By Mayor Gary Fuller
Special to the
Opelika Observer
Hello Opelika –
A quick update from the Commission on Crime and Violence. We’ve had two very productive meetings thus far. The commission is made up of 32 citizens and our goal is to form four subcommittees with eight members on each.
The four focus areas are:
• Families
• Youth
• Education
• Resources
We want to begin the process of rebuilding the nuclear family which is the basic social unit consisting of parents and their children living in one household.
We cannot legislate good parenting, but we can work on strategies and programs to strengthen the family. Regarding youth, too many children are without parents or others to teach them right from wrong.
How can we engage youth to show them the moral value of hard work and study? We must work with our schools to encourage students to not drop out and to understand the value of a high school education. Our education committee will address these issues. Concerning resources, this covers a variety of entities — Churches, DHR, Boys & Girls Clubs, the Court system, as well as other agencies.
We do not have a quick-fix or overnight solution. It’s going to require a lot of work by committee members and it will take time. We didn’t get like this overnight and we won’t correct it overnight, either.
I want to thank all of our committee members for committing their hearts and time to help our community:
Derric Baker
Russell Bush
Valerie Canady
Kenneth Carter
Laura Cooper
Chris Nunn
Rachel Dennis
Tiffany Gibson-Pitts
Jeremy Gray
Antoine Harvis
Dwight Howard
Brian Henderson
Keith A. Brown
Clifford Jones
Patsy Jones
Bobby Kilgore
Leigh Krehling
Richard LaGrand
Greg Leikvold
Matthew McClammey
John McEachern
Joey Motley
Joseph Murray
Dr. Mark Neighbors
Patsy Parker
Oscar Penn
Anthony Pogue
Michael Roberts
Jack Robinson
Eddie Smith
Henrietta Snipes
Jake Walker
Robin Wilson
Jimmy Wright.
For more information, visit www.opelika-al.gov.