Board of Supervisors - Regular Meeting

And Jason, testing. Can you all hear me?

I think that was Commissioner John.

Okay. Roll call, please.

Chevin Singh.

Here.

McGuire.

Here.

McMurtry.

Here.

Miller.

Here.

Moran.

Here.

Jean Yasircused and Ortega.

I'm sorry,

Commissioner Jean. I didn't see you online.

That's the voice we heard. Okay. Welcome. Do we stand for the pledge of allegiance?

Allegiance I to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Land acknowledgement, commissioner Moran. Alright. Good morning. Good morning.

Every community owns its assistance and vitality to generations from around the world who contribute their hopes, dreams, and energy to making a history that led to this moment. Some were brought here against their will. Some were drawn to leave their distant homes in hopes of a better life. And some have lived on this land since time immemorial. Truth and acknowledgement are critical to building mutual respect and connections across all barriers of heritage and difference.

We are standing on the ancestral lands of the Dakota people. We want to acknowledge the Ojibwe, the Ho Chunk, and the other nations of people who also call this place home. We pay respect to their elders past and present. So please take a moment to consider the treaties made by the tribal nations that entitle non native people to live and work on traditional native lands. Consider the many legacies of violence, displacement, migration, and settlement that bring us here together here today. And please join us in uncovering such truth at any and all public events.

Thank you. I'll entertain a motion on the agenda of 05/19/2026.

So moved. Second.

Seeing no discussion, roll call.

Moran?

Here.

Zhang? Aye. Jeben Singh. Aye. McGuire. Aye. McMurtry. Aye. Miller. Aye. And Ortega.

Aye. I'll entertain a motion on the minutes from 05/12/2026.

So moved. Second.

Seeing no discussion, roll call.

Moran? Aye. Zhang? Aye. Jebin Singh? Aye. McGuire? Aye. McMurtry? Aye. Miller? Aye.

Ortega? Aye. Administrative items. Commissioner Moran?

Mrs. Chair, I move administrative item number three, settlement agreement of Tamika Williams versus Ramsey County, Court File sixty two CV-twenty five-four thousand four hundred and sixty six. I would like to move administrative item number four, salary schedule and grade for new classified position data practices officer. I would like to move administrative item number five, the repurchase of a tax forfeited property located at 601 Annapolis Street East, Saint Paul, Minnesota 55118. And that's it.

Thank you. Second.

Any discussion? Roll call,

Moran?

Aye.

Zhang. Aye. Japansing. Aye. McGuire. Aye. McMurtry.

Aye.

Miller. Aye. And Ortega.

Aye. We now have a presentation on de toxification and withdrawal management facility update.

Good morning. Good morning. Chair Ortega, county board, county manager, Thank you for having us this morning to provide an update on the closure of our detox withdrawal management program. I'm Sophia Thompson, the Social Services Director, and I'm here with my colleague.

Jim Langer.

And Jim's gonna get us started this morning with our presentation.

Good morning. Good morning, chair Ortega and commissioners and County Manager Becker. My name is Jim Langer, and I serve as a Human Services Manager in the Social Services Department. For just over a year, I was the program administrator for the detox program. Today, Sophie and I will be providing an update on the closure of Ramsey County's detox and withdrawal management services.

We'll walk through the history, the transition process, and our continued support for the residents, clients, and community providers. Here's our roadmap for this morning's briefing. First, we'll review the history of the detox and withdrawal management program, then we'll walk through the closure itself, highlight goals and successes from the transition, outline next steps, and finally, information on resources and support available in the community. This presentation reflects a collaborative process across multiple departments and community partners. Thank you.

Here's our roadmap for this morning's briefing. Oops, sorry. So, I want to begin by acknowledging the hard working staff of Detox. This picture here was the last picture we took, actually, of all the staff at Detox. Many, many years of experience in withdrawal management and substance use disorder treatment. A lot of hard work, a lot of history. Some of these folks had been with detox since the early 90s. So, they've been with the program for a very long time. So, thank you. Here's a brief history of the detox management program.

The program was first licensed in 1989, though it was very it was open actually for several years before then. And in the 90s, the state of Minnesota mandated that every county provide detox services as a safe alternative to our incarcerating intoxicated individuals. In 2015, the state expanded detox programs to include clinically managed and medically monitored withdrawal management, reflecting the growing need for structured medical oversight. Our program continued to evolve and became duly licensed for withdrawal management in 2022, allowing us to provide enhanced clinical and medical care. Although the program received approval in 2022 to bill for withdrawal management services, it took us a couple years to be able to actually do the process.

We weren't able to start that until June 2024. The program has continued to struggle in the area of billing. The state statute still requires counties to ensure detoxification services are available and allows us to meet that obligation by partnering with community providers, which is what drives the transition we're talking about today.

So, as you all are familiar, we officially closed our program at the end of last year, 12/31/2025. This was a really difficult decision, and a lot of planning went into it. This decision aligned with best practices to reflect the county's broader strategy to shift specialized services to community based providers, who have the infrastructure and some would say expertise to deliver medical withdrawal management care. This change supported rightsizing of the county's operational services, while still ensuring access for residents. Extensive communication efforts took place to message this change.

