RETIRED AUTO DEALER COMBATS DRUGS

Dick Withnell Is Co-Chairman Of The No Meth Task Force.

Three to seven cars are stolen every year from Withnell Motor Co. car lots.
Most of the cars eventually are tracked down by police, but with the
expensive equipment from the vehicles such as compact disc players and
speakers usually missing.

The thieves steal the equipment to raise cash to finance their drug habits,
said retired auto dealer Dick Withnell.

Withnell, 62, who lives in southwest Keizer, said the connection between
property theft and illegal drugs is obvious to him, but he is frustrated
that many of his neighbors don't see it.

His passion for the issue is one of the reasons that the local businessman
has gotten involved in a community campaign to stop the area's
methamphetamine trade. Withnell is co-chairman of the Salem-Area Chamber of
Commerce's No Meth task force.

"I'm just fearful that my grandchildren will not have the same
opportunities I had because our cities' infrastructures are being decayed.
I'm just not going to sit back and accept that. I can't," he said.

Withnell moved to the Salem-Keizer area about 33 years ago. He said he
remembers the area as an ideal place to raise a family and one of the best
places in the country to live, but he said all of that has changed.

For a taste of what he is talking about, sit in any courtroom in the
Salem-Keizer area. There are custody hearings where parents have been
accused of giving newborns formula laced with meth. And there are domestic
abuse cases resulting from drug use.

"It's quite an eye-opener," Withnell said.

In the car business, he said increased thefts cause car insurance to go up.

"The mentality is, 'It's not in my back yard.' But the thing is, it is in
your back yard whether you want to accept it or not," Withnell said.

Because he is retired and his son, David, is running the family business,
Withnell has more time to spend on issues like combatting drugs. He said he
feels that, because retirees have the time since they are no longer raising
families, they need to make a conscious effort to give something back to
the community.

"If we just hunker down and sit at home and cocoon, the problem is only
going to get bigger and bigger and bigger."