Agenda - 10-03-2022; 8-a - Minutes

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34 1 including some benchmarks so they can add monitoring and evaluation. She said that there 2 should be some short-range plans. She said she is leaning more toward Option B. 3 Commissioner Hamilton proposed a change to the charge by adding, "to prevent opioid 4 abuse, and to remedy the opioid impacts." 5 Commissioner McKee said he sees advantages to both options, but thinks the best for 6 expanding and tailoring to Orange County is Option A. He said Option B is more nuanced. He 7 said law enforcement is the first contact and the most contentious contact at times. He said that 8 the elected boards in the county have made a concerted effort to refocus from punishment to 9 prevention. He said that regardless of whether law enforcement is on this committee, they are in 10 the mix, so they need to be at the table. 11 Commissioner Greene said Commissioner McKee said everything she was going to say 12 about law enforcement. She said that she was moved by the words of the Carrboro Police Chief 13 and believe they need to be at the table. She said she prefers Option A. 14 Commissioner Fowler said she still agrees with Option A with the addition of strategic 15 planning for gaps. She said that she thinks there should be more housing support roles and 16 more people with lived experience in the composition of the task force. She said that UNC 17 School of Public Health may have done a report on what would be most cost effective. 18 Chair Price said asked if the committee would take the strategies and put them into a 19 plan. 20 Quintana Stewart said in the immediate, the group would come back with a 21 recommendation on where to start. 22 Chair Price said she wants there to be a youth voice at the table. She said that she 23 heard from students years ago about circumstances at home and in school and that part of 24 prevention that they need to work on is what happens earlier in life. She also said focus on 25 veterans is important. 26 Commissioner Richards said CJRD and crisis units would be different than having 27 officers represented. She said the data from 2020 does not reflect what has happened over the 28 past two years, especially challenges for young people. 29 Commissioner Bedford said she thinks what law enforcement would bring to the table 30 could be captured regardless of jurisdiction, so there could be fewer dedicated positions. She 31 said this would help clear space for prevention, equity, housing, etc. 32 Chair Price said she sees differences between the agencies. She said a lot of law 33 enforcement officers are in the community and have relationships with people. She said it is not 34 about arresting people. 35 Commissioner Greene said law enforcement are not interchangeable because they 36 represent four different jurisdictions and out of respect should be represented. 37 Commissioner McKee said he was part of a group that organized Caldwell Fire 38 Department. He said there were a lot of people that had different ideas about how to do it. He 39 said that each member of the board was picked to have different perspectives at the table. He 40 said that law enforcement is a necessary part of the community, and they represent entities with 41 different characteristics. 42 43 A motion was made by Commissioner Hamilton, seconded by Commissioner McKee, to 44 select Option A regarding how the county will spend opioid settlement funds on opioid 45 remediation activities. 46 47 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 48 49 A motion was made by Commissioner Hamilton, seconded by Commissioner Bedford to 50 amend the proposed charge to state: "Discuss opioid-related health concerns and issues 51 impacting the residents of Orange County and advise the Board of Commissioners on options to