It's truly been a team effort. I'd like for you all to remember that we did not do this alone. As Jim thanked the team, I also want to acknowledge that there was an interdisciplinary team who met frequently to manage this transition. Not only did social services, our public health partners, our housing stability partners, safety and justice, our racial and health equity administrators, liaisons, compliance, communications, our health and wellness broader team, the sheriff's office, evaluation, purchasing, contracting and legal, and I can't forget our planning manager Carissa Dillon who helped to lead the effort. Our goals were clear.

We have to do something tough, but we want to do it right. Communicating with clients, staff and our partners to ensure that clients were able to receive continued care in other facilities and be served. To wind down our operations at the building and to create agreements for a new provider to come online and supporting community providers through capacity building grants. So, to ensure this smooth transition, we used a multi pronged communication approach. GovDelivery, which you may be familiar with.

People can sign up and get emails automatically generated to them. Our website was updated. Our signage was updated. And ongoing partner communications under what we call our bridge plan, phase one. We really wanted to focus on ensuring continuity for those with the most critical needs.

Navigational support was offered on-site at the current location on the 1st Floor. We were able to coordinate transportation with the Sheriff's Office. We appreciate our sheriff partners for that. And we created streamlined work procedures. This multi layered approach was able to help us create a holistic, client centered model, while providing those who still needed service the best service available, and to ensure safety, particularly during the winter months.

On the operational side, we managed contract terminations, licensing notifications, donation of our medical supplies, and the initial leasing process for a future provider. From January through April, around April 5, withdrawal management assistance had their employment date extended to provide on-site navigational supports. So, these were staff who were familiar with the work. We were able to extend the time in which they were going to no longer be with us several months, so they can continue to provide care, particularly during the overnight and weekend hours. We used our recovery corp staff, our crisis staff supported, again the sheriff's office.

The providers in the community were sharing daily bed availability with us, so we could help clients quickly access care. This ensured that despite the program closure, clients continued to receive timely support.

Excuse me, Sophia Garrison.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

One quick question, and I appreciate you walking through the goals and the entire process and everything from what you've just shared. It looks like it was pretty seamless, but I wanted to kind of take a quick step back and get any quick takeaways from you all on the process as a whole. Were there any specific hiccups or challenges, like any aspects of the rollout, whether on the client end or on the staffing end, that you found to be challenging or that you would implement a different approach. So I just wanted to get a sense of any key takeaways that you all had on maybe some of the things that didn't work and that you had to quickly pivot and adjust throughout this entire process?

Yes, thank you Commissioner McMurtry for your question. Yes, always and. Hindsight is always twentytwenty. There's always things that we could have done to improve the process and the experience. I think there are hiccups, you ask, challenges, communication, even though we try our best to make sure that everyone is included in the process and we were thoughtful about the rollout approach of how we communicate.

There's always a way to improve I think our communication. Doing hard things is hard and no matter how we attempted to approach individuals about the decision and informing them of the steps, There are things we could have done differently. And so I would say absolutely. I think the staffing challenges we found a way to collaboratively work through. We had twenty four hour coverage.

I think that was a major concern, and we were able to accomplish that, and that's because of that team effort. So, hindsight, yes, there's always things we could do differently. I would say that because of the partnerships of everyone involved, we did something really hard. And I would propose that we did it well.

Were there any documents or any processes in place to kind of document that feedback, whether it exit surveys from staff or from clients? Did we capture any of those specifically, or is it more so just anecdotal of what you may have been hearing directly from staff?

Commissioner McMurtry, we were not able we did not take exit surveys from those staff that were laid off in this process or even those that had their layoffs extended. We did not do that. And I would have to connect with my HR partners to explore how we may have done that differently. I will add that I offered the opportunity to talk with everyone individually. Jim did a lot of connecting with people individually.

There was a lot of emotion around this, as there should be. And for those who were able to extend their time with us for a few more additional months, I did have individual conversations with them and they were very grateful and did express some more of that challenge, but the opportunity. A few were able during that short time able to, at least one was able to transition to another job during that time. And so those individuals who stayed on after, we were able to maybe get a little bit more information from. Thank

you.

Now, as we look at the clients served, this slide is showing January through April, we served 91 individuals in January, February sixty six, March 27, and April thirty four. Most of the contacts were handled by phone, with a similar number requiring face to face navigation or sheriff's office transport. You can see that was very minimal. These numbers demonstrate ongoing demand for the importance of maintaining strong navigation, referral process during the transition, and continual connections to care to ensure a smooth transition. As of April 30, on-site navigation support ended and staff agreements concluded.

Going forward, individuals who walk up during building hours will receive referral information and can contact (651) 266-4900 for assistance. That's the original and traditional detox number that has not changed. We just have different people managing and operating that line. Embedded social workers from our Appropriate Response Initiative will continue to answer that detox line, check messages and receive daily bed availability updates. Transportation has now ended.

As you can see, those numbers were really below so operationally we ended that at this time. But during the process, we learned that many of the current detox providers, while in other parts of the metro area, provide transportation. You can simply call and as we are as we were helping to arrange those detox beds with our partners, they would send their own cab or form of transportation to pick people up. That was a great learning during this process. Moving forward.

Excuse me, Ms. Shia. Tara?

Yeah, I just have a quick question, which is given the number of folks who were involved in this interdisciplinary team for the bridging, and now we're at this point, I'm just wondering how much continued education, communication, and interdisciplinary work is being done to continue to allow community to know different ways to access detox or housing or any of the other services that we're all wanting our communities to have no wrong door, so to speak. I think of the Capital Commons hub. I'm wondering, do we have any public health or mental health or other kinds of connections to that space as it grows and becomes recognized as a place for community to get help. I'm just wanting to make sure that we continue this momentum in all different directions.

