Pubdate: Thu, 09 Jan 2003
Source: Hartford Courant (CT)
Copyright: 2003 The Hartford Courant
Contact:  http://www.ctnow.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/183
Author: Tracy Gordon Fox

WILLIMANTIC STILL AWAITS PROMISED AID

WILLIMANTIC -- Just before his re-election, Gov. John G. Rowland traveled 
to Willimantic with the Bush administration's director of national drug 
policy and promised to send $100,000 to help the community fight its 
longstanding heroin problem.

So far, local officials haven't seen a cent.

What they did get was a letter from the state saying that a $15,000 
anti-drug law enforcement grant they have received over the past 10 years 
would be cut because of the state's budget crisis.

"I received that letter last week, and almost fell out of my chair," said 
acting Police Chief Lisa Maruzo-Bolduc. The letter was from the Office of 
Policy and Management, and said Willimantic would not receive a penny in 
grants from the drug enforcement program this year.

"We've received this grant for the last 10 years," the acting chief said. 
"I was counting on that money to do additional drug investigations. To a 
small city, that small amount of money is important."

In November, the state announced that it would shut down a regional social 
services office in Willimantic that offered referral services for drug 
addicts, among other services.

Rowland's visit to Willimantic was prompted by a five-part series in The 
Courant in October that documented a 30-year heroin epidemic that has 
plagued Willimantic, a community of about 15,000 surrounded by rural towns.

"I'm outraged by the basic lack of understanding," said state Rep. Walter 
Pawelkiewicz, a Democrat who represents Willimantic, a section of the town 
of Windham. "I thought there was a priority for drug enforcement in 
Willimantic. I thought the whole theory behind the drug czar's and the 
governor's visit was to beef up law enforcement immediately."

Last week, Windham First Selectman Michael Paulhus received a form letter 
written by OPM Undersecretary Brian Mattiello that blamed the state's 
fiscal crisis for the "significant reduction in the funding" of the 
anti-drug program.It was cut overall from about $6 million to less than $2 
million, all of which went to five cities.

"Our goals were to concentrate the limited funds on those municipalities, 
large and small, that were most impacted by drugs, and also to avoid a 
proliferation of very small grants, which are relatively ineffectual and 
costly to administer" the letter said.

Pawelkiewicz wondered how Willimantic could not be considered a community 
adversely affected by drugs. Despite its relatively small size, police make 
frequent arrests for heroin trafficking and of prostitutes who are 
supporting their heroin addiction. In 2001, police seized 7,000 packets of 
heroin in Willimantic.

Pawelkiewicz also wanted to know what happened to the $100,000 Rowland 
promised to fund increased drug investigations by the statewide narcotics 
task force.

"Where is that?" he said. "If anything, there is a trickle-down of state 
police support, and that is not a response to this kind of problem. Is the 
town any better off since the drug czar visited us? No, it's not."

Christopher Cooper, a spokesman for Rowland, acknowledged Wednesday that 
none of the $100,000 Rowland promised has yet been allocated to the 
statewide narcotics task force. But he said it's coming - he just doesn't 
know when.

"The $100,000 is still going to Willimantic," Cooper said. "We are 
committed to it. The bottom line is they are going to get at least $80,000 
more than last year."

Cooper said the decision to give the state's drug enforcement program money 
to the five largest cities was based on a formula that considers the number 
of arrests by population.

"There is no question that cuts and layoffs affect services," Cooper said. 
"There is no way around that."

Budget crisis or not, Pawelkiewicz said, the state should help Willimantic 
"so that 12 months from now, we're not having the same conversation."

"I really feel like we're going in the wrong direction," he said. "We have 
a problem. Someone needs to say how can this be happening, given the 
expectation of support."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Alex