A WORKABLE PLAN TO FIGHT DRUGS WILL NEED BUY-IN FROM COUNCIL, COMMUNITY

Asheville's got a drug war going on, but it's not happening on the
city's streets. It's happening in City Council chambers.

It's a war of dueling plans to fight illegal drugs in the city's
public housing developments, a war where personalities and politics
and philosophies are hindering council members from working together
to do what's best for the city.

It's a particularly frustrating conflict because every council member
agrees that illegal drug activity in some of the city's public housing
developments is a major public safety issue and that additional
resources are needed to combat it.

They don't agree about what those resources should be, but their
differences seem reconcilable if only they could communicate in an
atmosphere of mutual respect and willingness to compromise.

Both sides have part of the answer, but instead of collaborating to
build a stronger plan, one they can all support, they seem determined
to let their personal differences undermine the effectiveness of their
efforts. For that, they are all accountable.

Council needs to adopt a plan that will inspire all members to take a
leadership role in leveraging the private buy-in that will be critical
to any plan's success. That won't happen if nearly half the members
don't support the plan.

In the nonbinding 4-3 vote Tuesday, council directed City Manager Jim
Westbrook to explore funding for a Safe Neighborhoods Initiative that
would cost $600,000, about half for additional policing and half for
affordable housing infrastructure and job and educational
opportunities for young people.

Before approving the initiative they put forward, Mayor Charles Worley
and council members Holly Jones, Terry Bellamy and Brownie Newman
voted down a drug interdiction proposal authored by Vice Mayor Carl
Mumpower and supported by council members Joe Dunn and Jan Davis.
Mumpower's proposal spends $750,000 to add new police officers.

Those opposed to Mumpower's plan say it focuses too much on adding
more police and not enough on providing poor people with jobs,
educational opportunities and affordable housing so they have hope for
the future and a reason to stay away from drugs. The main result of
his proposal, they fear, will be more young people whose lives could
have been turned around, but who will instead end up with a police
record and no future.

Those who support Mumpower's plan insist that making neighborhoods
safe is the first priority.

"I think council turned away from the people who are being shot at,
who are being abused and mistreated by hard drugs in our community,"
Mumpower said after Tuesday's meeting. "If you look at the program
that's been approved, it is largely about fluff and very little about
substance."

Empowering people with skills and opportunity is most certainly not
"fluff," but there is absolutely no question that suppliers of hard
drugs - who almost certainly don't live in public housing - do prey
upon poor neighborhoods where they find vulnerable people to sell and
use their deadly wares. A strong police presence makes their job of
seducing people into a life of crime harder.

But, as former Hillcrest Apartments resident Althea Goode said
Tuesday, the police must have a rapport with the neighborhoods where
they work.

"It needs to come from the community. That's the first step," Goode said.

The plan tentatively approved by council includes $50,000 to fund a
proposal developed by the Residents Council of the Housing Authority
to organize community-based policing in all 10 Housing Authority
neighborhoods.

Without buy-in from the neighborhoods, no plan will succeed. But
buy-in from the larger community will be critical to any plan's
success, as well. The plan tentatively approved by council includes
$200,000 for affordable housing and $100,000 for youth job and
educational opportunities.

Those amounts are little more than seed money to begin programs that
give young people opportunities and hope. But by using that money to
leverage private donations from foundations and other donors, highly
effective programs could be developed.

On the other hand, Mumpower's plan would establish a "Jobs Won!"
program dedicated to providing job opportunities for those who are
trying to leave drug dealing by creating partnerships with area
employer groups who are willing to step forward and support the city's
drug intervention efforts. Such a partnership could be vital, but
won't happen without concerted leadership - leadership council is in a
position to provide.

The operative word here is buy-in. Members of council need to overcome
the competitive atmosphere that has charged their discussions of this
issue. Not only do they need to reach out to one another, they would
do well to give public housing residents an opportunity to critique
their plans and offer suggestions. They need to craft a plan they can
all support.

Then they need to be willing to provide the leadership to bring the
resources of the entire community to bear on solving this problem,
which is the root cause of so much suffering and so many of society's
and the city's ills.