Husband, father and grandfather. Don Horsley, who lives in Emerald Hills, in the foothills 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 full well how hard and As cold as a mental health hospital can be, she lived through it with her grandmother, so her call to protect and promote dignified mental health care is part of her legacy before she retired.
Years of experience and service, in addition to knowing perfectly the needs of the area, led Don Horsley to get to work on one of the most ambitious mental health projects in the county.
The grand opening of a $155 million campus that was built for some of San Mateo County's most vulnerable mentally ill residents brought memories to the fore for Horsley and brought to the table the importance of mental health in the area. .
«I remember going to visit her? Her grandmother? to Napa State Hospital. And Napa State Hospital was not much different than this," Horsley said, "this" is the Cordilleras Mental Health Center which will be demolished once the new campus is complete.
“It was all concrete and slamming doors. So, being a little kid, seeing a state hospital and women who are essentially locked up in a particular monstrosity, I think it touched something inside of me, so I was always interested in making things better for people who have mental health issues. », he highlighted.
"Doing better for people" is a theme that has played through the years for Don Horsley, a former teacher, police officer and San Mateo County sheriff-elect.
It should be noted that, now that Horsley's third and final term on the Board of Supervisors representing District 3 comes to an end, the local official has supported actions that have had a significant impact in the area, an example of which is that :
In the four largest cities in San Mateo County: San Mateo, Daly City, South San Francisco, and Daly City, a mental health physician partners with police to respond to people experiencing a behavioral health crisis. Action that is showing promising results.
In Half Moon Bay, the city contracts with a local nonprofit organization, 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 of 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 the treatment of the county's most vulnerable residents is taking shape. The 121-bed Cordilleras Mental Health Campus, which will replace a drab, decades-old concrete building, a site that led Horsley to remember visiting his grandmother in a similar facility.
Taken together, these programs ?receiving county funding and support? and the $155 million project to build a new mental health campus represent a cultural shift in mental health treatment, a shift championed by Horsley.
Adding to his legacy is the renaissance of parks, such is the case of 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 space and natural habitats with preserving and maintaining coastal farmland,” said Ana Ruiz, general manager of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District.
“Your sponsorship secured funding for Measure K to help Midpen acquire Cloverdale Ranch near Pescadero, which will become our 27th open space preserve, as a tangible and lasting example of your legacy serving the Coastside community. », he added.
In addition, he has led housing projects for the most vulnerable. As president of the Board in 2022, Horsley led what the Los Angeles Times called "a bold promise": ending homelessness by the end of the year.
While the county has not declared an end to homelessness, significant progress is being seen on several fronts, including the County's first Navigation Center, which will provide 240 safe temporary living spaces for individuals and couples along with services intensive support, awarding $2.4 million in grants to launch or expand innovative initiatives to end homelessness.
As well as purchase five former motels/hotels to convert into permanent or temporary housing for people who are unsheltered or at serious risk of homelessness, invest a total of $254 million in Measure K funds to create and renovate housing affordable throughout the county.
“When we asked voters to pass 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 prosper as a region and prosper as a community that cares, we absolutely must make sure that working families and the most vulnerable among us have safe, clean and affordable housing,” he stressed. “We cannot have a community of rich and poor. That's not tenable and it's not morally defensible."
In terms of security, 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 carried out fire safety and emergency preparedness actions, supported communities of color to express their concerns at the monthly Board meetings, where, in addition, experiences were discussed to incorporate the history and stories of almost two-thirds of the residents who are not white.
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