No one is certain how the rumor got started, but by mid-July word was that the Daley administration planned to close most, and perhaps all, of the city’s 18 community mental-health centers.

“We are not–repeat, not closing the mental-health centers. We have no plans to do that, and we have never had any plans to do that,” says Tim Hadac, spokesman for the city’s Department of Health, which oversees the centers. “I don’t know where that rumor started, but frankly I’m tired of hearing it. It’s like an alligator-in-the-sewer story. Until you produce the alligator–until you produce some evidence that it exists–you ought to stop repeating the story.”

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“We understand that the state is cutting back, but we also feel that the city has not fought hard against those cuts,” says Frank Cavaini, another committed volunteer at North River. “They don’t seem to realize that proper mental-health care could help other health problems, like infant mortality or battered women. They just don’t seem on our side.”

All told, the city opened 18 mental-health centers, financed by a combination of state, federal, and local funds. The current budget is $14 million, down from $16 million. The centers are open to the public, providing outpatient service on a sliding scale (the wealthiest clients pay no more than $25 a visit). Altogether the centers see roughly 16,000 clients a year; the North River clinic (at 5801 N. Pulaski) has an open file of 900 cases.

“A therapist at our center will be asked to do what a private therapist with a downtown practice will do for twice the pay,” says Raimondo. “Maybe that’s part of the problem. Maybe after a while they’re taken for granted.”

Addington and Krieg went on to caution against any program that would leave the poor with less health care. Hadac has dismissed the report as “only a discussion of possibilities.” But considering Daley’s plans to privatize other city services, like towing and preschool classes, the report seemed a warning to the health-care community.

“We wanted Daley to see our flier, but the policeman outside the mayor’s office told us Daley was on vacation,” says Raimondo. “We asked to see an aide. The cop said, ‘The mayor doesn’t have any aides.’ We said, ‘How about a secretary?’ He said, ‘The secretary types and doesn’t talk to anyone.’ Then he ushered us out of the office.”