HOPE: Port is wrong target

I just want to say that I think that this community that we live in (Kootenai County) may not be looking at the Port of Hope realistically. The Port of Hope has been helping this community for many years and now it will probably have to shut its doors because of a few misled, misinformed people.

After going online to the sex offenders registration website I found 27 registered sex offenders within a mile of the Fernan Elementary School. Only four of them are at the Port. That means 23 (some are closer to the school than the Port is) are not being supervised as intensely as the ones at POH.

I have seven adult children and 16 grandchildren; I have always been worried about them. Not because of the “Inmates” at the POH but because of the sick individuals who are ALWAYS walking around the community unsupervised. Get real, people. Don’t worry about the Port of Hope clients or “inmates,” worry about your neighbor who might be looking at your child and no one knows what he or she has in mind. Hell, read the paper; you might need to worry about your child’s teacher or their friend’s father or mother.

There are few lines of defense between the criminal and the community. The Port of Hope is the one safety net provided to insure a smooth and safe re-entry into our community and to keep our children safe.

JIM CARROLL

Cataldo