Yeah. Let me just first address the Capital Commons hub. I just want to make sure that we're all aligned here. It is one opportunity, but we need to take a broader systems look around how we're doing outreach and supporting our residents, both the quality of life issues just on the streets, as well as a need like this, as well as you guys have heard of the Safe and Strong initiative, as well as using our different mobile vehicles. I just want to caution certainly, Sofia can answer in terms of opportunities to make sure we're doing good bridging. I think it's premature for us to maybe talk too much about the capital comments until we get a broader organizational strategy.

Okay. And I think you're indicating what I was trying to get at, which is that with so many people who are part of this, how do we make sure they're still connected to community Exactly. So they have access to the information to get to the services?

Thank you for the commit for the question, Commissioner Jevonsing and your comments, County Manager Becker.

I'll let you finish. I have another Commissioner with me. Okay. Commissioner McMurray.

Well, you finish your study.

Okay, I'll finish yours.

Okay. So

our primary vehicle at this, what we have several strategies around communication. We are continuing to update the website. So, our communication partners and funneling people to that website has been vital. It has, we've updated it to the point where it has a lot of information on where people can access other detox during this gap period, which I'll talk a little bit about in a minute. In terms of communication, we are using our various meeting venues.

So, through our partners, I'm going to have to think of the meeting or the organization. But we have several community partners where vendors and folks get together to talk about updates. The specific meeting names are not coming to me. And in the East Metro Provider Alliance. And so that is one avenue where providers are coming together to share updates.

There's also the East another East Metro group that meets. And so, we use those vehicles to share this information. Despite that, we still know that people will call and that is why that phone line is available 24 by seven. Internally, in terms of the collaboration We have sunsetted the formal meetings that were to plan for the bridging. But for those who are part of what we call phase two bridging, we are still meeting and having those coordinations and we continue to make ourselves available should there be any questions and missed opportunities. We take those reflect and see how we might pivot. Thank you.

So really quick question going back to the client serve graph that you provided. Seems to be a steady decrease in those that are being served. I'm just wondering from your perspective heading into Phase two, is there an anticipated increase as we hit the spring and summer months? Or do you anticipate it continuing to decline?

Commissioner McMurtry, County Board, County Manager Becker, I anticipate that as we enter the summer months, those who are in need of services will continue to rise. While we saw a decrease specifically in the total individuals served, our phone calls and our face to face, to me that is an indication that we were helping people, we were communicating well with where people could go to get the actual service and that our particular support really became phone, triage, and navigational support because we weren't able to serve people on the campus on the site. And so, I imagine that this is not a reflection of need. We know that there is going to be continued need. We know that we will continue to get phone calls and through helping through this process I think many have been educated on where else can we receive this service or a similarly situated service in the metro area.

So, that has been a success. Will we see these numbers go up? It's hard to say. Primarily now, our phone calls are still coming from our hospital partners. So, we're going to do some education, continued education and conversation with them around where folks can go. But, the true essence of community members showing up or wanting the service has really dwindled down at this time.

No, I appreciate them. I am glad to hear that the educational piece is coming into effect as well because I would imagine there's gonna be a continued community who may not even know that the detox center is closed and will continue to reach out. I'm also thinking about ensuring the capacity of our embedded social workers as part of ARI to ensure that if there is an increase, that they still have their capacity to do that job on top of continuing to answer the detox phone numbers. So, just something to think through if we potentially see an increase heading into the summer months of maintaining that balance and that capacity for these social workers to do that work.

Thank you for that Commissioner McMurtry. I will just take a moment to plug our appropriate response initiative and the great staff who are really pivoting to do just that. What is the appropriate response? How can I support? How can I lean in?

So those embedded social workers at the 911 who are now taking these calls. This is really up their alley. I would say that it hasn't in my understanding of communicating with the leads that it falls well in line with what they think and what they feel their work should be. And for those a part of that appropriate response team that are going out or the public health folks, they are all looped into what's happening. And so it really is a natural pivot, if you will, in terms of the work they were doing and continuing to educate and link community members to the right service that they need in a different location.

Sophia, I assume that all this information during the transition is on the website?

Commissioner Ortega, the details of the transition, some of that is on the website, yes. Not all of it. The website primarily is leading people to where they can access services now.

Thank you.

I will wrap us up here briefly with just a few more slides. Through a competitive solicitation, thank you. Through a competitive solicitation process, a local provider is currently in negotiations, meaning we're not able to talk about who the individual is, and being selected as a community provider to operate at our 402 space. So, the space in which we, as a county owned and operated detox have vacated. We put out a request for proposal for individuals to apply. Someone was selected. We are at the tail tail end of that process and you all will be hearing more about who was selected in the upcoming weeks.

Excuse me, Sofia. Regarding the facility, so what are the type of services that have applied or answered the RFP?

Commissioner Ortega, the RFP was to provide detox withdrawal management services only. What we know is that this is a continuum of care where detox withdrawal management services is one aspect of detoxing. And after that folks want to go to another level and another level. We learned throughout this process there was an appetite to do more and with consideration of the location of the facility, parking, having a new tenant in that collaboration, we were very clear that at this particular time we are looking for a provider who would be in that space that would be able to provide detox and withdrawal management services only at this time. Recognizing there's a continuum of care that we support but not at that site, not at this time.

