Square Off – Sandy Rosenberg

I saw Robin Williams before I heard him.

Mork and Mindy was airing on the tv sets in the WJZ newsroom on Thursday nights when Square Off was taped.

Richard Sher was the host, and I was the producer. The sound was turned down on the tv sets.

After I heard about Robin Williams’ suicide, I thought about what impact it could have on mental health policy in Maryland.

What can I do as a legislator to improve the care we provide? Is there legislation that would bring all of the parties to the table, resulting in a change in the law or more funding for needed services?

A major need, I have learned, is emergency care: crisis intervention teams of trained police officers and hospital emergency rooms that provide prompt and appropriate medical care and referrals for longer-term treatment.

I’m drafting a bill and will share it with the relevant parties before I introduce it.

I had a life before the legislature.

When I was a producer at WJZ-TV in the late 70’s, I helped create Square Off.

The goal was to make this show different than the usual collection of talking heads.

“We don’t want panelists who work for the government or some interest group and are being paid to say what they’re saying on the show,” my boss declared. “We want the average Joe.”

I thought of that admonition twice today.

First at a strategy meeting on my bill to assist people who can’t work on a religious holiday.

“We need a witness who’s been denied leave,” I told an advocate. “Not someone like you who’s being paid to testify.”

Teachers who have received the highest performance rating for their classroom work would be given priority for grants to assist in the repayment of their academic debt under House Bill 613.

At noon, no potential recipient was lined up to testify.

Helping people choose a public service career means a great deal to me. It enables them to do what I’ve done. That would be evident when I testified.

Nonetheless, I didn’t want to be the only person speaking for my bill.

Within the hour, we had a witness.