PALM BEACH COUNTY DENIES HELP FOR ALCOHOL AND DRUG TREATMENT CENTER

Caron Foundation Won't Receive Tax-Exempt Bonds

With Web sites decorated with images of sunsets at the beach, sea
gulls and big ocean waves, at least 40 substance-abuse treatment
centers in south Palm Beach County attract thousands from around the
globe for help with their addictions.

Now, some local officials say the drug and alcohol abuse treatments
are an economic enterprise that the community doesn't desire.

On Tuesday, after hearing Delray Beach Mayor Rita Ellis complain that
clients at many treatment centers have become a burden on local law
enforcement, Palm Beach County commissioners rejected one center's
request for financial help.

The commission voted 6-1 to deny granting tax-exempt bonds to help the
Caron Foundation of Florida, a nonprofit substance abuse center,
expand its facilities. The bond was sought to assist the foundation in
paying for the construction and furnishing of an addiction treatment
facility at 8051 Congress Ave. in Delray Beach and to refurbish its
residential facilities in Boca Raton.

"I want to be known for quality care, but I don't want to be known as
the drug rehab capital of the world," said Commissioner Mary McCarty,
who led the opposition to the request and who represents a south
county district.

Michael S. Weiner, a Delray Beach attorney representing the Caron
Foundation, said after the vote that the commission action will make
it roughly $2 million more costly for the nonprofit to finish its
expansion plans.

During testimony before the commission, Weiner warned that denial of
the funding request was akin to punishing disabled individuals. It was
a concern that Commissioner Bob Kanjian, the lone dissenter in the
vote, said was valid. Other commissioners were unconvinced and said
they don't think the Caron Foundation has proved to be a good neighbor.

The foundation has had a presence in Palm Beach County since 1990. Its
clients are charged as much as $13,000 a month to attend three-to
six-month treatments. Commissioners noted that the foundation
primarily serves people from outside the state rather than local residents.

"Palm Beach County has a drug problem," said Commissioner Burt
Aaronson. "What you [Caron Foundation] are doing is compounding a
problem that we have."