PIP NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR STREET DRUG DEALERS

It was reported (Telegram & Gazette, May 29) that the Worcester City
Council agreed to provide the Public Inebriate Program (now People in
Peril) of Worcester with $137,040 next fiscal year.

City Councilor Juan Gomez was quoted as saying, "Drug dealing is still
taking place there. We should consider withholding funding until that
organization cleans up its act." Mr. Gomez seems to imply that the
organization is responsible for the drug dealing occurring in the area,
which is part of the Main South neighborhood.

To suggest that a program which helps homeless and down-and-out citizens is
condoning criminal activity, and to further suggest that the city of
Worcester withhold funds (which incidentally are embarrassingly low to
begin with) until PIP performs a job that rests squarely on the shoulders
of the Worcester Police Department is not only ridiculous, it's immoral and
without respect for the citizens of Worcester.

I would suggest that maybe funding should be withheld from the Worcester
Police Department until they do the job that's theirs to begin with. Drug
dealing is a crime. It's the responsibility of the police to take control
of the drug dealing in Worcester, not organizations and/or private
businesses. I worked to re-elect Mr. Gomez because I believed he would help
represent the citizens of Worcester and the Hispanic community in
particular. I'm shamed to read his willingness to punish homeless citizens
for the dealings of a few scum, and to attempt to shift the weight of
enforcement onto the businesses of Worcester. He has lost a hardworking,
dedicated campaign worker.

HERMIS YANIS Jr., Worcester