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Shasta County Board of Supervisors Special Meeting: Opioid Settlement Funds Agenda Preview
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Welcome to the North State Breakdown with Benjamin Nowain. Today, the breakdown is bringing you an agenda preview of tomorrow morning's Shasta County Board of Supervisors special meeting regarding the opioid settlement dollars.
The meeting is taking place at 9 a.m. on November 12th at 1450 Court Street.
This upcoming meeting is pivotal as the board will decide how to distribute funds from the $39 million opioid litigation settlement. The stakes are high as these funds are meant to combat one of the most pressing issues in our community, opioid addiction.
This meeting will feature key presenters, each given six minutes to discuss their proposals, which aim to prevent addiction and support citizens in recovery. Among the presenters, you'll hear from various nonprofits and community organizations, including Shasta Community Health Center, Hill Country Health and Wellness Center, Empire Recovery Center, and Stand Against Stigma.
Each presenter will have six minutes allocated to discuss their programs. These organizations will advocate for community treatment initiatives, overdose prevention, mental health services, and expanding local resources to support those struggling with addiction. They will present a wide array of strategies to increase access to treatment, prevent overdoses, and provide essential support services for individuals and families impacted by the opioid crisis.
Board Chair Kevin Crye, however, has sparked concern by suggesting a more, quote, "creative" use of these funds, essentially code for misusing them in a way that prioritizes law enforcement activities over treatment and community support.
Kevin Crye
"So one deputy with a K-9, which you have to have a K-9 unit with that, is the annual cost would be $223,346. That's loaded labor. That's with the 5%. And the second deputy would be $230,129. My research was correct. There are some avenues where we would be able to use this money in this capacity, but it's going to take some work, much like the ARPA dollars. It was very, very restricted. And then what we've learned now is we could have been a lot more creative with our ARPA dollars. So I'm curious about this money. Go ahead."
Erin Bertain
"I will say that we have information that specifically says, 'unallowable law enforcement activities,' and the first thing on the list is conducting search and seizure activities, including the purchase of K-9s."
Once Crye was informed of this limitation, he doubles down.
Kevin Crye
"If we had a drug enforcement initiative with schools and we allocated money to the sheriff's office to conduct that program possibly through—and again, I'm going to throw out one because I sit on the board of it, but I am super open to other nonprofits that are possibly doing this. But like Youth Option Shasta, they run Peer Court. If there is an opioid aversion program that the sheriff's office ran in conjunction with them, I believe that that is where it's allocated for the schools, it's allocated for the kids, it's allocated to be K-12 education, but that unit is there, and then they could obviously be dual purpose however they want because—
Erin Bertain
So we could definitely fund the portion that would be the education in schools, we could fund a diversion program for kids, but whatever part of their time was spent doing actual enforcement activities would not be eligible for opioid funding."
"And the purchase of the K-9s for enforcement activities would not be eligible for opioid funding.
In addition to not being allowed, this approach is the antithesis of what the funds are intended for, which are meant for harm reduction, treatment, and prevention, not punitive measures. Crye's proposal has raised alarm amongst community advocates who believe that a health-first approach is essential in tackling the opioid crisis effectively.
This is a crucial time to be involved. The decisions made in this meeting may shape the future of opioid prevention and treatment in Shasta County for years to come. If you care about how this substantial settlement is used to address the opioid crisis in our community, please attend the meeting in person or watch online.
It is important to be informed and to have your voice heard when it comes to ensuring these funds are used to help our neighbors prevent addiction, find treatment, and recover. By staying engaged, you can help hold officials accountable and make sure that these resources are allocated to initiatives that will truly make a difference in our community.
And that's the agenda preview.
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