EDITORIAL: Plan for controversial residential treatment center in East Waco has little to recommend it so farThe Waco Tribune, July 17, 2014In the past, the Trib editorial board has sided with certain projects that rankled at least some folks in our community over everything from low-income housing near downtown to the Dissolved Air Flotation plant that cleaned up much of the taste of Waco water. We’ve done so because the project might address a pressing societal need or benefit the greater public, even at the cost of irritating a few citizens.
One element that sways us: when officials connected with these projects, whether public or private, stand before a community gathering and explain in great depth (and sometimes repeatedly) what the project will do and what safeguards will protect both the public and property values. They get points, too, for a willingness to compromise. Granted, some in the audience aren’t always convinced, but they often leave with answers and a far better understanding.
Using those standards, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services would seem to have no choice but to deny Katy-based Snugg Harbor a license to operate a 90-bed residential treatment center in East Waco for emotionally and mentally disturbed boys. The plain fact is Snugg Harbor owner and psychologist Rosalyn Ruffin’s confrontational, even haughty attitude at last week’s public hearing and her failure to appear before La Vega ISD trustees Tuesday leave residents and school officials disturbed as well.
Appearing before the La Vega board would’ve been smart. Officials say that the treatment center could cost La Vega ISD some $1 million a year more and force a building program to accommodate the boys in the already filled-to-the-gills school district. Teachers and parents at this week’s board meeting spoke not only of the financial strain but the threat it might pose for other La Vega children.
Legitimate questions. And Ruffin wasn’t there to answer.
Pushing for a residential treatment center for boys suffering severe mental, emotional or behavioral problems would require a heck of a diplomat in the best scenario. But during last week’s public hearing, both La Vega ISD Superintendent Sharon Shields and Waco City Manager Dale Fisseler told Ruffin that they were frustrated in their attempts to contact her to learn more about her plans. Shields called Ruffin prior to Tuesday’s meeting and was unable to reach her.
One final note: The success of any republic relies on a well-informed citizenry, and it became obvious at Tuesday’s meeting that some people believed La Vega school leaders were behind the move to build and operate this residential treatment center in East Waco, to the point Shields had to finally set everyone straight. It’s hard to imagine a more messed-up situation: a psychologist who won’t communicate and at least some taxpayers who don’t sufficiently educate themselves on a sensitive and complicated local matter.
Judging by what we’ve seen and haven’t seen so far, this project comes with precious little to recommend it.
