ABCGC + APS Meeting: Opioid Settlement Planning, Goodwill Presentation, and Hybrid Format Decision – April 29, 2024
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Albuquerque Bernalillo County Government Commission (ABCGC) + APS Meeting – April 29, 2024
The meeting of the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Government Commission (ABCGC) with APS convened at 5:00 pm on April 29, 2024, chaired by Councilor Rogers. The agenda included a presentation from Goodwill Industries, a detailed update on the opioid settlement strategic planning process led by Vital Strategies, public testimony, and discussions on meeting format, a resolution to add APS as a voting member, and a proposed county behavioral health ordinance. Due to the absence of a voting quorum (three city and three county members), no formal votes were taken; key items were deferred to the next meeting on June 27, 2024.
Presentations
- Goodwill Industries of New Mexico – President and CEO Shauna Castle and Chief Services Officer Sessha Lee presented. Goodwill has 430 employees, an annual economic impact of $36 million, and in 2023 served over 21,000 individuals, placed 1,556 into community employment, and kept 9 million pounds from landfills. Their re-entry program (Next Steps) reports an 84% non-recidivism rate. New initiatives include a mobile unit, a state-of-the-art training center on San Mateo, and a Clean Tech Training Program (solar installation). Revenue from donations stays in New Mexico.
- Vital Strategies Opioid Settlement Strategic Plan – Julie Ron (Senior Technical Advisor) and Kathy Core (Bernalillo County Chief of Government Affairs) presented the work plan. Vital Strategies, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropy, is providing free technical assistance. The accelerated timeline includes: a community engagement plan by April 30 (next Tuesday), a landscape analysis by end of June, a public input summary by end of August, and an initial strategic plan by mid‑October 2024. The plan will involve town halls in each commission district, priority listening sessions, and outreach to pueblos and nations. A local consultant, SBS Evaluation (Cindy Sakaman), was selected to lead community engagement. The city and county will receive $147 million over 10–12 years from opioid settlements.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Charles Aragon (Power Five collaboration) – Expressed support for the inclusive planning process, noting that 89–95% of homeless individuals he serves are addicted to fentanyl. Urged that frontline outreach groups like Power Five be included in planning.
- Chris Cleveland (Power Five) – Shared his personal recovery story and described Power Five as a life‑recovery collaboration providing housing, behavioral health, and career development for 43 citizens. Supported county efforts.
- Tracy Madrano (Crossroads Integrative Health) – Represented Power Five, providing evidence-based medical and behavioral health care for individuals with substance use and mental illness, many legally involved. Supported directing settlement funds to such collaborations.
- Elias Romero (Power Five) – Emphasized the need to take individuals from homelessness to long-term recovery, including clinical care and job training.
- Dr. Rifka Stern (family physician, Westside Shelter) – Advocated for increased treatment access, harm reduction, dual diagnosis, and addressing barriers like transportation, pharmacy stigma, and insurance authorization. Supported the strategic planning process.
- Patrick Madigan (Goldfinch Health) – Presented a prevention model focused on reducing opioid prescribing after surgery (ERAS protocol). Noted that over-prescribing remains a problem and that his company has received opioid settlement funds in Iowa and Tennessee.
- Charles Goodmacher (Goldfinch Health) – Supported the inclusive process and emphasized prevention through changing medical culture.
- Paul Chavez (State of the Heart Recovery) – Described his nonprofit serving polysubstance use, co‑occurring mental health, and homelessness in the International District, with 64 beds. Supported the planning effort.
- Richard Mansfield (New Beginnings Church, Power Five) – Shared the scope of his organization’s work (feeding 147,000 people annually, distributing 162,000 pounds of food) and the urgent need for collaboration, noting that he had conducted two funerals that day related to opioid addiction.
- Representative Pamela Herndon (House District 28) – Encouraged Vital Strategies to participate in the state behavioral health coordination group and to include insurance providers, courts, and workforce programs like automobile repair training.
- Renee Chavez Mays (Frontline Resurrection) – Provided a “day in the life” example of women taken from the streets into recovery through Power Five. Warned that fentanyl is now being laced into methamphetamine and marijuana, affecting youth.
- Dr. Bill Wagner (Central Savila) – Described his outpatient agency serving immigrants and refugees in the International District and South Valley, highlighting cultural and linguistic barriers. Supported the planning process.
- Janice Herrera (Health Equity Council) – Shared personal loss from opioid overdose. Identified needs for transitional housing, safe use sites, 24‑hour drop‑in centers, American Sign Language access, and secure storage for unhoused participants at meetings. Called for transparency on fund spending.
- Mark Broughton (parent of a son lost to opioids) – Urged collaboration among all providers (“Power of 25, 50, 100”) and noted that all facilities are needed. He helps with job skills and vehicle repair for people in recovery.
