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Dear Editor,
This post is directed to the Fort Bragg City Council (Bernie Norvell), Fort Bragg City Manager Peggy Ducey, and to our Chief of Police (Neil Cervenka)
To the City of Fort Bragg, I’m very frustrated and pissed off because I’m tired of city leaders continuing to hide in the background while pushing other agendas past important ones that need immediate attention.
In 2019 we proposed two soccer courts for Bainbridge Park, in which we had a majority vote in favor of the two courts. We have the funds to create both fields and 4 years later they’re still not created.
The pickleball players (primarily adults) made a fair argument why they needed their own courts, after a lot of back and forth the city found a perfect solution to which you guys have created new pickleball courts for such group. I support the pickleball courts that were created but not before taking care of our youth…
Fort Bragg clearly has a drug issue. In the most recent months, our local Fort Bragg police department has had huge drug busts and overdoses. It’s not hard to find that our local youth is leaning towards these heavy & dangerous drugs because they don’t have enough positive outlets. With a bit of research, you will also find out that the drug dealers in our community are actually young locally base individuals. These drugs have taken lives in our local community & it needs to STOP! We need to continue to work together to create more positive outlets for our youth to keep our community safe and also less crime for our law enforcement agencies.
I’m not saying that two soccer courts will clear up all the drugs and crime in the community but I’m willing to bet that those courts will create another positive outlet for individuals to engage in a positive way and just maybe we have fewer kids trying to join gangs, use drugs or be a dealer…
So let’s stop the bullshit and pointing the finger that it’s individuals’ fault why we have gangs and drugs in our community… how about we start pointing the finger at ourselves and we work together to get positive out let’s to our youth…
I have a high respect level for you Mayor Norvell as you are a man with high integrity and I support the culture change Chief Cervanka has brought to our department. So I’m calling you both out respectfully let’s get this job done NOW and start prioritizing positive change that will ultimately lead to a safer City of Fort Bragg.
-Ricardo Garcia
Fort Bragg Resident
Well said!! Stop dragging your feet, Ft Bragg. Four years is four years too long. Time to act now.
There’s plenty of things for youth to do in Fort Bragg already, yet some still turn to drugs and crime. Schools have leagues, the Starr Center has a big nice pool, and the area is filled with hiking trails. Some parents need to do a better job of steering their children in the right direction, knowing who their friends are, and how they spend their free time –especially if their grades are poor.