The whole thing started while
I was Ombudsman, and there was
an effort to start, at least,
closing Faribault RTC in 1992.
And that basically encountered
some stiff political resistance
and really got nowhere.
And the Governor wanted to...
was hoping that perhaps an
interagency effort, not just the
Department of Human Services,
might be successful. The other
thing is the Regional Treatment
Centers are all, in most
cases, located in fairly small
communities around the state
and certainly have a very,
had had a very significant
economic impact in their communities.
And I think a number of
legislators were seeing that
deinstitutionalization was the
trend and were very concerned
about what that would do to the
economy of their districts and
some of the towns in their
districts. And that's actually
what got the whole effort at
Moose Lake going. The legislators
from the Moose Lake area
really were very far thinking.
They were seeing the day when
perhaps the Regional Treatment
Center would close, would
have probably a very devastating
impact on their community,
and they were looking for ways
to perhaps allow that transition
to occur that would be good
for the residents in the
Regional Treatment Center and
also good for the members of the
community. So, I guess we commenced
on what I, in retrospect,
consider a huge mediation.
We put together an interagency
team. I think at one point we
counted 12 different State
agencies were involved. And we
negotiated with 14 Counties,
many cities, four or five labor
unions, both houses of the
Legislature, and the Governor's office.
So... and I guess my job
in the whole thing was to try
to mediate and find solutions.
And it was really very challenging
and, in retrospect,
I think the most rewarding thing
that's happened to me in the
last ten years. I feel better
about the result there than
perhaps anything I've been
able to do in State government.