Letter to the editor: Crime in Jeannette must be addressed

After the recent shooting homicide on Cuyler Avenue in Jeannette, Mayor Curtis Antoniak stated on camera, “I will say, that once again, this is not Jeannette.” His wife made a similar comment following the shooting homicide outside the main gate at McKee Stadium in September.

There have been five shooting homicides in Jeannette since 2015. There have also been other shootings in Jeannette during this time, in which people have been injured.

Mr. and Mrs. Antoniak, how many more shooting homicides need to be committed before you acknowledge that this is Jeannette? And since prevention of crime is the best antidote, wouldn’t it be prudent for the mayor of our city to comment on camera, at least briefly, on the city’s long-term strategic action plan for eliminating this type of crime? Assuming, of course, that you and the city council have such a plan.

Mayor Antoniak, you have had plenty of time to think about the crime that infests our city and to take action to reduce it. However, repeatedly making statements to the media that “this is not Jeannette” is weak, myopic and uninspiring.

In order to solve our city’s ongoing gun violence problem, you first have to acknowledge it and then own it. Until that occurs, more individuals will die in our city as a result of it.

Allow me to borrow a quote from the late Lee Iacocca: In politics, “you either lead, follow or get out of the way.”

Daniel DiBagno

Jeannette