PUBLIC HOUSING ISN'T EPICENTER FOR DRUGS

The Huntington Housing Authority owns 907 apartments and/or houses
scattered throughout Huntington and Cabell County in 13 separate and
distinct communities, housing more than 1,300 people. We work very hard to
prevent users or dealers from moving into or remaining in our family
communities.

Our first and foremost concern is to protect all families and individuals
living within our communities. We are fortunate to have highly usable
affordable housing for our low-income families.

Unfortunately, our family sites are within easy distance of Interstate 64
and the drug highways bringing drug dealers from other metro areas.

There is a gross misperception that our public housing communities house a
large number of drug dealers and/or people who are sympathetic to drug
dealing. The facts are very different.

We have 279 elderly and 144 disabled adults living with us. The rest of our
residents are families with children. Some of these folks use drugs; most
don't.

We have 602 people who actually earn their incomes while living with us,
from jobs, owning a business, military pay, pensions, Social Security and
unemployment insurance. We have 740 people who have income from disability,
TANF (temporary assistance for needy families), general assistance and
other non-wage sources.

In other words, we have a microcosm of different types of people, about the
same as any other low-to middle-income neighborhood in Huntington. Most of
our families work or have worked and are now drawing their income from
retirement.

We have a large contingent of disabled families and elderly individuals
living with us because this group is predominately on a fixed income and in
dire need of affordable housing. Our housing authority attempts to assist.

We also provide placement preferences for working families or people
continuing their education.

This authority understands that people and families make a community, not
just the type of housing structures. For that reason, we do criminal
background checks before allowing anyone to move into one of our units.

We have a very tough lease with a one-strike clause to evict those folks
who do not believe in honoring federal, state and local drug laws. We evict
families and individuals for violating this rule.

It is the children who suffer the most from our required actions, not the
parents who allow this activity to go on or the drug dealers themselves.

We have security cameras, off-duty police officers, hotlines for reporting
drug activity or any other illegal activity, after-school activity programs
for kids and adults, employment and training programs, homeownership
programs, self-sufficiency programs and support programs for young families
learning how to rear children properly.

We are using our limited and diminishing resources to enhance the quality
of life for our families. We will continue to battle the drug scourge in
our communities and will continue to join with other interested groups to
combat this problem. Please understand that most folks living in public
housing are just like everyone else and should not be cast in such a
negative light. They don't deserve the label.

Most of the residents living in public housing communities are victims just
like everyone else in Huntington. The majority of public housing residents
are just as upset as the rest of the population in Huntington about this
infestation of illegal activity.

The housing authority commissioners and staff are committed to eradicating
this blight on our community and will continue to commit our resources to
make Huntington one of the nicest and safest places to live in the United
States.

William Dotson is executive director of the Huntington W.Va. Housing Authority.