Factions of the Municipal Drug Alliance disputed a proposal drawn up on March 19 that asked the town to use of the children's room in the old Secaucus public library to expand existing after-school recreation for kids.
Rev. Will Henkel, apparently believing that the group had to put in a proposal to the town in order to qualify for possible funding in the 2003 municipal budget, had drafted the proposal, listing the members who had been at the meeting, and submitted it to the town.
"I thought we needed to get onto the [town] caucus agenda," Rev. Henkel in answering a flurry of criticism from Town Administrator Anthony Iacono and Municipal Alliance Chairperson Jill Pries.
Pries said the meeting was not an official meeting and that she was unaware of any document being drafted.
Iacono criticized Rev. Henkel for using the wrong name at the top of the proposal, noting that Henkel had used "Municipal Youth Alliance" rather than "Municipal Drug Alliance," although for the balance of the meeting, Iacono made the same mistake routinely.
The Municipal Youth Alliance was a non-profit organization set up last year to receive rental fees from a billboard near Kane Stadium, with the idea of building a new recreation center near the high school. The Municipal Drug Alliance is a 13-year-old state-sanctioned volunteer organization that acts as a vehicle for receiving a percentage of drug fines to be used for anti-drug education and treatment. Secaucus receives slightly under $20,000, all of which goes to pay for Pries' salary as the head of the drug program in the Secaucus School District.
Last year, Rev. Henkel sought to get an accounting of the budget for the organization, hoping to use some of these funds for drug education. Over the last year, he and other members of Alliance questioned the wisdom of the town's turning over all the funds to the school district to pay the salary of drug counselor.
Drafting the proposals
Rev. Henkel was also a significant critic of the naming of the Municipal Youth Alliance because of the similarity of names.
In the confused confrontation of the April 14 meeting, members who had attended an informal gathering on March 19 tried to sort out what they had discussed, and whether or not they had actually sought to make an official proposal to the town.
At its March 19 meeting, the Municipal Drug Alliance drew up proposals that would help combat increasing drug use among Secaucus teens - as recently shown in a school drug survey.
Rev. Henkel said that in drafting the suggestions raised at the March 19 meeting, he had not intended to issue a formal proposal, but to offer the council some ideas the Drug Alliance had come up with.
Kathy McFarlane, whose name appeared at the bottom of the document, said she had not known of its being sent the council.
Second Ward Councilman John Bueckner, who had to leave the meeting early, said criticism of Rev. Henkel was unjustified since the issues raised in the memo reflected the thoughts of the people at the meeting.
Pries, however, argued that these were discussion points and not the findings of the full Drug Alliance membership.
The recommendations have come under some fire from Town Hall in an ongoing dispute over the voluntary group's function.
Town Hall has been very reluctant to grant the members any power to operate on their own, calling the organization an advisory group.
In the past, the Alliance had had little say in financing decisions, because most of the operations are conducted through the town and school business offices, and, in fact, fewer than six of the 20 or more members of the committee actually show up for the monthly meetings.
Teens need a place to hang out
The document Rev. Henkel drew up proposed two basic areas of concern: increasing the capacity of the existing after school recreation center - currently located on Front Street - and providing someone with experience in drug education to interact with children during those hours when they are not in school.
"According to Principal [Patrick] Impreveduto, kids are not doing the drugs in school [buildings]," Rev. Henkel said. "So we need someone who can reach these kids where they are doing the drugs."
Although the document listed estimated costs for each segment, including about $10,000 to purchase equipment to set up the former library's children's room into a recreation facility and $30,000 for the salary of a drug education person, Rev. Henkel said these were guesses and never meant to reflect the actual costs.
The recommendations could interfere with town plans to turn the former library into a money-making day care center.
Bueckner, who has taken the side of the dissident Alliance members like Henkel, said part of the old library could be used to help educate teens about the dangers of drugs.
According to a statement issued by the Alliance as a result of the March meeting, the Alliance would like to improve direct services to the should of the community, and made several proposals that included the conversion of the children's library room in the old public library building to house a teen center. This would provide a place near where kids have historically gathered in evening hours and could provide some positive activities to absorb their time.
According to several interviews done with kids in the Buchmuller Park area by the Secaucus Reporter since 1998, drugs have been purchased and consumed in that area.
"Because many of the requirements of such a place, bathrooms and kitchen facilities, are already in place, renovation would be minimal and would mostly involve the purchase of equipment including a pool table, ping pong table, TV, video game equipment computer, football, air hockey tables and chairs," the recommendation said.
Iacono argued that the current Front Street facility already offers many of those items, and that it has yet to be determined if there is a need to expand services to another facility.
Judy Addevensky, who is both a member of the Drug Alliance and works as a caretaker at the Front Street recreation center, said use of the facility varies according to the season and weather, and that one floor of the three-floor facility is not currently in use.
The idea behind expanding the services to the old library was to put the facility closer to where kids are known to hang out in Buchmuller Park and the Plaza Diner parking lot, with the hopes of giving them something to do.
Newly appointed Recreation Director John Voli said the town could expand the hours of the pool in order to give kids another place to go. He also said the ice rink, previously used for roller skating in summer, would be available because the rollerskating was being suspended for lack of attendance.
"We could put on dances or have live bands in there in order to attract kids," he said.
The ice rink is situated in Buchmuller Park and could draw kids in, if the right attractions were offered.
Alliance members agreed to study the use of the current recreation center to see if it needs to be expanded. Meanwhile, the town may seek to expand pool hours and use of the rink for teen-oriented programs.
Getting someone teens can trust
More complex was the recommendation for a counselor to help kids after school hours.
This proposal calls for a part-time worker skilled in relations to youth and networking with police, schools, and the community, who would be free to engage the youth in the streets and hangouts as well as multiple recreation sites and to establish helpful relations with them towards responsible and healthy behaviors.
Rev. Henkel envisioned someone that could go to places where teens hang out. Although Iacono, Pries and Carl Mucciolo, a member of the court teen intervention team, suggested possible use of a DARE police officer, who would not cost the town significantly more than it currently allocates in salary, McFarlane felt an officer would not be able to relate to the kids.
Addevensky, however, said many of the kids who currently take DARE programs would likely have a good relationship with a DARE officer later on. Addevensky also noted that she had won trust of some teens in her role at the recreation center, and said that someone with some training could go a long way to winning teens' trust.
Pries said college interns might be available, students currently studying for careers as social workers or counselors, and agreed to seek out local colleges to see if such students would be available.
The Drug Alliance members also agreed to look into towns that have implemented similar after-school programs in order to determine their effectiveness.
Post a Comment