It was supposed to be a routine public safety forum, and in a way, it was — the faces were familiar, the frustrations all the same.
Elected officials, troopers, prosecutors and politicians once again took turns describing a justice system straining under its own weight, a system where clogged courts, half-hearted drug treatment, mental health failures and chronic underfunding blur the thin blue line between order and chaos. Their words carried a sense of urgency, tinged with exhaustion.
Haywood County resident Ellen Pitt, a tireless crusader for stricter drink-drive laws and more diligent pretrial monitoring of defendants with alcohol-related offenses, organized the Oct. 12 forum in the Maggie Valley pavilion, where more than two dozen people — all involved in public safety, in some way, from Murphy to McDowell County — rehashed old grievances repeated over years. They’re still waiting for somebody to listen, for somebody to do something…