PATIENT TRANSFER

Representing hundreds of concerned Norwalk residents, City Manager Ernie Garcia traveled to Sacramento on Tuesday to lobby against a plan to temporarily transfer 250 court-referred mental patients to Metropolitan State Hospital.

Garcia planned to meet with a representative of Gov. Pete Wilson and present petitions and a recent resolution by the City Council that outlines residents’ fears that the hospital, which is next to a residential area, is not suited for potentially dangerous patients.

Wilson has proposed spending more than $5 million to increase security at the hospital during three years of renovations at Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino, which holds at least 1,000 judicially committed patients.

Norwalk residents began to worry about the transfer proposal in December when 68 patients were transferred from Patton. In recent community meetings, hundreds of residents expressed concern that some of the patients who would be transferred have criminal histories and pose a threat to the community if they escaped.