California Gov. Gavin Newsom got busy at the 11th hour. He allocated considerable time to campaign for Proposition 1, a narrowly focused, $6.4 billion mental health measure that was spun as both a fix for substance-addicted homeless people and a boost for suffering veterans in the state.
With barely half the votes counted Wednesday, that measure faced an uncertain fate despite a massive spend by the groups supporting it. But the worthy attention paid to Prop. 1 carried an additional cost: It obscured the larger truth that improved mental health care services for all Californians remains desperately needed.
