Commissioner and Narcotics Detective Hunter Haynes said providing syringes would “enable” drug use, as the board removed the United Way proposal from the settlement spending plan
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By Annie Dance | Lake Lure News | Cops & Congress | News & Commentary
RUTHERFORDTON, N.C. — Rutherford County commissioners voted on June 4 to remove a proposed needle distribution program from the county’s opioid settlement spending plan, rejecting a recommendation from both the county’s opioid settlement consultant and a scoring committee that spent months evaluating applications.
The identities of the 75 people reportedly interviewed during the “collaborative strategic planning process” have not been made public, in writing.
The commissioners delayed the vote earlier in the week at their regular meeting on June 1, where several people spoke in opposition to a “safe syringe” program.
The proposal, submitted by United Way of Rutherford County as the Rutherford Mobile Harm Reduction Team, was one of seven projects recommended for funding through the county’s opioid settlement process. The program would have provided sterile needles, overdose prevention supplies, wound care, and referrals to treatment for people actively using illegal drugs. According to consultant Scott Luetgenau, the program targeted individuals living in homeless camps, on trails, and in other locations where they are disconnected from traditional services.
To me, it was an interesting comment since one man who was experiencing challenges and homelessness told me that United Way of Rutherford County did not help him.
Before the vote, Commissioner Hunter Haynes publicly explained why he supported removing the proposal from the funding package.
“I’m all for supporting people with substance abuse struggles, but I don’t believe that we should be encouraging them, which is kind of what I read from the one that we’ve removed,” Haynes said.
“Supplying things like that is not, I feel like we’re just enabling.”
Haynes compared the distribution of syringes to giving candy to a child.
“If you’re giving a kid chocolate, he’s going to want chocolate, and he’s going to want to continue to eat the chocolate. So that’s how I feel on that issue,” he said.
Haynes acknowledged the decision would likely be controversial.
“I know this is going to probably ruffle some feathers by what we’re doing, but I think it’s the right thing,” he said.
Haynes also serves as a Narcotics Detective with the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office. He recused himself from the budget vote for that department.
The board subsequently approved a resolution funding six of the seven recommended projects while excluding the United Way proposal.
The decision came despite a presentation from Luetgenau, founder of Gatespring, who told commissioners the funding slate was developed through a state-approved strategic planning process involving community outreach, conflict-of-interest reviews, and scoring by a seven-member committee.
Luetgenau argued that access to sterile needles has not been shown to increase drug use and can reduce the spread of HIV, hepatitis C, and other communicable diseases. He described the harm-reduction program as a way to connect hard-to-reach individuals with treatment and other services.
Ultimately, commissioners sided with concerns that the opioid settlement funds should not be used to provide syringes to people using illegal drugs.
The vote leaves six opioid settlement projects moving forward, including substance-use treatment, recovery support services, prevention programs, naloxone distribution, and treatment services within the Rutherford County Detention Center.
The meeting also raised transparency questions. While Luetgenau repeatedly cited the recommendations of a seven-member scoring committee, he did not publicly identify who served on the committee. Instead, he told commissioners that records related to the process are available from the county upon a public records request.
I sent one before the meeting, but it remains pending.
As a result, taxpayers were asked to trust recommendations from an unnamed committee whose membership was not disclosed during the public meeting, even as commissioners ultimately overrode one of its key funding recommendations.
Luetgenau will receive $390,000, including $270,000 over three years for his role. He’s already received $120,000 for the previous funding cycle, according to public records.
He and the executive director of the United Way of Rutherford County, Suzanne Porter, are “longtime associates,” according to a court filing.
The United Way received nearly $260,000 in the last funding round of the opioid settlement funds, under previous county leadership.
You may read the transcript in the player above and/or on my DocumentCloud and review the opioid settlement documents and June 4th meeting materials.
Read the original resolution here and the revised resolution here.
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🏛️ All those mentioned are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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