Letters To The Editor

Dear Editor:

Beautiful people of the community, can we ever have a levy supporting youth engagement, family resources, harm-reduction, maybe a homeless hotel (ie: get a room, shower and food for the night in exchange for community services) and/or other social services instead of always trying to beef up law enforcement?

I appreciate each and every person who works in law enforcement (I myself was a military policeman). And I do agree that violent crimes should be prosecuted (how we treat our inmates in our jails and prisons is another issue we as a society need to address).

I believe if we focus our time, energy, and resources on the youth (guidance, nutrition, nurturance, play, music, arts/crafts, skills, talents, etc.) and assisting those families on the struggle who continue to provide and support their children and elders no matter what, those who work low-paying jobs and continue to show up to their shifts, people who want to better themselves and better the community we will see our crime rates drop, our community become cleaner and brighter and a sense of pride will emerge for all of us.

What we focus on grows. What we water and nurture grows. We can focus on solutions or focus on problems. Which will grow? I love this community and everyone who resides here and visits. Together, we are gonna make this place even more beautiful — beautiful as each and every one of us. Cole Baker