The Community of Waterville Case

The community of Waterville (population 6,543) once mostly known for its historic and scenic location has recently taken note of what many community residents term “a major teenage drug problem”. The recent busts by the state police of “five Meth houses” in the space of one month and the arrest of several Waterville High School athletes, allegedly involved in the community drug trade, have led to calls from community leaders to combat the drug problem.
Waterville is a community with a per capita personal income of $27,500. This compares with the state average of $32,000. The story of local business closings has been a frequent one in recent years and the one major industry left town last summer when the corporate bosses in Houston Texas, decided to relocate to Mexico. This left slightly more than 400 people, who had been earning above average wages, unemployed. It will also cost Waterville a significant portion of city and school tax monies.
Divorces and births to unmarried teens have been steadily increasing in the past decade and have soared beyond the state and national averages. There is also a great racial tension in the town, where 25 percent of the population is Hispanics. This was exacerbated when one of the city council members proposed the creation of an ordinance to forbid landlords from renting to illegal aliens, for which he was verbally attacked as racist. Up to now, the significant conflict between city officials and leaders within the Hispanic community has centered on issues such as use of city parks, zoning, dances, police practices, hiring policies and priorities.
Several members of the city council are concerned that the drug problem is an “epidemic” and are calling for “war on drugs”. Mayor Joyce Hithard told the local paper that without some type of action from the city government, this problem will destroy the community and drive out more businesses. A local pastor told his congregation that the very soul of the town has been sold to the devil. Others do not totally agree with this assessment and have contacted you and asked that you prepare an assessment and recommendation for working towards change.

Prepare your report to the council. Maximum ten pages (100 points) In your report, suggest and make recommendations on needed changes.