Every day is an opportunity to be grateful and learn. I finally have a functioning work phone back in my hands. Long gone are the days in which I was able to use a personal cell phone for both work and home. When I became an elected official, it was wise to separate the one into two. Also, required by my legal counsel.
Despite the occasional notion of its impracticality, I have acclimated to this new normal. I felt rather alone without my work cell over the last week. In fact, that’s exactly how long it took our IT department to acquire a new one. One week. Seven days. After the extensive process of cyber securing me with the recommended and current standards of dual, triple and quadruple authentication I am running on all cylinders again.
What I discovered is just how often I rely upon it to check in with the mother ship. In our current era of cyber security, we are hi tech. I have about the most protections and security of any within our workforce. Accessing my email requires that I be on a county approved laptop or phone. Rarely does a day go by that I am not compelled to check in with a constituent or compelled to review the in box for work related issues and opportunities. Not having a phone was a reminder of just how much I check in with work and am tethered to this public life.
One of today’s meditations include how our organization might transform services for persons with mental illness that encounter the county’s criminal justice system. I’ll engage in a “Sequential Intercept Mapping and Taking Action for Change Workshop”. And an eight-hour analysis of the resources, gaps, and barriers in our existing systems.
Objective: Development of a comprehensive picture of how people with mental illness and co-occurring disorders flow through the Lincoln County criminal justice system along six distinct intercept points: Community Services, Law Enforcement and Emergency Services, Initial Detention/Initial Court Hearings, Jails and Courts, Re-entry, and Community Corrections/Community Support. – Sequential Intercept Model Mapping Report, September 2019
I continue to work with our Local Public Safety Coordinating Council and the subcommittee to develop a deflection program defined by HB4002. My hope is this SIM workshop will expand my understanding of our existing system and the overlays with those challenged with substance use. It seems the sub committee is certain to make sure that many instances of substance possession are kept out of the judicial process. Yet, some undoubtedly will continue to through the criminal justice system organizational model. How does it serve the individual and our community when either pathway is taken?
As complicated as it all might seem to me and possibly you dear reader. I do intend to develop better understanding of these complexities and pass on an integrated picture of how we keep our community safe and how we can further evolve the welfare of our fellow humans. May we all realize the best versions of ourselves and live a life of less suffering and more joy where possible.
On another note, I am grateful yet again for the vinyl dollar bin. This discovery is from Happy Trails in Corvallis. Bernabé De Morón – Flamenco España: The Classical Spanish Guitar. It’s in good condition and sounds great. I especially appreciate the athleticism of the performance. This is as musical as it is foot stomping energetic. Pressed By – Hermanos Antor S.A. Real Name: Bernabé Mejías Macho. Spanish flamenco guitarist (Morón de la Frontera, 1921).
