MARK  W.   POLIT

5571 Marshall Street
Oakland  CA  94608-2613
[email protected]
510-655-9016

July 4, 1999

Governor Gray Davis
State Capitol
Sacramento  CA  95814

Attention: Dario Frommer, Appointments Secretary

Subject: Director and Deputy Director Department of Developmental Services

Dear Governor Davis,

I am writing as a parent of a young man with severe developmental disabilities and as a parent who has advocated for nearly twenty years at the local and state
level on behalf of people with developmental disabilities and their families. 

Due to legislative mandates and the force of economic circumstances, your administration will be responsible for what may be the most significant changes in
the developmental disabilities service system in thirty years.  Your administration will be tasked with navigating extraordinarily contentious and difficult
issues with stakeholder groups applying maximum pressure to affect the outcomes.  It is in this context that I recommend the candidacy of  Mr. Philip
Campbell and Dr. Mary Cerreto who have applied as a team to be Director and Deputy Director of the Department of Developmental Services (DDS).   

Mr. Campbell and Dr. Cerreto worked together from 1991 to 1997 as Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner of the Department of Mental Retardation
(DMR) in Massachusetts.  During their tenure at DMR, their work achieved national prominence for their innovations and successful restructuring in the
following areas that California is also struggling to address:

• Reforming the rate system,
• Restructuring the quality assurance and monitoring systems,
• Maximizing federal funds,
• Developing small state-operated homes for people leaving state institutions,
• Transitioning state employees to providing community-based services, and
• Professionalizing the ranks of direct care staff.

A director of DDS must have extraordinary competence to ensure that your administration is successful in meeting these challenges.  In this respect, I can
assure you that Philip Campbell and Dr. Mary Cerreto would bring extraordinary technical competence, tremendous energy, a high degree of professionalism,
and demonstrated political savvy to this position.  I also believe that they are the only candidates, thus far, that may overcome many of the divisions between
disability stakeholder groups.

In summary, Philip Campbell and Dr. Mary Cerreto are candidates of exceptional abilities that will enable your administration to successfully navigate a field
of exceptional challenges.  These are also professionals, people who have demonstrated loyalty to their governor in their previous roles at Massachusetts DMR.

Thank you very much for your consideration.  If you have any questions concerning my support for these individuals, please call me at 510-655-9016.


Yours Truly,


Mark W. Polit