Thank you. Thank you Mr. Chair.

Through the RFP process that we also make clear just knowing of some of the things that we offered when we had that space to ensure that whoever the new tenant is, that they also offer those same services like the ability for walk ins to come up? Are there aspects of what we did that we know that were beneficial for the community that we are also expecting this new tenant to also provide?

Thanks for the question, Commission McMurtry. Yes, Jim Langer here is also known as Excel extraordinaire knows how to pull all the numbers and the data. And in connection with Carissa Dillon, we were able to really look at who are we serving. So we structured the RFP to ensure that the demographics, language, the substance use usage that we see commonly used. The respondents needed to respond to how they would serve our unique Ramsey County population and then the team which I was not a part of who did the selection process, chose the best vendor for that.

And I will say for or the best applicant, if you will. One thing about being able to use the facility is we did we had it tiered, the RFP was tiered. And the first tier was really about someone who either has a current license in another part of the state, So that we knew that they could and had the ability to get licensed quickly. I'm going a little far ahead of myself, but that being said, the process at the state is that until your lease is signed and you are secure in your facility, you can't even apply. So during from now from the closure until now of selecting the vendor, the capacity builder opportunity for tier one really was about a vendor who could come in and really get up and running quickly and we think we have a vendor who's able to do that.

And once the lease is signed shortly here, after that point is then and only then are they able to apply for a license through the state and that process can take approximately six months less or more. So to be clear, we are still looking at a vendor coming providing the service through the capacity builder opportunity in probably late December, January 2027.

Okay. Thank you. I have Commissioner Singh, then Commissioner Sean.

Yes, so a couple questions. One is, it sounds as if this is a typical process, and we assume that all will go well, given the tiering that you did. But if for some reason there would be an issue with the licensure, is it going to be the six month kind of lease to licensure, lease to licensure? So that's what's delaying it is the process for licensure?

Commissioner Shevin Singh, yes. The delay at this point is really just our bureaucratic process, right? At this point, now that we've selected someone, the next steps, yes, it will be the licensure process and how fast we can work through. Because the vendor has been licensed before, we are strongly confident. I would like to be clear that the relationship that Ramsey County has with the vendor will be a leasing relationship.

And supporting the vendor with the facility, use of the facility at pretty much at no cost. That is our capacity building and then they were they will be awarded $50,000 for startup funds. And so, that really is the relationship. We don't manage the license or monitor the license. It will be the state's responsibility to do that. Our obligation will really be to the lease which our partners in property management at the appropriate time will come and discuss. Does that answer the question?

Yeah. And during that time of licensure, are we able to allow the tenant basically to come in and do whatever physical modifications to the building so that it's not yet another six months of whatever you know, everybody who comes in makes So, it their can we use that time wisely?

Yes, Commissioner Jevin Singh. At the point of signing the lease, the tenant has full access to the building to do the things that are appropriate within the lease. We do believe that modifications will be minimal, given that it is a structure specifically modified already for detox withdrawal management. But we want to support them with getting in to the building and the grant dollars are structured in a way to support that so that once the license is approved, we are ready to go or that they'll be ready to go to start serving residents.

And then one last question is, know that at this time the RFP was specifically for detox and withdrawal management. But knowing that there is a step down and kind of a continuum of somebody's healing, is there a future option either within this space or in surrounding space for that to grow or would that have to happen in a different location?

Commissioner Jevonsing, I think there to answer that question, I would need to really lean on my deputy county managers and some of their vision for all of the needs that we have here in Ramsey County. This is one aspect and it definitely intersects with the other departments and other needs. Whether or not that location is appropriate to be used for other matters beyond the detox withdrawal management, which we've used it for, really is a conversation that I think needs to be had with the CMO's office.

I appreciate that one Ramsey County and also a complex response, knowing that we're balancing a lot of different goals at one time. So thank

you. Thank you.

Just I don't know where you were going with your question, but just as a point of information, if that facility was appropriate for whatever, the potential of expanding on that space is there. That building was built so you could add another floor.

That's good to know.

I have Commissioner Shang.

Yes, it was.

And then Moran.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, mister chair. Thank you so much to the commissioners here for asking so many of the good questions that I had too. My my first question is in our lease or language with them and the relationship is, will they be able to provide similar services as we had where it's almost like low barrier access?

Commissioner Zhang, yes. As part of the RFP and the capacity building grant, the expectation is that low barrier access and a sliding scale fee that started at zero, A siding scale fee that starts at zero was part of the expectation of the provider given the capacity builder grant. Regarding the lease, I want to leave that to property management who will be in front of you in just a few weeks, I believe, to talk about the lease. I don't want to overstep and speak to the lease agreement. I can speak to the grant, capacity builder grant agreement.

Okay. And then it sounds like they will also be needing a few months to get licensed and to get startup too. What are we doing in the interim between that time between now and then finally getting this partner off the ground?

Commissioner Zhang, can you clarify for me when you say what are we doing now? Do you mean for residents or with the provider?

Yes. Yes, for residents right now.

We are moving forward Commissioner Zhang, as we are moving forward, the I'm trying to think of the best way to answer your question. What we are doing for residents, we moved to phase two of the bridge plan which means that we are not opening the doors. We don't have someone sitting on-site nights and weekends. So during phase one, we actually had staff who were sitting at the building nights and weekends waiting for people to walk in. As you saw those numbers were really, really minimal of people walking in.

