09/04/2026
Earlier this week, I had an encounter with a voter that really stuck with me. She was cleaning crack pipes up off a playground in the Southeast Community.
Let that sink in.
A playground should be a place where children can run, play, and be kids, not a place where parents have to worry about their children coming across drug paraphernalia.
This should never be acceptable in Newport News.
We need to take the drug crisis seriously and get drugs and drug paraphernalia off our streets and out of our neighborhoods. That means supporting our police, holding those who sell dangerous drugs accountable, keeping our parks and public spaces safe, and making sure our children have places to play without being exposed to the consequences of addiction and crime.
But this is also about more than enforcement. We need to address the underlying problems that allow addiction to take hold in our community and make sure people struggling with addiction have a path toward recovery.
Every family in Newport News deserves to feel safe in their own neighborhood. Every child deserves a safe playground.
As your City Councilman, I will make public safety, clean neighborhoods, and protecting our children a priority. We cannot simply accept this as the way things are. Our neighborhoods deserve better, and our children deserve better.
