Agenda - 02-07-2023; 8-a - Minutes

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8 1 Commissioner Price said that when she met with farmers and mentioned the Food 2 Council, they responded with blank looks on their faces. She said she appreciated what the 3 former coordinator did. She said they already know a lot of information about the organizations 4 that provide services. She said she wanted to move forward with another approach to put food on 5 the table. She said she will be voting against renewal of the MOU. 6 Commissioner Richards clarified that currently there is no agreement, because the 7 agreement expired. She asked if it was necessary to have a motion 8 John Roberts said technically the Board would be reviving the agreement under similar 9 and new terms. 10 Commissioner Richards said she believes there is food vulnerability in the county. She 11 said the previous agreement was not meeting food insecurities. She wondered if the MOU 12 needed to be renewed at all. She asked if the Board would like to ask the County Manager to 13 explore new ways to address hunger in the county. 14 Chair Bedford said she wanted to make sure other commissioners got an opportunity to 15 speak before making a motion. She said she thought the Board should consider the MOU first, 16 and then discuss next steps. 17 Commissioner Fowler said there are people working on these issues through Cooperative 18 Extension. She wondered if this is something they could address, or are already addressing, and 19 how did the Food Council improve on what they already do. She said the previous presentations 20 felt inadequate and had information that she already knew. She said they weren't getting to 21 solutions and they needed to address that issue. She read a passage from the minutes from the 22 November 10, 2022 BOCC work session, during which a presentation was made on the 23 Community Food Access Assessment: 24 "She [a community expert] said that people see money going to pay people like her or for 25 a refrigerated truck, when they could use those funds in their bank accounts." 26 Commissioner Fowler said the community experts made the point that it's not just food insecurity 27 but also affordable housing and transportation, which are areas the county already works on. She 28 said there are things they already know need to be done, and said that the Board should prioritize 29 those. 30 Travis Myren said that if the Board directs staff to pursue a different path, there are people 31 in Cooperative Extension and Economic Development that could work on weaving the services 32 together without duplicating services. He said that he understands that the Board is looking for 33 more tangible goods. 34 Commissioner Hamilton said that the Food Council has not met the need. She said that 35 the mission wasn't clear and that the Board needed to think of another way to address this. 36 Vice Chair McKee said his expectations and the reality on the ground never synced up. 37 He said the expiration of the agreement has placed it in limbo; it's still there, and there is an 38 expectation that the Board will make a decision. He said the expiration puts the funding in 39 question. He said that the Board should decide whether or not to renew the MOU rather than 40 decline to address it. 41 Chair Bedford agreed that the MOU should not be renewed. She also agreed that the 42 Board should make a motion and vote on the MOU. 43 44 A motion was made by Vice Chair McKee, seconded by Commissioner Price, to not renew 45 the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Orange County Food Council as proposed by 46 the Food Council's Executive Committee. 47 48 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 49 50 Chair Bedford asked if there needed to be any more discussion or if the County Manager 51 had the direction she needed.