So then we've transitioned to just phone support. And so that is the same support that was already being provided. So I would argue that the only thing that's being removed in this phase is someone being physically on-site after 8PM till 7AM and then on the weekends. As a reminder, the four zero two University Avenue Urgent Care is still operational and that is where staff were supporting out of. And so if someone were to come to the building during regular operations, we do have staff that are able to support and help navigate.

But the services really won't be any different than that we'll be providing other than a physical person there to answer the phone or, excuse me, answer the door after 8PM and on weekends. Does that answer your question? Okay.

Yes, it does. Thank you. And then, mister chair, just one last question. Director Thompson, since you had mentioned that the relationship essentially going forward is a a leasing type relationship where they're using our facility for basically rent free. Are we imagining then in our contract or our lease with them?

And I know that you're you're not in charge of the leasing agreement, but maybe county manager, you can chime in too as needed. The question is around are we expecting some sort of a relationship similar to the one that we have with Regions Hospital where they are required to do charity care where if folks are uninsured or underinsured that they will still be able to access these services?

Commissioner Zhang, I can answer that. That's actually part of the grant agreement. So with the RFP, as we put it out, part of the requirement was that they're able to do just that. And so, that's actually part of the grant agreement, not the lease agreement. So, the way we structured the grant is that it is for the length of time that the lease is. So, they work, they run concurrently. And in addition to the building, there are some dollars and as those dollars are being released, they're still beholden to the expectations in the grant. So that is a part of the grant. That was the capacity builder grant that was issued.

And then last question here. I know that I said that that was the last one, but just with what your response was. For the number of beds, are we making a requirement that they cannot limit or decrease the the level of service or to to the number of of clients or patients that may be may need the service? Because,

you

know, I can just anticipate that there may be some operational challenges later or that it's a possibility where, you know, the staffing level where they're down staffing and they cannot meet the requirements of their license. Right? And they would have to make those changes. But we also have a certain number of beds. How can we ensure that, you know, Ramsey County residents prioritized in some of those decision making that happens?

Commissioner Zhang, it's a great question. Part of this agreement and the way that this relationship is set up is that we are not going to tell the leasing party, the grantee awardee how to operationalize. We know that when we ran our own detox withdrawal management facility, there were times where we had to lower our census. There were times where you don't get to choose whether it's Ramsey County residents or someone from Wisconsin who's coming to receive the service. And those are substance use disorder standards within the community and within the licensure.

And so our request is they are minding or that they are responsible to upholding the licensure expectations, but we carefully were toeing the line of can we tell them how to do operations. Aside from stipulating in the grant and or lease that it is for withdrawal management and detox services only, we are not going we at this point are not in intending to dictate their operations. That is their business right to do. And we know that we are going to be working on how clients transition from maybe someone comes to the urgent care on the Lower Level 1st Floor and needs to go to detox. We know we'll have to have a relationship.

So, thus far the partnership has been great. So, I anticipate that if those challenges or we have some concerns, we have an ability to have that communication and understand their barriers, while expressing our things that we need to make sure happen as well. But it is a dance with how we're able to tell them how to operationalize their services. I don't know if that answers your question.

It did. Thank you, Director Thompson. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. One, I would like to say I appreciate government getting out of the way and let the community based organizations do the work the way they with their experience and expertise and do it the way they feel it needs to be done for the population that they are serving. I just want to first acknowledge the hard work that comes from Ramsey County staff and the work they have done over the years and insight to partner with community to have services provided.

And that process does take time. But I also want to bring us back to the conversation we had last year about why we were closing the detox center. And that was the fact that we were losing $1,000,000 a year because we could not fill the beds. That was the reason why. Right?

We didn't have people who are struggling with fentanyl and other substance use coming into to get the help that they need. Mainly what we were seeing were people who were dealing with alcoholism and issues like that who were coming in for support. And that was like five or six beds that were being filled I believe, a very low number that were being filled from the 50 beds that were available. So I just want to bring us back to that piece about why we closed and why we felt that we couldn't continue to take up a million dollar loss every year. And so as I say that and I think about where we are right now with leasing to a community based organization or community partner, so where do the loss fall on?

Because there still may be a loss. We still may not be able to fill those 50 beds. So do that loss fall what does that look like? Do it fall on the community providers? Are they providing extra services? Are they doing a little bit more that was different from what Ramsey County vision and purpose was, how do we maintain that building still? And I know from however many clients come in, they can now get reimbursed and those dollars will maybe kind of recoup something. But could you kind of like explain, give us some clarity around that piece of what we're doing here?

Thank you, Commissioner Moran. I will do my best with your layered question and tell me if I'm not hitting the answer. Where Ramsey County struggled, there were multiple reasons of why we closed. Definitely decreasing bed capacity or excuse me bed utilization was one of them, right. So while the facility and I maybe have to phone a friend here, while the facility held up to 50 beds, we were only using I think twenty twenty two at any given time and on rare occasion would we get that high.

That will likely be no different than the new provider. But again, they're experts. This is their business. This is what they do. And where we struggled in addition to the bed usage and how people were utilizing the facility, we also struggled with our billing operations.

With the provider where this is their line of business, this is what they do, We truly believe that they've mastered what we maybe struggle to get on board. And we talked about those challenges of just the county environment. We were the last of two who still owned and operated a county ran detox facility. And as the infrastructure and the responsibilities and the expectations were swiftly changing under the licensure aspect, as a county provider we weren't able to change fast enough. And so I think there being able to fill the 50 beds, don't anticipate I don't I'd the hope is that the provider coming on will be able to maximize and not turn anyone away.

