I read that. It’s not really in me to thank you for posting the link, because to me, it’s a scene from ahorror film. But it is educational.
More close to (my) home:
Recently, one -I repeat one - member of a nearby community which has a fabulous park with a restored wooden covered bridge, nice play equipment that I used to take my kids to weekly (now, grandkids) access to local stables where I would also take kids/grandkids - decided to invite, unbeknownst to the rest of the community, a local needle exchange group to make that park an official spot for a sanctioned needle exchange. Still not sure how she was able to almost sneak that by . After that,the obscure , required announcement was made, and our once per week newspaper was astute enough to pick up on it.
That group was ran out on a rail by the outraged community and so they tucked their tails and ran, bruised and battered perhaps, but if history is true to form, they’ll try the same shit again eventually. The one instigating community member is now laying low, anathema to the rest of us.
In this instance, and in other examples, it seems such groups feel that locations in unincorporated parts of the county (read: not much of a government) can be more easily ramrodded, having no one who officially speaks for them. All four small towns within our valley have no governing body excepting county supervisors, so they thought they might just succeed in pulling a fast one.
They were wrong. There was an outpouring , united in it’s opposition to placing drug addicts in close proximity to families with small children, Nearly every family in this valley with small children over the last 25 years, has spent time in that park with their kids . It is beloved by our community. To be sure, there’s a small but consistent number of homeless and addicts there, has been for years. They mostly seem to police themselves, by keeping their distance from the play areas, preferring to stay more or less invisible, by moving to the fringes as more families begin arriving. I have only ever seen a couple bad scenes in all these years.
That would have all changed, they’d have become more brazen and aggressive once they had the sanction of the governmental/quasi-governmental organizations involved. Families would have most certainly fled the scene, and, therefore, lost use of a park that was designed for them. I am so happy they failed.
I cannot offer solutions to the problem, but also am not willing to give up a good thing for the many families who have had use of that cherished park because of someone else's ill thought out idea.
Anyone care to spew hate now?