Stephen Mayberg

Patrick Henry Ghilotti, known as the Lincoln Avenue Rapist for attacking nearly a dozen women in the wealthy Marin County town of San Rafael, was looking forward to Christmas 2001. It promised to be the first holiday that the 46-year-old sex offender would spend as a free man in almost two decades. From the time he was 22, the son of a prosperous construction magnate had been in prisons and mental hospitals more than he had been out.

A Virginia psychologist who earned millions of dollars as a consultant to California's mental hospitals over nearly nine years has abruptly announced his resignation at a time when the facilities are struggling with increasing violence and staff dissent. Nirbhay Singh was a key architect of the state's plan to transform care at the hospitals, which mostly treat severely mentally ill patients accused or convicted of crimes, to give patients more control of their treatment. His resignation, which is effective Tuesday, comes less than two weeks after The Times interviewed a top state Department of Mental Health official about his performance and role.

A Virginia psychologist who earned millions of dollars as a consultant to California's mental hospitals over nearly nine years has abruptly announced his resignation at a time when the facilities are struggling with increasing violence and staff dissent. Nirbhay Singh was a key architect of the state's plan to transform care at the hospitals, which mostly treat severely mentally ill patients accused or convicted of crimes, to give patients more control of their treatment. His resignation, which is effective Tuesday, comes less than two weeks after The Times interviewed a top state Department of Mental Health official about his performance and role.

Stephen W. Mayberg, 64, who has headed the state's Department of Mental Health through three administrations and sweeping shifts in philosophies of care, announced Thursday that he will retire at the end of the month. "I really need to recharge my batteries," said Mayberg, who has been director for 18 years. "It's a clean time to leave. It's the end of an administration. My appointment is over. " Mayberg's abrupt departure comes on the cusp of Gov.-elect Jerry Brown's administration and after Brown selected a new head of the Health and Human Services Agency, which oversees Mayberg's department.

When Napa State Hospital psychiatric technician Donna Gross was strangled last month on the hospital grounds, state officials lamented her death as a tragic and rare event, the first killing of a staffer in two decades. They pledged to improve security by offering staff members shuttle rides to the parking lot, and they temporarily barred patients from going outside unaccompanied. But a Times review suggests safety problems at the facility are neither rare nor so readily fixed.

Stephen W. Mayberg, 64, who has headed the state's Department of Mental Health through three administrations and sweeping shifts in philosophies of care, announced Thursday that he will retire at the end of the month. "I really need to recharge my batteries," said Mayberg, who has been director for 18 years. "It's a clean time to leave. It's the end of an administration. My appointment is over. " Mayberg's abrupt departure comes on the cusp of Gov.-elect Jerry Brown's administration and after Brown selected a new head of the Health and Human Services Agency, which oversees Mayberg's department.

The employee layoffs and downsizing of the number of patients at Camarillo State Hospital is a clear indication of the impending closure of the State Developmental Hospital, which Dr. Stephen Mayberg, California mental health director, vehemently denies. The closure of the hospital would be unconscionable, absolutely morally wrong, and would result in great tragedy not only to our unfortunate mentally ill populace, but also all Californians and specifically Ventura County residents.

Gov. Gray Davis selected three people to head the state departments that help mentally ill, disabled and low-income Californians. He announced Thursday that he is retaining Stephen Mayberg, 53, of Carmichael as director of the Department of Mental Health. Mayberg has headed the department since 1993. He formerly directed the Yolo County mental health agency.

In the March 5 article, "State Says It Has No Plans To Close Hospitals," Stephen Mayberg, director of the state Department of Mental Health, says: "We haven't ruled out anything. But I think that if we come up with better approaches or strategies, I'd rather have better utilization of our facilities than less facilities. There are no plans to shut any hospital down." I wasn't convinced of anything. Better approaches or better strategies? Come on, Mr. Mayberg, you can do better than that.

Arthur Kassel loves his badges. For decades, the Beverly Hills socialite used his entertainment connections and political contributions to edge into law enforcement circles, gathering a collection of official credentials. He hobnobbed with Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, used a state car to drive solo in carpool lanes and carried a Glock pistol on his hip. In the world of cop groupies, the burly Brooklyn-born Kassel, 72, is the gold standard. "Arthur lived in a Walter Mitty fantasy," said his stepson, Willie Wilkerson III, referring to the hapless fictional character who fancied himself a pilot, a surgeon and a footloose killer.

When Napa State Hospital psychiatric technician Donna Gross was strangled last month on the hospital grounds, state officials lamented her death as a tragic and rare event, the first killing of a staffer in two decades. They pledged to improve security by offering staff members shuttle rides to the parking lot, and they temporarily barred patients from going outside unaccompanied. But a Times review suggests safety problems at the facility are neither rare nor so readily fixed.

Patrick Henry Ghilotti, known as the Lincoln Avenue Rapist for attacking nearly a dozen women in the wealthy Marin County town of San Rafael, was looking forward to Christmas 2001. It promised to be the first holiday that the 46-year-old sex offender would spend as a free man in almost two decades. From the time he was 22, the son of a prosperous construction magnate had been in prisons and mental hospitals more than he had been out.

Political maneuvering continued Tuesday as county officials struggled to settle bureaucratic infighting over management of Ventura County's mental health department. Supervisor Judy Mikels announced that she met state Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) in Wright's Sacramento office Monday to discuss recent audits of the troubled mental health system.

Ventura County should be allowed to keep $5.3 million in annual mental health funding because it is committed to getting its troubled department back on track, Supervisor John K. Flynn said Monday. Flynn took that message to Stephen Mayberg, director of the state Department of Mental Health, during a Sacramento lobbying trip.