And so if there is a need for 30 or 40 beds to be used, if we would have seen that need, would have been able to also increase the utilization. I don't know that I answered your full question.

Yeah, thank you. That was Director Thompson, was helpful. Because I think, you know, I'm trying to get a picture of what we're doing here and why we're doing it and what would be the difference. Because we don't want a community based organization to come in and fail also. So the hope is that we are I love the idea of the capacity grants to help kick it off and get things moving.

We want this to be sustainability. If people are still calling or stopping by, they tell us at the minimum that there is still a need for it And to be just wanted to get a really clear vision of the difference. What I heard you say is that Ramsey County had struggled with the building operation being able to recoup those dollars and the hope is that the community based organization will have disability, this is what they do, and they will be able to do this efficiently and effectively in bringing the dollars that they need to keep some sustainability at that location.

Correct. Correct. And Commissioner Moran, I'll also just say our leadership while Jim was able to step in after the last administrator transitioned, having this is a line of service where being really embedded and understanding SUD community needs that mill you of what's happening. Our structure of how we offer jobs or how we fill gaps when we have them isn't always the most effective. And so again I think there are things that our county structure that we do really, really well and work for a lot of service lines.

This is one where it just didn't work as well. And the providers coming in again, this is what they do, they understand, and they can pivot quicker than we as a large organization can.

So I appreciate the wisdom of knowing where our skills are or where we lack the skill to do the work and do the services and be open enough to partner with a community based organization that has the expertise that is connected to the community to continue to provide the services and we just have to it's a six months delay for them to go through all of processes that they need to go through. So although the building itself is not open, there is pathways for people to get the services

That's correct.

That they need or may need, correct? Was that through phone calls or been redirected to other providers and etcetera?

That's correct Commissioner Moran. There are still pathways and that's not to say that people don't want a facility in Ramsey County. We know that having a detox withdrawal management facility in Ramsey County is important and we will get there. The hope is with Tier two and three of the RFP, which we'll talk about in a minute, we're going to re release, we weren't able to release the funds for a provider who did not want the building but still wanted to build a detox withdrawal management facility. Since the selection and the negotiations for that initial opportunity did not conclude, we are reissuing the second half of the RFP to encourage and to say that we have some stake in this.

We know that we have some responsibility. While detox withdrawal management I would argue is not a core county responsible service which is why we considered could this be done elsewhere because this work is being done by community providers in the rest of the state. And so by pivoting and doing that we are now able to continue to focus on the core responsibilities while letting those experts and that's not to say, I want to clarify, it's not to say that our staff were not experts or didn't have expertise. However, our enterprise and how we are set up made it challenging to be the most effective all the time.

Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for sharing that.

Commissioner Singh?

Just a quick comment on that. I am just thrilled to hear that there will be some seed money to encourage a diverse community based approach outside of the facility. As those of us who are engaged in these healing and caring services, it's not a one size fits all. It may be the third, fourth provider, therapist, program, facility, neighborhood, cohort that you walk in the door with that flips the switch that allows you to get the care that you need. And we need to make sure we have multiple options for folks in our community. So I applaud that.

Absolutely. Thank you, Commissioners. Debitsing. All right. I'm going to round us out here. We've talked a little bit about some of this. Let me just see where I'm at here. So we continue to update our signage, our website, and all of our communication tools to let folks know where we are at. I mentioned that we are continuing to get calls from our hospital partners and we continue to talk with them and educate them. We know they have a large staff as well.

When in doubt, just call. That's the message we want to send. We are not physically open for folks to come to us, but when in doubt, just call. And we are okay to help navigate those services. Let's see here.

As we transition to this community based detox service, several county initiatives continue to support individuals with substance use and related needs. As was mentioned earlier, the Safe and Strong University Avenue Initiative integrates law enforcement, service providers and prosecutors to connect people with services. Our syringe service program out of our public health area offers harm reduction tools, wound care, naloxone training and testing strips. Adult and mobile crisis teams continue to provide stabilization and crisis support. And our core program at nineteen nineteen University offers co occurring mental health and substance use services throughout a multidisciplinary team.

So while detox withdrawal management services is one aspect along the continuum of care that is needed, We are still providing multiple supports as Ramsey County and while we remain connected with our partners. And so at this time, we would like to thank you for your time and attention today and interest in this. And we will stand for any additional questions.

Are there any other questions? Well, Sofia, you and your team have done a very good job. It's been a smooth transition. No transition is perfect, but I know just from my phone not ringing that you've been doing a good job. So share that with your team and thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you, Cheryl Ortega, commissioners and county manager Decker.

We now have legislative update.

Thank you. Thank you, mister chair. Well, the legislature did end by midnight on Sunday. They did a fair amount of work. We were disappointed they didn't get all the big issues that we had maybe wanted.

Some gun violence prevention legislation did not pass. The metro surge compensation didn't pass, but they did pass a bonding bill. Unfortunately, we were not a part of that, although there were other there were significant parts for for Saint Paul, which is included in Ramsey County for basic infrastructure and 13,000,000 for sewer infrastructure and repair along West 7th and 40,000,000 for Roy Wilkins auditorium renovations and 10,000,000 for the Grand Casino Ice Arena. So there was investment in parts of Ramsey County, just not the ones we were looking for. But, we will give I will I'll give a we'll have government relations here before us in in a a couple in a week, and we'll get the more details of all the things that happened.

