Pubdate: Tue, 22 Jul 2003
Source: Press-Republican (NY)
Copyright: 2003 Plattsburgh Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.pressrepublican.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/639
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/traffic.htm (Traffic)

DRUGS WILL STIFLE OUR COMMUNITY

It didn't take an independent consultant very long to discover
Plattsburgh has a drug problem that needs to be routed.

Doyle G. Hyett of Hyett Palma consultants was speaking of a study his
firm had just completed on the future of downtown Plattsburgh. Hyett
Palma has done similar studies for cities all over the United States,
including Syracuse; Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; and Shawnee Mission, Kans.

Hyett said that the first order of business for Plattsburgh is to rout
its drug traffic. Besides conducting interviews with all kinds of
people at all times of the day and night downtown, he deduced the
presence of a serious drug trade from the fact that he noted three
head shops doing business there.

"Where you have head shops, you have product," he said, explaining
that head shops don't exist if customers aren't needing what they sell
- -- drug paraphernalia.

That there are drugs being bought and sold in Plattsburgh is not
exactly news. Repeated sizable drug busts in recent years bear witness
to that. Law-enforcement agencies are quick to acknowledge that they
are scarcely able to keep up with the trade, let alone get ahead of
it.

Plattsburgh is the last stop on the route between New York and
Montreal -- or the first, if you're going in the other direction. It's
a natural site for distribution on the way through.

Mayor Daniel Stewart has visited other small cities with a history of
combating drugs to see if he could glean some pointers applicable to
Plattsburgh. That is a very visible acknowledgement that we're sinking
into a drug pit, if we haven't already sunk.

The notable feature of Hyett's observation is not that drugs are here
but that an outside, objective observer spotted it so quickly and surely.

And, he said, allowing the drug problem to smolder will smother
downtown as thoroughly as anything. If visitors don't believe in the
wholesomeness of a community, they won't venture into it. "In the
retail business," he said, "perception is reality."

Unfortunately, there are no incantations to rid the city of the curse.
The first step is admitting the extent of the problem. The next is to
commit to a solution, no matter how painful.

Plattsburghers are not looking for ways to spend more money on public
programs. They already have significant tax and utility-rate increases
to contend with.

But if they choose to let drug traffic chase away tourist traffic,
they are conceding their future. This city is on the verge of a
renaissance, but it won't happen without a serious investment in its
safety and security.

We must hear what the experts are telling us. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin