Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Opioid Abatement Funds topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Residents urge council to involve people with lived experience in opioid abatement decisions
Summary
During public comment, multiple residents called for greater community involvement — particularly people with lived experience — in deciding how Holyoke’s opioid abatement funds are used.
Several community members used the public-comment period at Tuesday’s Holyoke City Council meeting to press the council for a larger role for residents affected by the opioid crisis in planning how abatement and remediation funds are spent.
Speakers and central points - Claire (Linwood Avenue) and Paul Alves (216 Homestead Ave.) urged the council to involve people with lived or living experience in decisions about opioid remediation funds and to form a committee that includes them. Alves said he had attended a recent meeting with roughly 100 people and said, "leaving this up to a single person's decision who is not a subject matter expert will likely escalate the problem as opposed to remedying it as the funds are intended for." He asked the council to prioritize creation of a multi-stakeholder committee.
- Another public commenter, who identified work experience with abatement issues, said she had tracked overdose deaths and believed at least 67 people had died while the city received abatement funds — and that the true toll was likely higher. She emphasized the role of "first responders" at overdose scenes as often being private citizens carrying naloxone.
Why this matters: Residents say that funds intended to remediate opioid harms should be guided by those with direct experience of substance-use and recovery, and that best-practice public-health inputs (including Department of Public Health guidance) should guide spending decisions.
Council response and next steps - Councilors referenced the ongoing DGR (Development & Government Relations) committee work on related agenda items and noted residents’ pleas will be considered as committees and staff craft spending plans. No formal motion or vote on abatement-fund governance occurred at Tuesday’s meeting; public comments were recorded for council and staff review.
Ending Councilors said they would follow up through committee channels and with staff; several public commenters asked for direct outreach and inclusion in any committee the city forms to advise on remediation funds and services.
