Sacramento supervisors try to calm nerves over ‘diversion’ of COVID-19 health funds
Staring down a deadline to spend federal coronavirus relief funds, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed this week to route $49.6 million intended for public health through other departments to avert losing the money at the end of the year.
County officials said the transfer was only an accounting maneuver that would allow them to spend the one-time funding well past the Dec. 30 deadline. Still, the decision to temporarily direct funds to law enforcement prompted a verbal assault from activists and residents at the board’s Wednesday meeting, echoing a number of tense meetings on the subject earlier this year.
Acting County Executive Ann Edwards acknowledged the community’s frustration over what may seem like a windfall for the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office and the probation department. She stressed that a funding increase is not what would happen.
Edwards said the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act funding will be replaced with money from the general fund, allowing more time for the public health division to use it.
“Our goal is to ensure that public health is able to continue to provide the good work that they’ve been doing to combat the virus,” Edwards said. “This recommendation is administrative in nature and does not provide any additional funds to law enforcement departments.”
A similar decision earlier this year provoked an intense public outcry when the County Executive Navdeep Gill disclosed that the county directed $105 million to the Sheriff’s Office.
The fallout from the decision cast a long shadow over the board’s meetings for months. Gill has since been placed on paid leave pending the outcome of a misconduct investigation after several employees accused him of bullying and intimidation, among other things.
County lawmakers later redirected some of the federal money to public health services but the window in which to spend the money was shorter.
Dr. Olivia Kasirye, the county’s public health officer, said what’s different this time is a majority of $49.6 million has already been spent but the public health division needs more time to receive invoices. Before, there were no assurances public health would receive anything.
“I have confidence in the decisions that she (Edwards) is making and that she is being upfront about how this is going to work,” Kasirye said during the meeting. “I trust that she will carry through and the money will come back to public health.”
Meeting turns chaotic
The board is expected to vote on a spending plan from the public health division for $8.8 million in coronavirus relief money that has not been spent.
The meeting turned chaotic early as protesters pounded the meeting room’s doors and windows and police and sheriff’s deputies blared sirens outside. Faced with another round of scrutiny, board chairman Phil Serna said the public and media had misunderstood their decision.
“Community members (and) the media continue to mischaracterize the fact that quote-unquote: We gave money to the sheriff’s department. We did not give money to the sheriff’s department,” Serna said. “It was used to manage fund balance so that we could preserve the ability to use CARES Act funding for things like public health.”
Skeptical residents lined up in the phone queue to object.
Kula Koenig, a resident in District 3, said county staff and the supervisors are mostly to blame for the confusion, calling their comments condescending. She cited past attempts to get clarity on how the federal funding would be spent from as early as June.
“We understand that the sheriff and probation are general-fund rich,” Koenig said. “That is another problem that we’ll have to deal with later about how the sheriff’s department and probation get the bulk of our general fund dollars.”