by Rodd Cayton
The Albuquerque City Council Monday will consider a plan for allocating millions of dollars in opioid settlement money.
Consultant Vital Strategies worked with the Local Government Coordinating Council to develop the plan, recommending that the city and Bernalillo County split more $150 million between treatment and prevention efforts.
The council, along with the county commission and the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education, will have to approve the plan for it to take effect.
The settlement is one of many that came about nationwide as state and local governments sued pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors and retailers, seeking compensation for the harm done as a result of the opioid epidemic.
The plan includes new space for treatment and intervention efforts, an investment in creating capacity through competitive grants to local service providers and expansion of APS’ Crossroads program.
Mayor Tim Keller’s administration is hoping the City Council directs the treatment money toward boosting existing services, rather than creating new ones.
“We all know or have seen people struggling with addiction on our streets, and we can’t wait another day to get folks the treatment and support they need,” Keller said last week. “We need this funding now to be able to get hundreds of people connected to recovery services as soon as possible; lives are literally on the line.”
A Keller news release says some councilors and county commissioners are proposing the construction of new facilities and that that option would take years.
The release states support for a county decision to spend the money that way, but was “the city has already made significant investments in infrastructure,” including the Gateway Network and its medical sobering center.
The release asserts the city should spend the settlement money to run services in those spaces.
The council is also expected to consider an exchange agreement involving a parcel of city-owned Uptown property.
The council would first have to declare the property at 2245 Louisiana Blvd NE “not essential for municipal purposes.” The property to be exchanged is the former Kimo Park, at San Mateo and Cutler, adjacent to the San Mateo Inn.
The Department of Health, Housing and Homelessness recently acquired the hotel. The land swap with Kimo Park LLC would permit the department to create support space for a housing navigation center to be built on the San Mateo Inn site.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE:
WHEN: 5 p.m. April 7
WHERE: Vincent E. Griego Chambers in the Albuquerque Government Center, 1 Civic Plaza NW VIRTUAL: GOV-TV or on the city’s YouTube channel
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