BY DAVE PARRO
Whatever the solution might be to the Aurora Housing Authority fiasco, it's nice to see Alderman Rick Lawrence working with the mayor's office on something.
Maybe it can be the start of a beautiful friendship. Or at least a professional working relationship.
Instead of letting his personal feud with Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner get in the way, Lawrence has been meeting with his 4th Ward predecessor, former Alderman Chuck Nelson, to address problems at Jericho Circle. Nelson, now the mayor's assistant chief of staff, has been helping Lawrence as he tries to get the AHA to clean up the grounds there and reduce crime. At Lawrence's request, the city sent inspectors in, which he calls "a major change of policy."
The AHA dispute is likely to come to a head soon. In addition to better conditions at Aurora's public-housing complexes, hopefully the result will be Lawrence and Weisner putting aside their disdain for each other and realizing that they can accomplish much more as allies than enemies.
If drug addicts (crack heads) weren't allowed to reside in public housing do you think you would have these problems? I say anyone requesting public housing should be drug tested as part of the application process and denied if they fail the test.