To the editor:

In recent budget sessions, city commissioners voted to use alcohol tax income to fund law enforcement endeavors such as carding underage college kids in bars, and to cut prevention measures such as WRAP, which places social workers at every school in Douglas County.

This is contrary to the advice of the alcohol tax advisory board, which supports continued funding for WRAP. Determining the use of the alcohol tax money for preventative and community safety measures is the sole purpose of this board, and their recommendations are based on careful examination of these issues. They know that prevention investment is cost-effective.

Consider what it takes to incarcerate someone for a year ($60,000), or what it does to a community when the schools aren’t safe, or how it will feel in two weeks when a child in one of our elementary schools needs help. WRAP had been funded equally by the city, the county and the school district.

Collaboration of this sort is what creates a strong and healthy community. City commissioners and the city manager are responsible for the partial disintegration of WRAP with the explanation that it should be the responsibility of the schools. This is a countywide community service that just happens to be housed in schools because that’s where children are.

City commissioners should reconsider this egregious error of judgment, and county commissioners and the school board should hold firm and protect our vital community programs.

Juliet Nelson,
Lawrence