ASHEVILLE NEEDS A MULTI-PRONGED APPROACH TO BATTLE DRUG PROBLEM IN PUBLIC
HOUSING

It's time for Asheville to do something about the problem of illegal drugs
in public housing developments. All seven City Council members agree on that
much. They don't, however, agree about what should be done.

If they can't figure out a way to work together, they'll end up doing
nothing. This is an important moment, when they are all aligned in
their desire to address a central cause of lives ruined and
communities destroyed. They can't let it pass as other debates vie for
their attention. That would be a true calamity.

They are off to an inauspicious start, but despite their differences,
they all seem to have a part of the answer and all seem sincere in
wanting to improve the lives of the people who struggle with the
problem of drug activity in their midst on a daily basis.

On Monday, after an impassioned debate, council voted 4-3 against a
proposal by Vice Mayor Carl Mumpower to allocate up to $1 million for
a drug interdiction program focused on the city's public housing.
Mumpower, who spent a night in one of the housing developments and
says he observed the illegal drug activity that took place there, said
after the vote, "I think the council just turned its back on a street
level drug interdiction program." He maintains that the city's public
housing is overrun with drug dealers who cause other residents to live
in fear and negatively influence children's lives. Though only
Councilmen Jan Davis and Joe Dunn voted for Mumpower's proposal, none
of the council members dispute that assertion.

Mayor Charles Worley, Councilman Brownie Newman and Councilwomen Holly
Jones and Terry Bellamy, who voted no, advocate a slower, more
methodical approach that would attack the problems "holistically."
They want council to address societal issues such as jobs, underfunded
education and after-school programs and inadequate drug counseling.

All the members of council have part of the answer. Solving the
problem will take a holistic approach, and more police are part of
that, but if they're not careful, council could make things worse
instead of better for people living in public housing.

Adding more police will almost certainly decrease the amount of drug
activity, and the residents who live in public housing say they're all
for that. But whether the lives of people living in public housing
improve - or get worse - will depend on how that policing is carried
out. Police who are disrespectful, abusive and unnecessarily brutal
when they enter public housing will only cause residents to live in
fear of a different kind of threat.

Making it clear that illegal drug activity won't be tolerated is
essential. But just putting more young African- American men in jail,
which Councilwoman Bellamy suggested would be one of the main outcomes
of putting more police in public housing, surely is not the answer.
The problem is far more complex than that.

Even if police could find and arrest the suppliers who bring drugs
into Asheville, like the many-headed Hydra of Greek mythology, more
would appear. Making Asheville a very unfriendly climate for drugs
involves more than arresting dealers and users - though there's an
indisputable need to arrest hard-core dealers and suppliers. It
involves giving young people a reason to stay away from drugs.

As Public Housing Residents Council President Trina Gardner told a
couple of members of the Citizen-Times editorial board earlier this
week, it involves giving them a chance to develop a passion for
something besides making fast money. Many of the young dealers are
talented artists and musicians, she said. Giving them an opportunity
to develop their talent and hope for a successful future would make
them less susceptible to being recruited to sell or use drugs.

Giving them a reason to respect, instead of fear, law enforcement
might also go a long way toward that end.

Investing in after-school programs and taking advantage of resources
already available in Asheville to help young people develop their
talent, whether it is in sports, music, literature, science, business
or some other field, is a necessary corollary to increasing the police
presence. Gardner suggested using some of the money council appears
ready to spend to provide summer jobs for young people who live in
public housing. That would be an excellent way to keep them busy
during the time when they are most susceptible to illegal drug
activity. In addition, it would not only give them a legitimate way to
make money, it would help to build skills and confidence.

Placing a learning center in each public housing development and
staffing it with savvy young teachers who can help identify and
encourage budding interests and ambitions might do more in the long
run than anything to cauterize the Hydra's head.

Council members can also take a direct leadership role by finding out
what impediments keep people who live in public housing from finding
and keeping good jobs.

Is there a need for information about GED and training programs at
Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College? Is there a need for
better transportation?

Can a partnership be established with the criminal justice system to
give first-time offenders a chance to make different choices before
saddling them with a criminal record? Council can take a leadership
role, but the answer must include a commitment on the part of
businesses to hire people who may have been involved in drug activity
to give them a chance at making a living doing something else.

City Council recently agreed on a vision for Asheville as part of a
performance-based management approach. Opportunity for all citizens to
succeed and prosper and education so that all students can reach their
fullest potential were among their stated objectives. As they well
know, decisions they make week-in-and-week-out about myriad things
impact whether that opportunity exists or not.

One such decision was made this week when City Manager Jim Westbrook
announced that a new police chief has been hired. William Hogan, who
has been a police chief for a total of 16 years, will begin leading
the Asheville Police force on June 14.

How he approaches the problem of drugs in public housing developments
will have a major impact on the lives of residents there. It will be
up to council to make clear their expectations and, through the city
manager, hold the new chief accountable, whatever additional resources
they make available to him.

Vice Mayor Mumpower and those who supported his proposal are to be
commended for recognizing that drug activity that wouldn't be
tolerated in the neighborhoods where they live shouldn't be tolerated
in public housing developments. The four council members who voted
down his proposal are to be commended for recognizing that a greater
police presence won't, by itself, solve the problem.

They must find a way to reconcile their differences and embrace this
opportunity to make Asheville a safer, healthier, more wholesome place
for all its residents.