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County staff urges emergency meeting after state pauses SNAP issuances; clerk details remedy for missed school ballot
Summary
Dolores County staff reported the state placed November SNAP/food-assistance issuances on hold, potentially affecting about $40,000 monthly in local benefits; county staff proposed an emergency partners meeting and the county clerk described steps taken after a Telluride School District ballot item missed the July submission deadline.
Melinda, a Dolores County staff member, told the Board of County Commissioners that the state has placed November SNAP/food-assistance issuances on hold and that Dolores County typically releases about $40,000 in food-assistance benefits each month.
"Dolores County according to our numbers releases around $40,000 of food assistance benefits every month," Melinda said, and requested that the board authorize an emergency meeting of county partners to plan responses and identify potential funding sources to fill gaps. She proposed meeting Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. and suggested inviting emergency management, the school district, public health, the senior center and community food partners such as Care and Share and the Good Food Collective.
The board agreed that convening partners quickly is important and discussed posting and attendance logistics; Melinda offered county conference-room space with online access for participants. She also invited the board to consider using Dolores County Social Services funds if needed to shore up short-term support for residents.
Separately, Lorita, the county clerk, outlined how the county handled a missed school-district submission for a Telluride School District ballot question. She said the school district had failed to meet its July letter-of-intent deadline and that the county prepared a separate ballot packet to include the school question. "I did get the ballots up there on Friday... the hope is that everyone will read the cover letter and return this ballot with their original ballot package to us so that it can be processed normally here in this office," Lorita said.
Lorita described contingency procedures for voters who had already returned their original ballot packet before receiving the second ballot, saying the clerk’s office will send an official return envelope and a self-affirmation form so the second ballot can be returned and counted. She said the Telluride School District will cover extra costs the county incurs for handling the separate ballot.
Ending: The board agreed to allow staff to convene the emergency meeting and to notify partners; no further formal county appropriation for SNAP was approved at the meeting, and the clerk said she would continue voter outreach in Rico regarding the separate school-district ballot packet.
