My fellow Bristolians, it would appear our Town Council has, once again, left our children behind.

In January of 2017, the Bristol Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition received an annually renewable (for the next five years) $125,000 Drug Free Communities (DFC) Grant, totaling $625,000. Its purpose was to help educate Mt. Hope High School students on the dangers of substance abuse. Other communities having received the grant, have seen significant reductions in usage and a resulting companion attitude against.

Unfortunately, during the town council’s ill-conceived and ill-advised conflict with the Benjamin Church Senior Center, its director, Ms. Maria Ursini, became a casualty and with it, the unintended loss of her leadership on the aforementioned grant, its management and administration.

Today, the DFC Grant has been terminated by the federal sponsor for non-performance. Our town abdicated its grantee responsibility and effectively lost the funding.

We can do better!

Patrick “Pat” McCarthy

Mr. McCarthy is a Republican running for Bristol Town Council.