MYTH VERSUS METH: THE SEQUEL

I found Carl Mumpower's recent letter ["Myth Versus Meth,"
(http://www.mountainx.com/opinion/2005/0420letters.php) April 20] - in
which he refers to his solicitation of crack cocaine in a residential
neighborhood last year as an "urban myth" - to be very interesting.

In labeling the incident "untrue," Mumpower obscures ... an event that
involved not only his solicitation of illegal drugs, but also the dangerous
manipulation of circumstances to a point that could easily have resulted
[in] gunfire in a neighborhood where children live.

In addition to the Xpress coverage of the incident last year ["The
Education of Dr. Mumpower,"
(http://www.mountainx.com/news/2004/0623mumpower.php) June 25, 2004],
reports appeared in two other local papers.

In one, the June 10 edition of The Asheville Tribune, Mumpower is credited
with having said: "We drove up to a group of men standing on a corner and I
put my hand out the window and asked for a 'dime.'" In the account,
Mumpower added that after his acquisition of the crack cocaine, he and his
accomplice in the stunt "drove off without paying."

A similar report relating the same set of facts about the incident appeared
in the June 2004 edition of the Mountain Guardian News & Opinion. It is
unlikely that two conservative news outlets would run reports detailing the
same circumstances of the affair if news of it amounted to a mere "urban myth."

It is understandable that this incident and its circumstances would now
seem regrettable and perhaps embarrassing to those involved. But that does
not give Councilman Mumpower or anyone else the authority to mislead the
public, deny involvement or escape personal responsibility in actions that
put the lives of innocent people in danger and continue to insult the
public interest.

It seems Carl Mumpower is either deliberately lying to the public or is so
out of touch with reality that he doesn't recall his own actions... .
Neither of these situations is what Asheville needs in a city councilor. I
share the relief of many in knowing that this man's position as an elected
official in our city will be up for vote later this year. In the meantime,
I encourage Dr. Mumpower to stop writing checks with his political
aspirations that his sanity cannot seem to cash.

- - Bud Howell, Asheville