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Constituents concerned with Haywood commissioner’s stance on drugs
BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR aywood County Commissioner Mark Pless spent 15 years as a paramedic. He’s responded to more drug overdose calls than he cares to count — some people he was able to save, while others were too far gone. “So, from 1988 until today, I have dealt with people who are experiencing some form of addiction, be it alcohol, drugs, whatever the situation is,” he said. “I won’t go into real specific details for embarrassment purposes, but there are people in my family who have had addiction. It’s been to alcohol, never been to drugs. So, it’s not that I didn’t grow up not seeing it. I saw it and I recognize it.” While he enjoyed EMS work and being able to help people during their worst — and sometimes happiest — moments, he said it wore on him over time. “I have all the nightmares I want,” he said about why he left the profession in 2003. “A lot of times people talk about PTSD in the military and things like that. The EMS workers, law enforcement, social services, you go into people at their worst moment. How many people can you see that have taken their life, some of those violently? I reached a point where I didn’t want to do that anymore.” Today, Pless is an insurance salesman and was elected to the Haywood County Board of Commissioners in 2018. Now just two years into his first term on the county board, he is running for state representative to fill the seat left vacant by the retirement of Rep. Michele Presnell, R-Burnsville. A large portion of his first term as a county leader has been spent dealing with the local repercussions of the drug epidemic, but his assertions about addiction being a choice have raised concerns from residents who say his beliefs are not only misinformed, but also counterproductive to many of the programs being implemented in Haywood to assist people suffering from substance use disorder. Several constituents have voiced their disappointment about Pless’s position on drugs based on discussions during board meetings, and they’ve been outraged at the commissioner’s responses to their concerns. They claim his attitude and comments back to them have been rude and disrespectful while his assertions about addiction are just plain wrong. “I understand that you are a paramedic and have been for 27 years, but you are not a medical doctor nor a psychiatrist. Yet, you continue to call addiction a choice even though the licensed and trained specialists in our country have proven otherwise,” Michele Rogers of Waynesville wrote to him. “As a Haywood County resident and tax payer, as a business owner and co-founder of a non-profit, and a successful contributing member of our community, I was embarrassed and hurt that we have a county elected official who is 8 so outwardly judgmental and uneducated
Smoky Mountain News
June 10-16, 2020
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about Substance Use Disorder.” Pless responded to his constituents by posting their emails and his responses on his Facebook page, which of course received plenty of comments from his supporters. He also posted screenshots of one constituent’s tax bill and pointed out that she didn’t own property in Haywood County. The heated exchanges and Facebook posts only fueled the flames and further polarized the two sides instead of finding some sort of common ground.
HARM REDUCTION The constituent emails sent to Pless started to pile up following a May 18 commissioner meeting in which Jesse-Lee Dunlap of the N.C. Harm Reduction Coalition came before the board to ask that some grant funding be reallocated. Last year, Haywood County was awarded a $275,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the purpose of reducing overdoses. The county then contracted with the Harm Reduction Coalition to perform the work outlined in the grant. The contract between the organization and the county earmarked part of the CDC grant funding to hire a full-time peer support specialist to work with people in the community. Dunlap told commissioners the coalition advertised for the position but couldn’t find someone who was qualified between December 2019 and March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Restrictions associated with the pandemic have prevented the coalition from finding someone for the position. Dunlap asked that $15,000 of the $47,000 earmarked for the position be reallocated toward temporary housing to shelter people with Substance Use Disorder during the pandemic. They told commissioners that the funds would return to the state if not used by the end of May. Ira Dove, director of health and human services, said the grant allows for funds to be used for a number of harm reduction efforts, including housing, but the commissioners would need to approve a change to the contract with the coalition to be able to reallocate the funds. The contract only allocated $2,000 total for housing needs, but COVID-19 has made that a much more pressing need. The coalition is currently working with about 14 people and housing them in a local hotel while trying to get them into a more stable living situation. As of right now, Haywood County government has not spent any money on housing people experiencing homelessness during the pandemic like other counties have done, and Pless said he’d rather keep it that way. He asked County Attorney Frank Queen if the county would be setting a precedent for the future if it started funding temporary sheltering for the homeless population.
Haywood County Board of Commissioners Brandon Rogers, (back row from left) Kevin Ensley and Kirk Kirkpatrick and Tommy Long (front row from left) and Mark Pless. File photo Queen said that was not a concern in this particular situation because of the relationship between the grant and the contract the county entered into with the coalition. “This is simply a matter of correctly and in advance reallocating unused funds for an approved purpose from the grant from the state to us,” he said. Pless asked why the people being sheltered in hotels can’t stay at the Haywood Pathways Center. Dunlap explained that the Pathways Center only allows people to stay there and participate in the program if they are not taking drugs, but the Harm Reduction Coalition specifically works with people with SUD. “So the people you’re trying to get us to approve the grant funds for can’t go to Pathways Center because of substance use?” he questioned. “Yes,” Dunlap replied. “So now we’re expected to house them because of their choice?” Pless asked. “Mark, housing is harm reduction. If you don’t have a roof over your head you can’t make a decision that’s good, a lot of times,” Dunlap said. “But they can choose to stay on some sort of substance,” Pless said. “It’s not a choice.” “Sure it is,” Pless responded. Dunlap explained that SUD is a recognized medical condition. “Nobody chooses to have that,” they said. “So if these people had their lives together, they could go somewhere else?” Pless asked again. “That’s exactly what we’re trying to do is
help them get their lives together, Mark,” Dunlap said. “A simple yes or no, if they had their lives together, they could go to Pathways Center,” Pless said. “The reason we’re here is because they can’t go to the facility where that’s the purpose — yes or no?” “I reject the premise of your question because it’s absurd,” Dunlap said. “OK,” Pless said. Commissioner Kirk Kirkpatrick said he would like to see a full-time staff member hired as soon as possible but also didn’t want to lose the money allocated to Haywood County if it didn’t get used before May 31. “I’m inclined to say OK,” Kirkpatrick said, adding that he didn’t want to make a habit of reallocating funds that are specified for a certain purpose. “It’s one thing to have Pathways funded by the faith community and nonprofits but it’s a different thing having the government fund housing the homeless. It’s a slippery slope.” Dunlap said they understood, stating that more funding from the 18-month grant would be administered to the county in June that would allow the coalition to continue the search for someone qualified. Commissioner Brandon Rogers (no relation to Michele Rogers) asked if another 12 days of funding for housing would even make a difference. Dunlap said it would — if the coalition can continue to keep the vulnerable population housed temporarily, staff can continue to work with Meridian Behavioral Health Services to get clinical assessments performed on all of the
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