Penobscot County opioid-settlement committee asks commissioners for budget clarity and more members

At an April 14 meeting, Jamie Beck, chair of the Penobscot County Opioid Settlement Committee, told members the panel does not yet have a clear budget or enough appointed members to run a competitive grant process and asked county commissioners for prompt guidance and appointments.

“We're now a committee of three community members,” Beck said, arguing that the group cannot reliably run the competitive RFP process most other subdivisions use without expanding to a more typical six‑to‑eight‑person panel. Pat Kimble, who said he chairs the local recovery council, warned that a committee that endorses applicants risks perceived favoritism when those applicants later apply for grants the committee will score.

Members discussed how the settlement funds have been spent to date and flagged overlapping funding streams. Randy Jackson and others noted that Bangor received $600,000 in one award round while the rest of Penobscot County received $400,000; committee participants described roughly $1.4 million remaining in the county’s settlement account as an estimate and asked for county verification of the bank balance and interest earned.

Staff from the MOSS Center and the Opioid Settlement Support Center said a new public dashboard can show award and spending history since 2022 and can help the committee avoid duplicative funding across related settlement sources. McKenzie David, research and evaluation coordinator for the Opioid Settlement Support Center, offered to help the committee prepare slides and data for a presentation to commissioners.

The committee agreed to request time on the commissioners’ May 6 workshop to seek: (1) a clear statement of how much settlement funding is available for the current grant round, (2) guidance on whether the county intends to reserve or reallocate any of those funds, and (3) commissioner action on appointing additional members or approving a short list of nominees with bios. Members said they will prepare a concise slide deck with proposed next steps and applications guidance to present at that workshop.

Robin Fischer, the county’s new grants manager, confirmed that awardees have received funding and that a six‑month reporting requirement is due at the end of July; committee members asked MOSS Center staff to help craft a uniform reporting template to capture numbers served, budget status and implementation challenges.

The committee set its next meeting for May 12 at 9 a.m. and said it will follow up if commissioners do not provide timely budget and appointment guidance.