Supporters say needle exchange saves lives by preventing the spread of diseases, but foes say it just attracts drug addicts.
Holyoke City Council President Kevin A. Jourdain discusses the Lyman Terrace issue with members of the Redevelopment Committee and the Holyoke Housing Authority, in this March 29, 2012 file photo.HOLYOKE – City Council President Kevin A. Jourdain has filed a complaint that says the Board of Health violated the Open Meeting Law by voting to establish a needle exchange program July 9 even though the item wasn’t on the agenda.
Jourdain, who has long opposed needle exchange, wants the board’s 3-0 vote rescinded.
He also wants a new meeting posted showing an agenda that specifies a discussion about adopting a needle exchange program so the public and City Council have a chance to attend, he said, in the Open Meeting Law Complaint Form of the Office of the Attorney General.
The complaint was filed Wednesday with the Board of Health and city clerk.
“Good people can disagree about the merits of a needle exchange, but no one is above the law and public discourse in the city of Holyoke does not and should not take place in this fashion. Transparency demands better,” Jourdain said in a press release.
Jourdain said the public was ignored by a process in which the health board listened to pitches in favor of a needle exchange program from eight of 11 advocates who attended the meeting obviously knowing needle exchange would be discussed.
No one spoke in opposition to the city adopting a needle exchange program at the meeting, according to a copy of minutes taken related to the Board of Health meeting and included in Jourdain’s complaint.
Health board Chairwoman Katherine M. Liptak, a registered nurse, couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday night. The other board members are Vice Chairwoman Patricia A. Mertes, a registered nurse, and physician Robert S. Mausel.
City Solicitor Elizabeth Rodriguez-Ross didn’t return a call or email seeking comment.
Jourdain was harshly critical of Mayor Alex B. Morse’s participation in a meeting he said seemed to be an effort “to keep the public in the dark.”
Morse said he would comment after discussing Jourdain’s complaint with Rodriguez-Ross.
OML Complaint vs BOH 7-9-12
In needle exchange, people submit used intravenous-drug needles and get clean needles in return. The goal is to reduce the spread of AIDS and hepatitis C, diseases for which there are no cures and which can be spread through the sharing of infected needles.
Supporters like Morse have said needle exchange is valuable because it can save lives.
Foes like Jourdain have said allowing needle exchange risks making the city a haven for drug addicts who know they can get needles to shoot up heroin.
Among the needle-exchange advocates at the Board of Health meeting were representatives of Tapestry Health, which began operating a needle exchange program at 15-A Main St. soon after Morse gave his approval of the program following the Board of Health vote.
“If the topic of needle exchange was not on the meeting notice,” Jourdain said in the complaint, “then how did all of these individuals know to come to the meeting to speak and make presentations on the topic of needle exchange?”
Among those speaking in favor of a needle exchange program were Police Chief James M. Neiswanger and William D. Fuqua, superintendent of the Department of Public Works. They said they favored the program as a safeguard against the growing hazard of exposure to infected needles, according to meeting minutes.
The July 9 Board of Health agenda included an item “Needle kiosk update/other programs,” which Jourdain said “has nothing whatsoever to do with needle exchange.” The city is making a kiosk available for the deposit of hypodermic needles at the Council on Aging offices in the War Memorial, 310 Appleton St..
Also, Jourdain said, “other programs” as an agenda item is so open a term it could mean anything. That means it fails to meet the standard of notifying the public that a discussion specifically about adopting a needle exchange program would be held, he said.
Needle exchange has been a controversial topic. The City Council over the years has voted against such a program. Voters rejected needle exchange in a nonbinding referendum in 2001. That should have been enough for the Board of Health to know needle exchange was a matter of public concern that required giving people notice of such a discussion and vote, he said.