An Open Letter to the Mayor and City Council

Regarding the Methadone Clinic on 4th Avenue at 1st Street and today's special called meeting of the Huntington City Council to discuss whether or not it has become a public nuisance.

Mr. Mayor, Mr. Chairman and members of Council. My name is Richard Cobb, Sr. and I live at 1239 Kanawha Terrace in Huntington. There are many issues in many of our neighborhoods that need addressed. Solutions can be found, if we all work together.

It has taken over 60-years for the wisdom of my 85-year-old mother to sink into my hard head. Since my childhood, she has always advised me to embrace this little prayer – “Slow me down, Lord.” Many times, I have not prayed it, or practiced it, and many times it has caused me self-inflicted heartache.

I simply appeal to you, members of Council, to pray that little prayer - before voting on this issue. The mayor is young, and I ask him to heed my mother’s priceless wisdom much earlier than I did. Slow me down, Mr. Mayor.

Facts:

1. The 100 block of 4th Avenue is a very densely populated business/residential rental property area.
2. It has an on-going parking problem with, or without, the clinic.
3. It has an on-going litter and trash problem with, or without, the clinic.
4. The clinic’s patients are not just low-income, homeless, or just plain unlucky folks, but some of them do live in subsidized housing, or live in shelters.
5. However, many, perhaps most, are local and tri-state professionals and other gainfully employed citizens (and this includes medical doctors, other medical professionals, lawyers, merchants, etc) who go to work every day - but who are addicted to Opiate-based drugs.
6. If these area residents cannot acquire this important withdrawal treatment, they are driven to continue obtaining these drugs any where they can find a source. With our on-going drug scourge, we need this treatment center!

Unless this particular for-profit Methadone clinic is owned by someone, or some company, of questionable character (and this fact should immediately be made known to the public), it should be assisted in resolving the issues that are being debated.

I visited the clinic this morning, and I inspected the interior and exterior. The clinic is extremely clean and orderly inside and appears to be well-managed. They now have security on their parking lot. I personally observed that fact this morning. Management has also confirmed that they are planning to harness the good-intentions of many of their patients who are volunteering to assist in a planned attack on the area's street litter.

Let us help fix the clinic's problems; not close it! Together, we can accomplish anything we can imagine.

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