But I will say that there were some statewide efforts with AMC, our Association of Minnesota Counties, and us that really helped with some of the big issues that we're facing, and those include the Health and Human Services Omnibus bill, which did include funding to help counties with SNAP administrative costs and to support implementation of the Minnesota African American partner partnership family family preservation act. Sorry. And, so we are gonna get some help with that. Also, the human services IT modernization got, created a new human services systems modernization fund with IT grants for counties so that we can begin to do that work. Not enough money in that, but at least some a start.

And there was also new funding for family homeless prevention assistance program and funding for supportive housing for the continuum of care grantees. This is all because of unstable federal funding. We've had the state has had to step up and provide more funding. So we will keep working. We are our legislative team is going to meet in next week and just talk about our plans for next year already and how we're going to, you know, work with our legislative delegation in a productive way to get the things that we really need.

And we will be doing a board workshop our legislative outcomes for this for this year. So with that, mister chair, we'll I will end this report if anyone else has anything they'd they'd like to add, but a more a much more detailed report will will follow. I will say that AMC did a great job highlighting some of the outcomes yesterday in a meeting that they had, and I encourage that you all to, you know, listen in on the meetings on the Zoom calls that AMC has that gives all the details of of things that happened statewide for the issues that we we care about. So, with that, I will end my report. And thanks to Jolie Wood and the legislative team, my colleague, Commissioner Moran, County Manager Becker, a lot of people worked really hard at the end of session and to get the things that did happen.

And just thanks to everyone who worked so hard.

Thank you. Commissioner Zhang.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just had a question for our delegation team,

our

our legislative team. A quick question for the IT modernization. Is that for just the state's IT general modernization, or is that for more of the ones that the county uses to verify and approve applications for social services and financial assistance services?

Thank you, Commissioner Zhang. That's a great clarifying question. We will get more details on this, but it's my understanding that we did get $10,000,000 for IT grants to counties. As as we know, many of us could use way over 10,000,000 for our own county. So that's why I said it's not it it's it's some money for counties, but it is IT grants to counties.

That's there's money that goes into the state human services modernization fund, then in addition to that, some money goes to IT grants for counties. We've been fighting for that, you know, for years to get some money dedicated specifically counties, and they're starting with $10,000,000 grant. So it's at least a start. We can in our workshop where we get all the details, we can get even more specific for you on that. But my understanding is that it's statewide money and and specifically for counties.

Okay. Chair McGuire and vice chair Moran, thank you so much for all your time spent at the legislature this year. I know that it's been, you know, especially challenging with with with shared and share shared powers between at the house and just some of those. So thank you.

I I would add. Thank you, commissioner Zhang, that it was it was it is a it's a difficult times that we're in because there is shared power at the legislature, so we can't move forward on as many things as we might like. And, also, the federal government's, lack of of providing resources for the things that we really need has really put a strain on the state budget and, of course, on all of our county budgets. And so we continue to feel that impact of the lack of of federal federal resources into the things that we that they require us to do and into the things that they've originally, you know, said that they would do, and now they're not doing it. And so we've just had to pick up some of those pieces, and and the state has had to try to do that and as have we.

So we will continue to work on that, but it's it's that we have to be in this position.

Thank you. Okay. We now go to County Connections.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. So, Ramsey County last week hosted a convening of several community collaboratives. We brought together leadership, staff, board participants, primarily the executive committees of the collaboratives. That includes the St.

Paul Children's Mental Health Collaborative, the Suburban Ramsey Family Collaborative, and the St. Paul Children's Collaborative. The collaboratives, just as a reminder for everyone, they're joint powers organizations that bring together county governments, school, community organizations, and service providers to coordinate efforts to improve outcomes for children, youth, and families in Ramsey County. And so by working collaboratively across the systems and sectors, these organizations aim to align resources, strengthen partnerships, and address the community's complex needs in a more connected and effective way. And so I'm thankful for county staff and also commissioners who participate on these joint powers boards of these organizations.

The convening created an opportunity to strengthen relationships and share some updates and better understand each other's work. One of the greatest benefits of the gathering was simply just having some dedicated time. Each collaborative was able to share some similar things about how they work and sort of what their priorities are, how they support the community with their resources. And so I'm looking forward to additional conversations. The convening certainly reinforced the value of partnership.

And so I want to thank planning manager, Carissa Dillon, who's serving as in our community relations manager role in the county manager's office, helping to support both stronger internal and external coordination when it comes to our collaborative work. So that was a good event last week. In addition, I'm sure we're going to share more about this in the next coming days. But I know people's calendars get busy, so I thought the earlier the better. So I'm going to share this a little early that we are just on the brink of train days at Union Depot.

It is Saturday, June 6 and Sunday, June 7. And it is free. It's a family celebration, celebrating trains, transportation, and downtown St. Paul community. But it also is the one hundredth anniversary of Union Depot.

So think it's an extra special train days since the opening in 1926. Union Depot has served as a gateway to St. Paul and our region, connecting generations of travelers, workers, immigrants, and families through rail transportation. At its peak, hundreds of trains move through the station every day, making it one of the most important transportation hubs in the Midwest. And today, it is a beautifully, historically restored depot, serves as a gathering place, And also some great local businesses and has a lot of great events.

