MODESTO — City and county officials engaged in a tense exchange Tuesday morning over who’s responsible for allowing a behavioral health facility to operate in Turlock.
At the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors meeting, Turlock Mayor Amy Bublak and city manager Reagan Wilson reiterated their objection to the county contracting with A&A Health for a proposed mental-health/residential-care facility near Dutcher Middle School.
The county contends that Turlock had the power all along to stop the project from moving forward by denying various building permits.
Bublak’s and Wilson’s appearance before the board came less than a week after Wilson sent the county a letter stating the same concerns.
In the end, the board voted 5-0 to renew the contract.
“We’re going to have litigation I think, and this will end up in Alamo’s lap,” said Wilson. “We believe they’ve changed the use of the land.”
“We had no communications … none of you were talking to us until (A&A) spoke to me at the end of January (2024),” said Bublak. “We’ve heard the Board of Supervisors talking about how communication is so important, and how the safety of the community is so important. Well, here we’re talking about a specific area where children, whether it’s a school or kids that have disadvantages, are within 500 feet. And our community has told you we’re not good with that spot. We understand that we need a facility. Just not there.”
Bublak then invited the supervisors to come to Turlock to hear directly from her constituents.
On Feb. 13, all five supervisors, along with county counsel Thomas Boze, were in Turlock when a crowd of about 200 packed the city council chambers — and two overflow areas — for a nearly three-hour discussion on the issue.
Bublak was followed at the podium Tuesday by Wilson, who, after his remarks, engaged in a back-and-forth with District 3 Supervisor Terry Withrow for nearly 10 minutes.
“By asking us today to not approve this contract does nothing to help you with your problem. The problem can be solved by the city council of Turlock not permitting this project,” said Withrow. “I’m not sure why you guys are here today. This is about you stopping that facility because you feel it’s a change of use; not stopping us from contracting. That doesn’t solve your problem one bit. … There will be 57 other counties who will come and want those beds. Are you guys going to go to 57 others Board of Supervisors meetings and ask them not to contract?”
“Probably not,” Wilson conceded.
The facility plans to serve more patients between the ages of 18 and 59; the previous facility served a majority of patients older than 60.
Turlock resident Shelly Koch spoke in opposition to the project. She disagreed with Withrow’s contention, saying that the city plays a smaller role than the county and state.
“It starts at a state government level, and then it goes down to a county level, and then it comes to the city level; we are at the bottom of levels to make decisions,” Koch believes. “The permitting process is a very minute part. We were actually, through the state and county level, told that under no uncertain circumstances this facility was going in. So, if you say that the city council has the final say, that’s not exactly accurate.”
A representative from Genesis Behavior Center, which provides services to autistic children and is located across the street from the proposed facility, also spoke in opposition.
Tony Vartan, the county’s director of Behavioral Health and Recovery Services and a Turlock resident, recommended renewing the contract with A&A. He also introduced into the record a letter dated July 24, 2023, in which A&A informed the city of Turlock it was considering the purchase of the former Las Palmas Estates nursing care facility at 1617 Colorado Ave.
Finally, Vartan made a plea for a compassionate approach toward those suffering from mental health issues.
“One in five people will experience a mental health issue in their lifetime,” Vartan said. “It’s imperative that we encourage our communities to treat mental health with the same sensitivity and support as any other medical condition.”
The board was about to vote on the matter when District 2 Supervisor Vito Chiesa, who represents all of Turlock, interrupted. He spoke for nearly 15 minutes.
“I’m sorry,” said Chiesa. “I’ve been sitting here, collecting my thoughts.”
Chiesa pointed out that the county is mandated to provide behavioral health and recovery services.
“That’s why they call us the ‘payer of last resort’ in county government because things fall on us,” said Chiesa. “The state mandates programs. Behavioral health and recovery is a mandated program. … our consumer load is growing, not contracting. These are just facts we’re dealing with.”
Chiesa acknowledged that A&A is shifting the clientele base, but said he agreed with Withrow that it’s a licensing issue between A&A and the state.
“Before, 75 percent of the residents had to be 60 and over; 25 percent were 18-59,” said Chiesa. “Now, they’re trying to flip that … and that more mirrors the demographics of our community and the clientele.”
Chiesa said his preference is to keep Stanislaus County patients in Stanislaus County for treatment, rather than shipping them to facilities in far-off parts of the state.
“I don’t like being put in this spot, and I feel bad because it’s complicated,” said Chiesa. “Reagan was nice enough to stand up there, but he was the CEO of this county when we were placing people in that facility. … It’s complicated, but everybody’s doing what they can.”
