I am writing in response to the Feb. 28 letter from a concerned citizen of the beautiful city of Marysville (“Time the city took on gangs, drugs”).
Gangs are a problem throughout our nation and we certainly don’t want to do what so many communities have done in the past and turn a blind eye to any potential gang threat. With that, I want to point out that gang influence in Marysville is very minimal compared to many communities in the nation. This goes as well for any graffiti popping up in our city. (A previous council passed a graffiti ordinance to give our police and city the tools to eradicate graffiti quickly.)
As for creating a drug task force, we have an ongoing partnership with the Snohomish County Drug Task Force, giving us access to far more resources then we could have on our own. We also have officers assigned to deal specifically with this issue. As well, Marysville takes drugs in our community very seriously, keeping our police department busy putting drug houses and dealers out of business.
The best way to deal with a problem is to prevent it. If you read The Herald recently, you may have noticed our mayor talking to students at the junior high, working to create a teen/youth center to give kids something productive to do. Furthermore, the parks that we build (including our Waterfront Park) give kids a place to go and do something productive, instead of destructive. It’s better for our community and children, and far less expensive, to prevent them from being bored than reacting to graffiti, gangs and such with more police.
Marysville is not only a beautiful place to live, but thanks to all those who protect us, a safe place to live!
Lee A. Phillips
Marysville City Council
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