Legislative forums are set to take place Saturday in Mt. Pleasant, Shenandoah and Clarinda, with regard to the proposed closing of the Mt. Pleasant and Clarinda Mental Health Institutions (MHI). In southwest Iowa, one of the forums will be held at 8-a.m. in Shenandoah at the Safety Center. The second takes place at 10-a.m. in Clarinda, at the Lied Public Library. The announcement of the additional meetings in Shenandoah and Clarinda were only made public Friday morning on the “Save Iowa’s Mental Health Institute’s” Facebook page.

Last week, in an announcement that startled leaders of both legislative parties, Governor Terry Branstad  proposed closing two of the state’s four institutes for people with mental illnesses. The idea of closing at least one of the institutes has been debated off and on for decades, as their populations dwindled and costs soared.

At least report, there were just 24 residents at the Clarinda facility and 47 at the Mount Pleasant facility. A consultant hired by the state in 2009 recommended closing the institutes in Clarinda and Mount Pleasant. A separate state task force disagreed, saying that none of the institutions should be closed until suitable alternatives in the community were set up and running.