The Virginian-Pilot 
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, October 8, 1994              TAG: 9410070008
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A14  EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Letter 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   44 lines

COLLINS RIGHT ABOUT PUBLIC HOUSING

After reading Marc Tibbs' column on Oct. 4, I could see that Mr. Tibbs missed Councilman Collins' point in getting attention for public-housing living conditions. Tibbs' implied that Councilman Collins should keep his mouth closed and not be concerned about the problems of public housing. In fact, Mr. Tibbs stated, ``Councilman Collins scores a direct shot in the foot.''

I believe that most people will agree that drugs are more of a problem in public housing than the surrounding stores in the area that sell the tenants beer and wine.

It would be nice if Mr. Tibbs would write some articles on how to improve the employment, discipline, education and faith of people in public housing. Councilman Collins has taken a giant step by generating publicity about the conditions. Councilman Collins would be remiss as a councilman and as a businessman to be unconcerned and watch conditions deteriorate even more, to the detriment of people in public housing and the city.

I have talked with people in public housing and citizens at large, and they agree with Councilman Collins 100 percent. The feedback I've been getting is that it's about time for City Council to address the problems of public housing which have been brought to the forefront by Councilman Collins.

Councilman Collins has shown both courage and compassion by citing the problems. What forum could Councilman Collins have used before he was elected that would have brought this much attention to public housing? Is Mr. Tibbs aware of the non-profit services Long's Market renders to the Bowling Green community?

Mr. Tibbs must remember that the most important natural resource in our city is our people. By improving the conditions of people in public housing, we improve the conditions of the city by making all of our citizens productive.

WALTER H. GREEN SR.

Norfolk, Oct. 4, 1994 by CNB