To the Editor:
This letter is to address the editorial on May 27 titled: “Shelter politics.”
As a citizen of Beaufort County, I am very concerned about the lack of support and the sarcastic tone of your article toward our Rep. Bill Cook and HB 757. I point specifically to your comment that the bill is “killing an ant with a sledgehammer.” The point I want to make is this: If this bill can improve the allocation of money in order to make it equitable, ethical and fair why not do it for all of the 100 counties in North Carolina?
In my opinion your editorial is essentially saying “we should just look out for ourselves” and who cares about the rest of the victims in the other 99 counties.
As a state, we are not doing a good job for domestic violence and sexual assault victims. The Violence Policy Center in Washington, D.C., released a report in September 2010 titled: “A statistical analysis: When Men Murder Women” and North Carolina is ranked fourth in the nation in the number of domestic violence deaths.
I want to commend Rep. Cook for standing up for what is right for all the domestic violence victims in North Carolina and for the courage to keep going even when the road got tough.
Indeed as Washington police Chief Mick Reed said in your article, we are in “desperate need” of a domestic violence shelter in Beaufort County for these women and children who need a safe place to escape harm and help in giving them the tools to be able to remove themselves from harm’s way.
After all you and I have a safe place to sleep at night but these women and children don’t have a practical place to go at this time.
Rep. Cook is trying to solve this problem, and you should be doing everything you can to support his efforts rather than casting diminution on his efforts.
MARISOL BARR
Chocowinity