Good Week / Bad Week 08.20.15

GOOD: Good news for the mental health of everyone at CSU Monterey Bay, plus the entire community: Caroline Haskell, director of health and wellness services at CSUMB, has been named social worker of the year by the California chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. It’s a well-earned honor for Haskell, who’s been at CSUMB for going on 20 years, and a recognition of her advocacy and leadership in the community. She was instrumental in launching CSUMB’s masters of social work program, and created the Postpone Project, a service learning program for students to become peer mentors to reduce teen pregnancies. Haskell is also a co-author of the book 2013Combined Destinies: Whites Sharing Grief About Racism and an appointed member of the county Mental Health Commission. She’ll be honored at NASW’s annual conference Oct. 9 in San Francisco.

BAD: It’s a bad week when government agencies and elected officials take care of the public’s business in private. This week Gov. Jerry Brown’s Drought Task Force brought its traveling road show to Monterey County. In a meeting held in Salinas at the 201 Main St. complex, Brown cabinet appointees Anna Caballero and John Laird, county SupesDave Potter and Simon Salinas, Ag Commish Eric Lauritzen, County Health Director Ray Bullick and various local mayors (Salinas’ Joe Gunter, Greenfield’s John Huerta,Carmel’s Jason Burnett), offered insight on how the drought is affecting the county. Says state Office of Emergency Services spokesman Shawn Boyd: “They want unencumbered, non-political input.” He added making it non-public makes it more conducive to honesty. Nothing like throwing politicians in a room, keeping the public and media out and expecting non-political honesty.