CLEVELAND -- A Cleveland city councilman is at the center of a controversy after the terms "racist" and "inappropriate" are used to describe a letter he wrote to a young man arrest in Ward 11.

The letter was written by Councilman Mike Polensek.

Plain Dealer columnist Phillip Morris highlighted the letter issue on Thursday's Metro page, and talk radio is abuzz with the controversy, reported NewsChannel5's Joy Benedict. Discussion: Share Your Thoughts

The Bob Frantz Show devoted four hours to the topic on WTAM Thursday morning.

Polensek first met 17-year-old Arsenio Winston last year, when he met with the teen and his mother to try to get the boy to turn his life around.

But after Winston was arrested a second time in Polensek's ward, he wrote the teen a letter on city stationary. In it, he called Winston "dumber than mud," a "thug," and was signed, "go to jail or the cemetery soon."

Callers to Frantz' show overwhelmingly supported Polensek. The councilman and Morris also called into the show.

"My concern with some of the over-the-top language, and I wasn't sure what he was trying to achieve," said Morris.

Polensek said he was trying to get the teen to think about his actions.

Although Morris disagreed with the language, he commended Polensek for writing a letter at all.

According to the Plain Dealer, Winston's mother is upset over the letter, saying it's racist.

She's started writing letters herself, to the NAACP and the Rev. Al Sharpton.

Polensek defended himself when interviewed by NewsChannel5's Curtis Jackson and remains unapologetic.

"I don't regret it one iota and I'm glad I sent the letter ... Enough is enough. You want to sell crack go, somplace else. You're not doing it in my neighborhood," he said.

Winston's mother, Toyna Lewis, said it was inappropriate for Polensek to send the letter on city letterhead and it's made a bad situation for her family even worse.

"If you received a letter like this at the age of 18, it probably would hurt more than anything because you would say, 'You know what, now everybody just done gave up on me, so I might as well say the heck with it,'" Lewis said.

In response to Lewis calling Polensek's letter racist, the councilman said, "Racist what? In what way? Wasn't it racist to sell drugs to black children? What is that? That's genocide. That's what that is."