SHARP CONTROVERSY: YOLO'S 'NEEDLE EXCHANGE' DRAWS CITY OUTCRY

City officials are concerned about reports of used hypodermic
needles showing up in Woodland parks - syringes they say are coming
from the county's needle exchange program.

Surprise and frustration were voiced by Woodland City Council
members last week after learning that a county health contractor had
been distributing intravenous needles in Freeman Park, without
consulting the city.

The problems started when personnel from the city's Parks and
Recreation Department began reporting the discovery of hypodermic
needles in Freeman and Everman parks in Woodland, during their
morning clean-ups over the past year.

The county Board of Supervisors approved a needle-exchange program
last summer, which distributes clean needles for each used one
participants bring in for exchange plus an additional 10.

Bette Hinton, the county's health department director, said at the
time that the program would cut down on intravenously transmitted
diseases like HIV and hepatitis.

Jeff Sissom, park supervisor for the city, said, however, his
employees have seen more needles showing up in the city's parks.

"It seems there has been an increase since the exchange program
started," Sissom said. "They find them all the time."

The connection between the rise in syringes and the county's
exchange program wasn't made until recently when Woodland's Vice
Mayor Skip Davies said he heard from his constituents that the
county's mobile needle exchange was operating in Freeman Park.

Davies said the county had never consulted the city.

This prompted sternly worded correspondence from city officials to
the county which in turn prompted the county to sit down with city
officials and Police Chief Carey Sullivan to come up with a solution.

Both parks are city owned, open to the public and commonly play host
to outdoor parties and other family events.

"I think the concern is they hadn't had any discussion with any of
the (city) council," Davies said. "We had some individuals, from
parents and constituents, asking the city to sit down with the
county. If they're going to do that there where there are a lot of
small children playing, then I think they should find another spot."

Cheryl Boney, deputy director of public health programs for Yolo
County, said the county uses a mix of individual volunteers and
satellite agencies to distribute the needles in the county.

Boney noted that when the city notified her of the problem, she
immediately pulled the plug on the park exchange.

"We were made aware of the concern of doing it in the park," Boney
said. "Once we were aware of it, we took care of it."

The new program is a work-in-progress, Boney said, and Freeman Park
was a learning example for the county.

"It's a new program and we're working out the details," Boney said.

Since the county's adjustment, Sissom said, his crews have noticed a
reduction in the amount of needles they are finding in the city's parks.

Boney sat down with city officials on Friday, including City Manager
Mark Deven and Woodland Police Chief Carey Sullivan, to discuss
their concerns about the program.

Deven reported in a City Council weekly newsletter Friday that the
county agreed to cease distribution in the park and considered
labeling their needles to better track where they end up.

"City staff politely acknowledged the public health risk and firmly
stated the dissatisfaction with the use of any city property for
this purpose," Deven stated in the newsletter.

Boney said she hopes her most recent meeting with the city will
serve to assuage their concerns and provide a framework for
distribution that the county and city both can live with.

"We're kind of going through that initial education period," Boney
said. "We hope there will be support for the program."

One county official who does not support the program, however, is
Matt Rexroad, the only supervisor to vote against the program when
it came up before the board last August.

"I wish I could kill this program so badly, but I can't," Rexroad said.

Rexroad said beyond the health risk of having used needles in public
places lies the greater question of the program's effectiveness.

"I keep hearing, if we do this it prevents disease and it will save
us money," Rexroad said. "I don't know if I believe that in this case."

The program cost the county around $100,000 to implement - money,
Rexroad said, that would be more effectively spent providing the
county's impoverished children with health insurance.

"We're talking about $100,000 for a program, when the county is in
an economic free-fall right now," Rexroad said. "In terms of bang
for your buck, I would rather put $100,000 in the hands of children
than the hands of IV drug users."

Boney said, however, the program will pay for itself even if it only
prevents one new case of HIV in the county.

"It's a very cost-effective program," Boney said, "Preventing one
case of HIV saves the county $260,000. We don't want any syringes
out there either. From this perspective, it's a double goal."