- Sarah (mother of Alex, age 16, died from fentanyl) – Described her son’s experience after surviving a lethal dose, including stigma and bullying at school. Pleaded for more support in schools and for youth.
Discussion Items
- Meeting Format (Hybrid vs. In‑Person) – The group discussed whether to continue hybrid meetings. Most members (including those attending via Zoom) favored staying hybrid to facilitate quorum and participation. The Chair requested that remote participants keep cameras on when possible to aid engagement. The group agreed to remain hybrid with that understanding.
- Resolution and IGA for APS Voting Membership – The commission discussed a resolution to amend the IGA to include APS as a voting member. The draft resolution already changes the quorum requirement to a majority of the full board (rather than separate agency counts). Because a voting quorum (three city and three county members) was not present, the resolution could not be voted on. It was informally agreed that each entity (City Council, County Commission, APS Board) would consider the resolution in May, and the ABCGC would formally vote on June 27, 2024. Commissioner Olivas suggested also amending the quorum rules to be a simple majority of the entire board, which is already reflected in the draft IGA.
- Proposed Bernalillo County Behavioral Health Ordinance – Commissioners Barboa and Olivas introduced a draft ordinance to codify the county’s behavioral health system of care, ensuring it lasts beyond current terms. The ordinance is based on a decade of experience and existing data. They requested feedback from the group and the community. The ordinance will be voted on by the county commission on May 28, 2024. The group discussed the broad impact, as the county funds many APS, UNM Hospital, and city programs.
Key Outcomes
- Hybrid Meetings Continued – The ABCGC + APS will continue hybrid meetings, with a request for remote participants to keep cameras on.
- APS Voting Membership Deferred – The resolution to add APS as a voting member was discussed and informally approved by consensus; formal adoption will occur at the June 27, 2024 meeting, pending passage by each entity in May.
- Behavioral Health Ordinance – The proposed ordinance was introduced for discussion; feedback is welcome before the county commission vote on May 28, 2024.
- Next Meeting – The next ABCGC + APS meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 27, 2024, at 5:00 pm. The minutes from February 2024 were also deferred to that date.
- City Budget Announcement – The City of Albuquerque’s first Committee of the Whole budget meeting is on Thursday, May 2, 2024, at 5:00 pm, open to public comment.
Meeting Transcript
The meeting of Albuquerque Bernalio County Government Commission and APS will now come to order. Hello, everybody. I'm Chair Councillor Rogers, and I'm excited to chair my first meeting. So thank you for your patience today as I ease in. We're going to start with a moment of silence, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Ellen Armijo. Maybe they can the United States of America. I see the Republic for WAN. All right, members of the public, staff, and media have the ability to view this meeting live through four different platforms. Gov TV on Comcast Channel 16, the Gov TV website, YouTube Live, and Zoom. These live streams can be assessed from most smartphones, tablets, or computers. For those watching the live stream, thank you so much for joining us. If you're signed up for public comment, please do keep your comments to two minutes. Comments are to be addressed to the committee members only. Please keep your comments to the topic that you are addressing and any disrupt disruptive conduct. You will be removed from the meeting. Thank you so much. So we'll start with approval of our minutes. Do I have a motion to approve our minutes? Second. Okay, moved by Alan, second by Commissioner Barboa. Sorry, you're right. Actually, I apologize. We since we don't have a quorum with our county partners, we are gonna have to defer our approval of February 2022, 2024 minutes to our June 27th meeting. So do I have a motion to defer? Second. Yes, Councilor Bach. Oh, just gonna second the motion. Thank you. All right. Do we need to call the role? Or we don't have to vote on this. Okay, awesome. Even better. We don't have to vote. All right, so then we'll go ahead and defer the approval of minutes to the next meeting, June 27th. Thank you. All right, we'll move on to our next agenda item, which are presentations. And first up on the list, we have Goodwill and presenting for Goodwill is Shauna Castle, the president and CEO, and Sessha Lee, Chief Services Officer. Come on up, ladies. We're excited to have you here. I got a chance to meet with Goodwill just to talk a little bit about their services and thought it would be a great opportunity for all of us to learn about what they can help us with. So please. Yes, and thank you again, Counselor Rogers, for the opportunity to speak this evening. So everyone knows Goodwill for thrift stores, but very few people understand the scope of or the work that we do, particularly the impact that we have on the community. It's really hard to explain the complexity of our organization, especially in a quick soundbite, which is why I appreciate the opportunity to tell our story this evening. For 83 years, we've been on a mission to provide skills training, job development, and social services to New Mexicans. Help fund our 10 programs, which we provide free of charge. So we are a large nonprofit employer. We have over 430 employees across the state with an anticipated 470 by the end of this year. We spend approximately 1.5 million on payroll each month and have an economic impact of 36 million on the state each year.
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