Inyo County California

ELECTION REIMBURSEMENT

On Tuesday, Clerk-Recorder-Registrar of Voters Danielle Sexton told the Board of Supervisors that the State has reimbursed the County in full for its costs to hold the statewide special election in November.

According to Sexton, her office received $220,826 to cover its costs, including printing and mailing ballots and voter guides. The estimated cost statewide to hold the special election was more than $250 million but, according to Sexton, errors being made in the runup to November 4 will inflate the actual number. The State, for example, had to reprint large amounts of its voter guides and send more than 5 million postcards to voters because of a typo on one of the district maps – a typo expected to cost $4 million alone. Sexton praised her own staff for getting through such a rushed process without any snafus or unexpected costs.

BOOST FOR WILDLIFE GROUP

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a request from the Inyo County Fish and Wildlife Commission to use $5,000 in fine fund money to support Wildcare Eastern Sierra, formerly Eastern Sierra Wildlife Care.

California Fish and Game Code § 13100 provides that one-half of the fines collected for violation of the Fish and Game Codes be deposited in a fish and wildlife propagation fund in the county where the violation occurred. The funding must be expended for the protection, conservation, propagation, and preservation of fish and wildlife in that county, under the direction of its board of supervisors.

The expenditure approved Tuesday will reimburse Wildcare Eastern Sierra – a non-profit dedicated to rehabilitating sick and injured wildlife and returning the animals to their natural habitats – for direct costs for food, supplies, medicine, and medical supplies. 

ROAD CLOSURES

Tinnemaha Road (Old Highway 395) will be temporarily closed from October 15-18 approximately six miles south of Aberdeen, with detours between U.S. 395 and Blackrock Springs Road. The closure was approved on Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors to accommodate the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s annual Sierra Bighorn Sheep monitoring program. 

Later in the meeting, the Board approved a request from Public Works to delegate authority to temporarily close roads, as well as place road restrictions, to the Public Works Director. The idea is to allow for more flexibility in emergency situations and to accommodate road work and other construction by not requiring Public Works to go before the Board for approval every time.

Public Works will still be expected to notify the Board and public when closures or restrictions are put in place.

RECOVERY CONTRACT

Inyo County will be providing opioid remediation services through Crossroads Recovery Center, a Bishop-based facility that offers a wide range of services to help people struggling with substance use. 

The Board approved a $100,000 contract with Crossroads to run a multi-pronged initiative aimed at providing both urgent life-saving overdose prevention and response services needs and long-term community healing. Health and Human Services earlier this year issued a Request for Proposals for services to mitigate the impacts of opioid abuse in Inyo County, and Crossroads was selected as the winning respondent. The center’s proposal included the purchase of a mobile harm reduction unit, providing recovery residence housing supports, purchasing supplies for a youth prevention pop-up house, purchasing monthly sobriety honor recognition event supplies, and opening a recovery hangout center (setup, supplies, and facilitation).

The contract is covered by opioid remediation funding that local jurisdictions receive as part of nationwide settlements and class action lawsuits against pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors, and retailers that contributed to the opioid crisis. Inyo County continues to receive funding as settlements are negotiated and funds are distributed to local jurisdictions. 

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