\u201cI\u2019m gonna ask you a favor, raise your hand if you had some family relation that has been impacted by drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Making the request is Al Hill, a longtime Hoonah resident and the force behind a recent grassroots effort to rid the 760-resident town of methamphetamine and opiates.<\/p>\n
All 30 people in a packed Hoonah City Hall raise a hand at Thursday\u2019s city council meeting. So, too, do the attendees spilling into the hallway.<\/p>\n
Those with hands in the air include Hoonah Mayor Kenneth K. Skaflestad; Ed Phillips, the proprietor of a local lodge; all six members of the city council; a liquor store owner; a former educator \u2014 seemingly the whole town has felt the bite of addiction.<\/p>\n
Hoonah hasn\u2019t seen a turnout like this at a city meeting since the town argued about the placement of a $15 million cruise ship dock in 2015.<\/p>\n
Ideas percolate around the room as Skaflestad allows discussion to continue on the topic despite other resolutions filling the agenda.<\/p>\n
Council member Amelia Wilson suggests meeting suspected drug dealers at the ferry terminal to turn them back from town.<\/p>\n
Hill asks for a new police chief and the formation of a citizen task force.<\/p>\n
Resident Greg Garrison says the community needs to stop referring to informants as \u201cnarcs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phillips calls for outreach at the local schools.<\/p>\n
Skaflestad says he hopes to testify in support of amendments to recent state criminal reform.<\/p>\n
Nobody has a silver-bullet answer. Hoonah is facing health care and law enforcement limitations in a tough economy. In these conditions, how does a small town band together to face a big problem?<\/p>\n
In a place where many are related by \u201cblood or by clan,\u201d in Hill\u2019s words, a Hoonah problem calls for a Hoonah solution.<\/p>\n
In other words, Hoonah has committed itself to an unconventional and long fight.<\/p>\n
Common knowledge<\/strong><\/p>\n Hill picked me up at the Hoonah Airport the morning before the city council meeting. I didn\u2019t have to call him, he knew I would be there.<\/p>\n The retired educator has trained his laser-sharp focus on the issue for two weeks, traveling around Southeast to find out \u201cwhat is and what isn\u2019t\u201d when it comes to addiction resources.<\/p>\n A wrestling, basketball and volleyball coach for 30 years, when Hill does something, he \u201cdoes it to win.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf I don\u2019t do it, who would?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n Since I had never been to Hoonah, Hill drove me around for a short tour, pointing out houses of those he said are drug users and dealers and whose habits are common knowledge.<\/p>\n \u201cI could walk down the street and could talk to my friend about that so and so doing drugs over there. \u2026 I\u2019d done it for years, just like the rest of us, just letting it pass right on by, partly because we\u2019re related to so many other individuals in the community by blood or by clan, so we all just decide to let it all pass off to somebody else and do nothing,\u201d Hill later said at the council meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, that is just not going to work \u2014 at least for me anymore \u2014 and I don\u2019t think it should for us, if the community and the kids in this community are important to us.\u201d<\/p>\n Everyone in town knows one another\u2019s business, Hill explained behind the wheel of his Dodge. When people always have money, but never have a job, suspicion arises.<\/p>\n Recently, somebody showed up at his tire shop \u2014 the only one in town \u2014 brandishing a wad of cash and asking for Hill\u2019s services. He turned the man down. Refusing service to people he suspects of using or dealing is his small way of making a statement.<\/p>\n To him, the \u201cmulti-pronged\u201d issue comes down to three things: a lack of effort from the Hoonah Police Department, the absence of affordable rehab facilities and the shortage of awareness and prevention efforts from the community.<\/p>\n Over budget and overworked<\/strong><\/p>\n Hill dropped me off at the Hoonah Police Department for an interview with Chief William \u201cDave\u201d McKillican.<\/p>\n The chief said his department has been under funded every year since he arrived in Hoonah in 2014.<\/p>\n McKillican projected a budget of $1 million, which he said is the amount he needs to run an effective department. Hoonah PD received approval for only $600,000 of expenditures this year. That\u2019s out of a $1.5 million city budget.<\/p>\n The shortfall has forced him to cut services and personnel. Though he wants to pursue new initiatives to fight drug use, McKillican said budget concerns have tied his hands.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are ways we can make a huge impact for our community, but I would never stand on a pedestal and say we are going to rid Hoonah of drugs,\u201d McKillican said. \u201cRealistically, we don\u2019t have the resources to even be that ambitious.\u201d<\/p>\n McKillican stressed that he has some of the most dedicated cops in the state in his employ, and Hill\u2019s charge that they aren\u2019t doing enough is unfounded.<\/p>\n One of his officers paid for \u201c90 percent\u201d of his gear out of pocket, McKillican said, not because he was compelled by the department, but because he wants to do the job right.<\/p>\n He estimated that his force works 20 unpaid hours a week. Hoonah has a police force of three officers and chief McKillican.<\/p>\n Due to budget concerns, the department recently had to eliminate a 24-hour dispatcher position and now sends 911 calls directly to officer\u2019s cellphones.<\/p>\n The town\u2019s drug-sniffing canine, Jack, whose $15,000 training could provide the city with revenue from cash seizures, has sat idle, having lost his job because of complications from the legalization of marijuana.