At the Board of Supervisors’ July 22 public-comment period, community members urged the board to allocate opioid-settlement funds to treatment and harm-reduction programs and criticized the pace of follow-up on earlier presentations. Commenters, including Jeff Porter, told the board that about 20 organizations previously presented proposals and that the board told 11 to return with follow-up details but had not acted.

Jeff Porter said the earlier staff work and presentations identified specific uses — medically assisted treatment in the jail, residential and outpatient provider proposals and college-linked programs — and he urged the board to reconvene those providers for funding decisions. “People are dying,” Porter told the board, calling for the board to restore urgency and bring the organizations back for public consideration.

Other public speakers echoed concerns about unmet local treatment capacity and urged investment in residential medication-assisted treatment and immediate access to beds when someone seeks help. Those speakers linked the need for quicker use of settlement funds to the lack of available residential treatment slots and to a perceived delay in the county’s response to community proposals.

County staff and board members at the meeting noted staff is working through allocation timelines and that not all opioid-settlement dollars are immediately available; commenters responded that phased funding schedules should not preclude convening potential providers now for planning and grant/allocation decisions. No board action or vote on opioid funding was taken at the July 22 meeting.