City Council

CITY OF MOUNT VERNON CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION AGENDA March 30, 2022 - 7:00 p.m. Police/Court Campus 1805 Continental Place To virtually attend the meeting, the public may call the conference line: 1- 888-924-9240; Access Code: 3366211 (please ‘mute’ your phone, if possible, to minimize distractions) A. Mount Vernon Library Commons Project Update (Mayor Boudreau and staff from HKP Architects will provide an update of the Library Commons Project.) (required action – none) (staff contact – Mayor Boudreau) B. Mount Vernon Police Department Update (Staff will provide an update on the integrated Outreach Services Program.) (required action – none) (staff contact – Chief Cammock) C. Approval of Memorandum of Understanding – Washington Municipalities (Staff is requesting approval of a memorandum of understanding with Washington municipalities for the allocation and use of funds being distributed as a result of litigation against a pharmaceutical supply chain.) (required action – motion) (staff contact – Kevin Rogerson) Next Ordinance 3846 Next Resolution 1012  AGENDA ITEM: A DATE: March 30, 2022 TO: City Council FROM: Mayor Boudreau SUBJECT: MOUNT VERNON LIBRARY COMMONS PROJECT UPDATE RECOMMENDED ACTION: None INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND: Mayor Boudreau and HKP Architects will brief Council on the latest progress for the Library Commons project. FINDINGS/CONCLUSIONS: None RECOMMENDATION: None ATTACHED: Click here to enter text.  AGENDA ITEM: B DATE: March 25, 2022 TO: Mayor Boudreau and City Council FROM: Police Chief Chris Cammock SUBJECT: POLICE DEPARTMENT: INTEGRTED OUTREACH SERVICES PROGRAM RECOMMENDED ACTION: NO ACTION REQUESTED. REVIEWING PROGRAM INFORMATION PROVIDED AT THE NOVEMBER 3, 2021 PUBLIC SAFETY MEETING. INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND: Approximately 25% of Mount Vernon Police Department service calls have underlying circumstances related to poverty, homelessness, behavioral health, and substance abuse. Specific segments of our population were found to be highest utilizers and in 82% of the cases were not enrolled in Traditional Clinical Care services. The Integrated Outreach Services (IOS) program is designed to change the capacity and capability for the Mount Vernon Police Department to effectively respond and reduce the unhoused population who encounter the criminal justice system. This program will: • Provide an alternative to police officer responses, with non-police personnel, to calls where poverty, substance use disorder or behavioral health are primary factors versus criminal intent. • Provide outreach services specialists intensive case management support to offer wrap around services for the unhoused or high service utilizers who encounter the criminal justice system because they are not connected or inconsistently connected to traditional care providers. • Integrate public health resources into public safety as a means towards a longer-term goal of transitioning untreated behavioral health issues into a more suitable system. FINDINGS/CONCLUSIONS: This program is necessary to evolve policing services and functions into the future. RECOMMENDATION: None ATTACHED: None  AGENDA ITEM: C DATE: March 30, 2022 TO: Mayor Boudreau and City Council FROM: Kevin Rogerson; City Attorney SUBJECT: MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING (“MOU”) REGARDING OPIOID FUNDS RECOMMENDED ACTION: Approve the MOU. INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND: Mount Vernon is a party along with a number of local governments engaged in litigation seeking to hold entities within the pharmaceutical supply chain of prescription opioids accountable for the damage they have caused to the local governments. After discussion through legal counsels, the local governments engaged in litigation and the other cities and counties in Washington have reached a desire to agree on a form of allocation for opioid funds they receive from entities within the pharmaceutical supply chain which is memorialized in the attached Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) relating to the allocation and use of the proceeds of Settlements. This MOU is not a settlement agreement but only an agreement as to how funds will be distributed to release county and city claims. Again, this is the current intent of the distributor defendants and J&J (they want resolution of state and local govt claims first) so this MOU reflects that desire/intent. This allocation model in the MOU addresses how settlement funds intended for local governments would be distributed among them. It is designed to be as simple as possible, while still treating all cities and counties fairly. The allocation model uses three factors to determine the share of a global settlement that each county will receive. These three factors address the most critical causes and effects of the opioid crisis: (1) the number of persons suffering opioid use disorder in the county; (2) the number of opioid overdose deaths that occurred in the county; and (3) the amount of opioids distributed within the county. The allocation model gives each of these factors a straightforward, one-third weighting. The model is designed not to favor small, medium, or large counties based only on their population. Although population is taken into account indirectly because the three factors above each tends to increase with population, the model allocates global settlement funds proportionally to where the opioid crisis has caused actual harm. There are no perfect mechanisms to measure the three factors. To ensure the model is as unbiased and transparent as possible, the model uses only data collected and reported by the federal government. This is critical as the model follows the reporting mechanisms deemed most relevant by federal public health authorities. The allocation model described above determines how funds will be allocated among counties. The percentages that result from this application methodology is in Exhibit B. The next step is for each county and the cities within that county to reach agreement on how allocated funds will be directed within the county to abate the crisis. The county and the cities within it may share the funds however they choose. See Paragraph C 5 and C 4 (a). In the event an agreement cannot be reached then Exhibit B also sets forth the allocation to Participating Counties and the Participating Cities or Towns within the Counties based on a default allocation formula. To determine the allocation within a county, the formula utilizes historical federal data showing how the specific Counties and the Cities and Towns within the Counties have made opioid epidemic-related expenditures in the past. This is the same methodology used in the National Settlement Agreements for county and intra-county allocations. FINDINGS/CONCLUSIONS: The MOU is acceptable to the City of Mount Vernon, WA. RECOMMENDATION: Approval. ATTACHED: MOU, plus exhibits.