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Commissioner Gary Sides urges county budget action to clear senior nutrition and in-home care waiting lists
Summary
Union County Commissioner Gary Sides told the Human Services Board he will oppose a county budget that does not fully fund the waiting list for senior meal and in-home health services and described personal experience delivering meals as part of his advocacy.
Union County Commissioner Gary Sides used the Consolidated Human Services Board meeting on Jan. 10 to press county leadership and the public to address the backlog for senior meal delivery and in-home health services.
"I will not support and I will not vote for a next county budget that does not make funding allowances to completely address the waiting list for both senior meals and in home health services," Gary Sides said, describing the issue as a moral measure of how a county cares for vulnerable residents.
Sides told the board he had volunteered on a recent senior meal delivery route and encountered residents in clear need, which strengthened his commitment to secure funding. He said he had been unsuccessful in winning additional funding at a prior county meeting but expects to return to the issue at the county commissioners' meeting scheduled for Jan. 21 (the board noted the 20th is the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday).
Board members were invited to make their views known to elected officials and were reminded that the county budget process will begin this month. Staff and commissioners offered to present high-level budget request information to the board ahead of formal budget deliberations so board members understand expansion items and can advocate for services they consider priorities.
Sides encouraged board members and residents to engage in the budget process and to contact him with concerns or to request support in presenting priorities to the commissioners.
