Letter to the editor: Use ARP funds to fix Westmoreland's safety net
Ninety-eight people died June 24 when a 12-story condo in Surfside, Fla., collapsed. This tragedy occurred because warnings regarding the building’s crumbling structure were ignored.
Westmoreland County commissioners have spent $7 million of American Rescue Plan funding to repair structural defects to a courthouse parking structure. These necessary repairs will protect the safety and welfare of the public and retain an income stream for the county. None of this funding, however, has been allocated to helping the residents of Westmoreland County who have been economically devastated by the pandemic.
Our public housing is unlivable. Our mental health infrastructure is falling apart. We have no health department. Like the courthouse parking garage, the state of health care, housing and mental health programs in Westmoreland is a danger to the health and safety of the residents of our county.
Commissioners Doug Chew, Gina Cerrili Thrasher and Sean Kertes chose to repair the courthouse parking garage because its structure is in urgent need of repair. In the same way, the foundations of our mental health, housing and health care infrastructure have been neglected for too long. It is time to fund Westmoreland’s crumbling safety net. We cannot afford to wait until after it collapses to repair it.
Aileen Cunningham
Youngstown
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