going to thrive as a region and thrive as a caring community, we absolutely must ensure that working families and the most vulnerable among us have safe, clean, affordable housing,” he stressed. “We cannot have a community of haves and have-nots. That is not sustainable and it is not morally defensible.”
On the security front, Horsley has championed an initiative to take guns out of the hands of criminals, stalkers and others who are prohibited from owning firearms.
To that end, the Board of Supervisors pledged $2 million to the program over two years from the Measure K half-cent sales tax.
“Fewer guns means less chance of guns falling into the wrong hands,” Horsley said. “You can keep your family safer by getting rid of unwanted firearms. It’s tragic, but more than half of all suicides occur with the use of a firearm.”
Don also took action on fire safety and emergency preparedness, and helped communities of color voice their concerns at monthly Board meetings, where experiences were also discussed to incorporate the history and stories of the nearly two-thirds of non-white residents.
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