<\/p>\n McKillican has been keeping the dog fed and healthy with his own money.<\/p>\n In addition to budget concerns, new state laws have hampered McKillican\u2019s drug-enforcement abilities.<\/p>\n Senate Bill 91, a comprehensive criminal justice reform bill aimed at reducing recidivism but which has garnered criticism from law enforcement, lessens the penalties for possession of meth or heroin under 2.5 grams \u2014 worth between $1,500 and $2,500 on the street. State Sen. Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, has written an op-ed piece for today\u2019s Empire detailing law enforcement issues with SB 91.<\/p>\n Hoonah typically doesn\u2019t see drugs over this amount. Consequently, the bill has hampered McKillican\u2019s ability to aggressively pursue drug offenders.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s something that every department and every community has had to deal with. It\u2019s hit us in the fact that we don\u2019t have the ability to continue to hold people accountable on serious matters, such as drug offenses,\u201d McKillican said.<\/p>\n The chief said that Hoonah doesn\u2019t have any worse a problem than Juneau or the rest of Southeast. He says the department does suffer from under-reporting by the community.<\/p>\n Officers receive about three or four drug-related tips per month, which is \u201cnot at all\u201d as much as he would expect with the drug problem perceived as widely pervasive.<\/p>\n At Thursday\u2019s meeting, the council passed an ordinance by unanimous consent that would renew Hoonah\u2019s commitment to Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs, or SEACAD. The multi-agency task force has been somewhat dormant since the retirement of a head organizer based out of Sitka.<\/p>\n Even though Hill has called for a new police chief, McKillican said the ordinance and the turnout from community members at the meeting make him feel like he \u201cwants to be hopeful\u201d about renewed anti-drug efforts.<\/p>\n The stigma of treatment<\/strong><\/p>\n Hoonah does have outpatient addiction and mental health treatment resources, located in a relatively new clinic in town.<\/p>\n SouthEast Regional Health Consortium employs a full-time behavioral health clinician in Hoonah, as well as a full-time community family service worker who functions as a behavioral health aide, according to Mary Teachout, SEARHC\u2019s director of behavioral health based out of Juneau.<\/p>\n All of SEARHC\u2019s services are free to Alaska Native tribal beneficiaries. The clinic is available to everyone on a first-come, first-served basis, but Alaska Natives have their health care provided through federal funds.<\/p>\n Teachout said the notion that health care providers would inform police on individual\u2019s drug habits is false. Several national laws prevent all health care providers from sharing information.<\/p>\n \u201cWe often experience that (distrust) in places where we don\u2019t have an Alaska Native working in the community,\u201d she said. \u201cSomeone might not share everything with their behavioral health providers because they think it\u2019s a small community and everyone knows each other. \u2026 It is a true confidential source, we have to keep confidence because it\u2019s part of our licensure.\u201d<\/p>\n Addiction treatment is moving to a new paradigm, Teachout said. SEARHC now treats addiction as a mental health issue, not a moral failure.<\/p>\n Health care providers now \u201cmeet clients where they are at,\u201d only providing them the treatment they request. That could mean simply getting an addict to work with a nutritionist to get them to eat better.<\/p>\n \u201cThe issue is really sometimes people say they want services, but when the services are offered and a bed is waiting, people say, \u2018oh, I don\u2019t want to go right now.\u2019 Or that may exacerbate the substance abuse because people want to use before they go in,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s often the family members that want the person to get clean, not the person, and as an adult you have a choice to seek services or not seek services. Therein lies the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n Inpatient treatment can be key to people in small communities, where getting away from old habits can be difficult, Teachout said.<\/p>\n SEARHC currently doesn\u2019t operate any inpatient treatment services for adults. Raven\u2019s Way, for adolescents only, is the sole inpatient treatment center. It\u2019s based in Sitka, has 14 beds and currently isn\u2019t full.<\/p>\n Rainforest Recovery Center is the only inpatient clinic in Juneau, but it\u2019s not a free service to tribal beneficiaries. Teachout said SEARHC does help clients apply for Medicare and Medicaid to help pay for what can be prohibitively expensive inpatient services.<\/p>\n What next?<\/strong><\/p>\n Mayor Skaflestad will join Hill in starting a citizen-led task force in Hoonah. Hill has already gotten calls for donations, which he won\u2019t accept until the group has direction.<\/p>\n Hill said he\u2019s also pursuing a \u201cpie-in-the-sky\u201d initiative to bring an inpatient treatment center to Hoonah. The city has zoned a plot of land next to SEARHC for such a facility, which could be used as collateral against grants for the project.<\/p>\n Skaflestad \u201clamented\u201d the fact that the city doesn\u2019t have more ordinances in front of them to address the problem immediately. Though he had to adjourn the council meeting around 10:30 p.m. (it started at 7) he urged the public to keep this issue on their minds on a daily basis.<\/p>\n Skaflestad said in an earlier interview, \u201cA little storm can create a big ripple in a small pond.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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