Pubdate: Tue, 30 Aug 2005
Source: Kentucky Post (KY)
Copyright: 2005 Kentucky Post
Contact:  http://www.kypost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/661
Author: Kevin Eigelbach

DRUG VICTIMS' FAMILIES BACK TREATMENT FACILITY

Drug-rehab group makes bid for new unit

In the back of the crowded Covington City Commission chambers, Jackie Keach
held up a sign that memorialized her late son, Josh Motz.

The former Covington resident died in 2004. He was addicted to OxyContin and
heroin, his mother said.

"I would have been better off with cancer," the sign read.

"I needed treatment, not hate."

Keach, of Cincinnati, was supporting Transitions Inc.'s plan to build a
residential drug treatment facility for 100 men off Donaldson Avenue in
Covington.

She was among about 150 people who attended the public hearing on the issue
that Kenton County Judge-Executive Ralph Drees conducted Monday night.

She chose not to speak publicly, she said, because she feared she would get
choked up.

"Covington has a horrible drug problem," she said. "It needs to step up and
take responsibility."

Other mothers of addicts didn't hesitate to speak up.

Charlotte Wethington of Morning View put a picture of her late son, Casey,
on the podium as she spoke.

On average, one person in Northern Kentucky loses his battle with addiction
every week, she said. The Transitions project would help address that, she
said.

Supporters wore red buttons - which Transitions provided - that read: "Say
yes to the recovery center."

"I thought that the supporters were the dominant voice," Transitions
Director Mac McArthur said.

He was surprised to see that some residents from neighborhoods near the site
spoke up in support of the facility as well.

Scott Street resident Rachel Winters said she's tired of drug dealers in her
neighborhood, and hoped the new treatment center would alleviate the
problem.

"I'd much rather be near people who are required to maintain their
sobriety," she said.

Bennie Doggett, president of the East Side Neighborhood Association, said
she had just checked a young man into the hospital for treatment of a crack
cocaine and alcohol addiction.

"It's so sad. We're talking about people's lives," she said. "Children are
suffering tonight because their parents are on crack."

Those Covington residents were the exception, however. Most city residents
who spoke agreed with the need for the project, but not in Covington.

Leaders of the Levassor Park, Austinburg and Wallace Woods neighborhood
associations and the Covington Neighborhood Collaborative all spoke against
it.

Glenda Huff, chairman of the Covington board of education, sounded a
repeated theme when she said Covington already had its share of social
services agencies.

The project would only "reinforce the stigma that it's OK to work in
Covington, but raise your family elsewhere," the Wallace Woods resident
said.

Transitions ought to find a better site for the sake of the men it wants to
treat, said Barbara Horsley of Wallace Woods.

The proposed site, the former Donaldson Art Sign Co. property off Donaldson
Avenue, is by railroad tracks and an auto body shop.

"Not very inspiring, is it?" she said. Why put them near temptation - the
drug dealers and prostitutes who frequent Madison Avenue, she asked.

Some speakers suggested that a task force of residents look for an
alternative site, with help from Transitions. But McArthur didn't care for
that idea.

"I don't think it's necessary," he said after the meeting. "I think we've
got the perfect location."

Drees said that he plans to discuss the issue at the next Kenton County
Fiscal Court meeting, set for 9 a.m. Sept. 13 in Independence. Both fiscal
court and the city commission would have to approve the project, because the
city and county own the property jointly. They gained possession after
previous owners failed to pay their taxes.

After the meeting, he said he likes the Donaldson location and thinks the
new building, which would replace a contaminated industrial site, would help
the neighborhood.

Asked if he thought it would drive down property values in Wallace Woods, he
replied, "No." 
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MAP posted-by: Josh