‘DEAR RON’ LETTER

Since Ron Davis was nice enough to quote me last week when I “dared”

the City Council and Police Department to “do the right thing” and not

eliminate the Drug Abuse Resistance Education Program, I feel it only

appropriate to respond to his message to offer alternatives in regards to

the 5% budget cut (“Some don’t DARE grab this bull by the horns,” June

21).

This “long-faced citizen” (sorry, Welsh background) has managed in the

aerospace business for 16 years, so I’m well aware of how to handle

budget cuts.

In business, we don’t decide to eliminate entire departments, such as

marketing or shipping or public relations. Rather, we challenge the

individual departments to come up with creative means to absorb their

reduction and still get the job done. The same holds true with the 5%

reduction the Police Department will be making.

Davis points out that we can’t use 95% of an officer or 95% of a

patrol car or 95% of a gun. What he failed to understand is that the

Huntington Beach Police Department has more than one of each (lucky for

us). So rather than eliminate DARE, we must continue to be proactive in

the war against drugs rather than reactive. Challenge the DARE program

and our other valuable programs and departments, which are run by

outstanding employees, to meet a 5% reduction and still meet the goals

they are required to achieve. The city will benefit more from those

results.

WINK WILLIAMS

Huntington Beach