Introduction:

Hello monsoon season! What’s in today’s issue?

1. An updated list of upcoming events.

2. A summary of the City Council Special Meeting about Opioid Settlement Money.

3. Animal shelter friend of the week.

4. A new featured business.

Upcoming Events in Holbrook, AZ:

Don’t see your event listed? If it’s non-profit and for the whole community, we’ll probably list it for free*. Email us at [email protected]. *_{We do reserve the right to not list any event if we feel it does not belong in this section.}

City Council Special Meeting Summary

Here’s a quick recap of the city council special meeting on 8/7/24. Same ol’ Disclosure: I’m not a journalist.

• Wait, What? Opiods? Money? We’re getting some in Holbrook? Here’s how I understand it: Opioid distributers and producers (listed here, but mainly Johnson & Johnson) lost an opioid lawsuit years ago where they now need to pay billions (BILLIONS!) nationally. This money is distributed over years of time to certain US States. There are multiple rounds of this money being distributed. When Arizona gets a chunk of this money, the state distributes the money to the cities. BUT (!) the cities have to opt-in to receive this money. A city can also choose to give the money to the county it resides in. The opt-in has to be passed by city council.

• Can the city use this money on anything they want? No. The money specifically has to go to opioid abuse prevention and recovery. When the money is distributed, more information is available on how it can be used. Like a grant, there are rules for this money. If the usage rules are very broad, it is up to the creativity of the city manager and the city council on how it can be used. If the usage rules are very strict, Holbrook may not be able to meet the requirements - in that case we would give it to the county. BUT (!) the county would have to use those funds for the benefit of Holbrook.

• What is the County’s role in all of this? Navajo County has a health department and/or the infrastructure to carry out an opioid prevention program. Having a health department may be a requirement to use this money - (something Holbrook doesn’t have) but we still don’t know if that’s the case for sure.

• How much money are we talking about? This round (Round 2) is 68.5 million dollars for the state. That amount is distributed among the cities using a formula based on the city’s population. It is currently unknown what this exact amount will be. [Quick math by the author: Google says AZ has a population of 7.35 mil. That’s about $9/resident. Holbrook=4,800 residents... x 9. =$43,200. Hm. That was a disappointing math session. Hopefully it ends up being more money than that.)

• Spicy Section! What do you mean Round 2? Holbrook has passed this in the past? Yep! In 2022 Holbrook City Council opted-in to receive round 1 of this lawsuit settlement, BUT(!) voted to give it the county to be used by their health department for the benefit of Holbrook. Problem is, this meeting was a great reminder that nobody has heard NOTHIN‘ from the county regarding this money. City council doesn’t know if it’s been used, city council hasn’t even heard if the county has received it. (The author guesses no, but who knows?) This led to a conversation where Holbrook needs to figure out where that money voted on in 2022 is and how it has been used for Holbrook’s benefit (or if it’s even been received). The city manager says she’s on it and will be getting answers soon. Nice👍️. It was also decided that if this money goes to the county, the county needs to give at least an annual report on how it is being used for Holbrook’s benefit.

• So….did we opt in? Yes, the Holbrook City Council unanimously voted to opt-in to receiving this money. They did not opt-in to give it to the county this time. It will be up to Holbrook to figure out how to put it towards opioid prevention and recovery.

• [END OF MEETING]

Featured Animal Shelter Friend

A New Business! Nice!

[END]

Thank you for reading! Have any feedback for us? We listen! Just reply to this email or you can always reach us at [email protected].