PITTSBURG: Bans Mental Health Facility From Downtown
The Pittsburg City Council voted 4-1 yesterday to bar what it called an "inappropriate" mental health clinic from moving into its historic downtown, but it is facing a likely legal challenge. Clinic attorney Michele Magar, arguing there is "not an over-concentration" of nonprofit agencies downtown, said "she will present her board with its options to sue or to file complaints with the Department of Justice or the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development." She said, "We told the city in December we thought they were in violation of these federal [disability] laws. Why would a peer counseling center frighten away business?" Pittsburg Mayor Federal Glover countered, "We've done a lot of work to promote the downtown. We need to stick to the plan. ... If we start to deviate, more people are going to petition us (for exceptions)." The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Magar "said she was not deterred by that fact that a U.S. district court judge upheld the city of Antioch's right to bar a methadone clinic from an office building near homes and a bus route frequented by students" (Heredia, 5/5).
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