WORKING AS A REGION

What makes NIMBY ("Not In My Back Yard") disputes so hard to mediate is
that typically there are sincere, well-meaning people on both sides.

That was certainly the case when Transitions Inc. recently proposed putting
a long-term residential drug treatment facility for about 100 men in the
Latonia neighborhood of Covington. Transitions included the county-owned
property on its application to state officials who are trying to figure out
where to place 10 such facilities as part of Gov. Ernie Fletcher's Recovery
Kentucky initiative.

The facility is certainly needed in Northern Kentucky.

Not a week goes by, it seems, where there's not another drug arrest or
obituary for a drug addict who overdosed. And testimony at recent public
hearings gave painful glimpses at the agony suffered by families across the
region touched by drug addiction.

Transitions, a non-profit doing the Lord's work in Bellevue, has only 40
such beds and has a four-month waiting list for those beds. Executive
Director Mac McArthur is frustrated at having to turn away people who need
a hand to save themselves.

But you can't blame Latonia residents for feeling anxious. Drug addicts who
are sincere about turning their lives around deserve compassion and help,
but addicts are also unpredictable and sometimes criminally minded. That's
the nature of being an addict. A home for 100 men at the lowest point of
their lives is a home for 100 potentially unstable people. That's hard to
dispute. Parents are protective of their children, children protective of
their elderly parents, and everyone is worried about the neighborhood.

In the face of opposition from City Hall and residents, Transitions is
looking for another site, although it hasn't completely given up on the
location near Rosedale Manor Nursing Home in Latonia. Time is short. The
state is about ready to pick locations, and it will favor those that have
the support of the surrounding community.

Covington says it was surprised by the proposed site and Kenton County's
endorsement as the government "sponsor" of Transitions' proposal. There
should have been no surprise. This region should have gotten together, like
we urged it to do back in January, to find a site amenable to all.

Our governments need to learn to talk to each other, and the region needs
to learn to solve - as a group - controversial problems. We hope Northern
Kentucky doesn't lose its chance at the money to build this drug treatment
facility because officials were unwilling to do so.

Transitions isn't the bad guy here, nor are the Latonia residents. The bad
guy is drug addiction, and this region needs to figure out a way to solve
it, together.