Bloods leader "Eugene" promising a financial bailout of the libraries by the gang, which won a bit of applause from the audience. And soon after the paper hit the streets Friday, someone who signed "Concerned and Disappointed'' typed in a reaction under the heading "If This Isn't A Wake Up Call!" The reader agreed with Mayor Doug Palmer blasting the gangs as nothing more than criminal organizations."But we have a serious problem in this county if we are cutting funding to the one place that inner city kids feel safe. The Library! For goodness sakes," the reader said, "It's a wake-up call if you have gang members trying to provide solutions for our city. Where are all the parents, where are all the neighbors, where are all the concerned good citizens of this city?..."Those libraries are more than a 'budget' concern. They may mean life or death for some of the people who use them. Instead of gang members raising money, why can't the community come together and raise the money? Why not have some sort of festival or money raising efforts started and stop wasting time standing over the body of these places waiting for the last breath?!"
Another reader asked: "Why Not Take the help that is needed? I feel like if (the gang) want to help keep the libraries open then so be it! Politicians and the mayor are the reason why children turn into a gang member and then try to point the finger at this person and that person. You are forcing us into the street then blame us for the things that happen when you can cut the violence by opening up a recreation center for starters!"And a reader who signed Utterly Preposterous said it's "ridiculous" that Palmer admits to Trenton's drug and gang problems and "in the same breath he admitted the libraries are safe alternatives to hanging out in the streets for city kids."A reader who insisted he's not a "gang member," as if being a Blood is the same as being a "member'' of the Rotary Club, wondered why Palmer rejected the offer from "Eugene," who would not give his real name at the council meeting."If these guys want to help, why won't he let them?" the reader wrote. "You know he would be quick to say that prejudice and stereotypes are wrong, when this is exactly what he is doing to this 'Eugene' guy. If all of a sudden the Bloods stopped killing and stopped the violence and still kept the name 'Blood,' would he take the money then?''Under the heading "How Sad" another reader expressed disgust that "a self professed gang leader feels the need to come forth and bail out the libraries? It is such a horrible situation the city has put its citizens in.''Another reader argued along the same line as the gangsters who complain that the media and polite society lump them all together as violent drug dealers, though the Bloods and other gangs are criminal enterprises that make big money for the manipulators at the top. "Gang Members Are Human Too!" she wrote."You cannot label every gang member as a violent person. Every gang member does not sell drugs, shoot people, or anything negative. Regardless of their affiliation they are still human beings, not animals, who want to see good done. Who want a good life for themselves as well as their families. I know some who work, go to college, some that even tutor students in their extra time. If Eugene offered to raise money legally how dare Mayor Palmer deprive our kids?''Still another gang supporter, in an entry riddled with misspellings and broken sentences, attacked with an argument often used to silencing critics from out of town: "How can you judge Trenton? Do YOU live their? .....''"As far as I'm concern they are right gang bangers don't do anything for our community, but for the first time they are offering them self to better serve the community . We can judge them negativly, but when is it ok to judge them positivly?. No one is perfect gang (or) no gang ... for the first time listen to what the people in the community have to say, not the outsiders that don't actually live in Trenton."
A Willingboro reader suggested the city, which is run by minorities, wants to close the libraries because its leaders don't care that "only the poor (mostly minorities) are losing out. Blacks were lynched for picking up books and learning how to read, and the city council would rather let the libraries close."
Letting the libraries close rather than "getting help from the Bloods is cutting off your nose to spite your face."
A critic of gangs as well as city leaders urged Trenton to "Wake Up" and take on the gangs: "We are upset that gangs are robbing us on our streets. All the people mentioned above our robbing us in our faces in broad daylight!... If we hired someone to fix our house and they didn't do it we would sue, right? Put these (gang) money launderers on trial for obstruction of justice, violation of civil rights, and stupidity