And so train days will feature tours, both modern and historic locomotives, interactive exhibits. There's so many things. We'll wait another week or two to share more about all that. But there's a music festival as well. But everything is free. And so I just thought people might want to get that first weekend in June on your calendars.

Thank you.

Get it.

Write it down.

It's there. Good.

Outside Board and Committee reports, you want to begin? Sure.

I can start. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Lots of stuff going on in the community. Our Ramsey County Legal Local Government Collective Action Work Group, which is focusing on salt and chloride reduction.

I heard from the Pollution Control Agency on what their methods are, and this is one of those topics that I've been talking about and that I'm really grateful that our collective action team has brought forward. And of course, now we're not in winter anymore with the SALT, but just to get that education out there is always a good thing. Also, I'm gonna say that my colleague may talk about the Ramsey Washington recycling and energy facility and finance committee met, and commissioner Miller will be talking about that. Also, saw a couple of my colleagues here, but the Rice Carpenter Alliance had their community in bloom event. This is such fun work.

They meet there's an intersection where three three districts from the from the three cities and three commissioner districts meet at Maplewood, Saint Paul, and Roseville. And they continue to have great events that really highlight that area and bring really positive activities there. And it was really great event. Lots of community support there and lots of community members that are present there. And in celebration of Mental Health Awareness Month, and through partnerships with Ramsey County, Rice Larpenter, they included a lot of activities there that really helped with that issue.

So just kudos to them. Also, New Brighton had their spring cleanup day. So kudos to the communities for all their great work. I also mentioned that AMC had their legislative update yesterday and just encouraged people to listen to that. It was really interesting to hear all the different topic areas that that reported back on what what happened and didn't happen at the legislative session this year.

And as I said, our legislative team is going to continue to meet. We're starting right up with a debrief of the session and also how we're going to move forward in the coming years. So I'm looking forward to that. I also attended our National Association of Counties Board of Directors meeting, where we talked about our federal policy agenda. You know, so much of what our National Association does is lobby at the federal level for the things that we need, and we really appreciate their work in issues such as SNAP, Medicaid.

And so they were we got updates on that. We talked about membership and the benefits of the National Association to membership. And they have a We Are Counties campaign, so I encourage all of you to go on the website and maybe at one board meeting, can show some of the videos that they're putting about putting out about what counties do because we all know that that we do a lot, and the public doesn't always under understand or, you know, know that. And so we can help get that word out, and they're helping put out a lot of information, with newsletters, videos, and things that really help us all tell our story, and and what we really do, for the community. There was also a lot of focus on on disasters with our fires, floods, and, of course, the there was a lot of similarities with what we've dealt with in our metro surge.

So just learning things such as how community oftentimes wants to move faster than our counties can move and wanna do things. And so it was just interesting to find those similarities in my in my colleagues around the country that as they're dealing with fires, floods, and other disasters with the community wanting work done much faster. It was it was, bringing back all the issues that we have with our communities wanting to move faster and how we really navigate all that. And I think, it was just a great, great learning, experience to share information about about that. And so with that, mister chair, I conclude oh, well, just I know we're all gonna we're gonna talk about this, but Memorial Day is coming up this week, and so just wanna acknowledge all the great, you know, all the great work that all of our our people have done and and and memoriam for them to for the and then celebrating Memorial Day this Monday.

Thank you. Commissioner Singh.

Yes. I just wanna say that, I and, county manager Becker were honored enough to go to the, Ramsey County Law Enforcement and Memorial, ceremony last week, for our Ramsey County Sheriff's Office and our local public safety and police departments, and their families. And just to always remember the folks who have given the ultra ultimate sacrifice in service to the safety of our communities and those public safety and law enforcement officers in our sheriff's department who do that every day and their families who stand behind them. So, it's always a good reminder of that work that's being done every day. Also, May is Mental Health Awareness Month.

Those activities continue. I and my colleague, Commissioner McMurti, were able to tour the Ritz Wellness Center in St. Paul. Truly a community based and community response, meeting people where they're at. And so, we talked earlier about how there is no one size fits all, and being able to realize what we can do as a county, what community can do, and how we can partner in those activities.

I was able to go to the NAMI screening in Minneapolis last night at a packed three fifty plus sold out screening of the film, the documentary, No One Cares About Crazy People. That is a provocative title intentionally. It came from the Twitter exchange between Scott Walker and a colleague in talking about closing a facility with an offhanded comment, Well, nobody cares about crazy people. Well, we know a lot of people who care about people who are living with mental illness, and it was a packed hall last night. And I was honored that it was co hosted by NAMI Minnesota and NAMI Ramsey County.

I will say that as a parent advocate, the advocates individuals living with mental illness and the people who are advocating alongside them as family members are some fierce advocates. And, it was wonderful to see them be able to do this educational piece in community last night. And, also, to bring that home, I had a chance to to touch base with a constituent, an elder Eileen who lives in my district, who has been standing strong by her son through the trauma when his mental illness was not being treated, but also in his recovery and decades of recovery in and out of our different direct care and treatment facilities. And wonderful she reminds us that when somebody in your family has cancer, you send a hot dish. But when somebody has a mental illness, you walk away.

And to make sure that we continue to break that cycle to surround anybody who is having a health crisis in any shape or form. So, I also want to say that while being in community, listening and learning and all of those things and standing with our constituents is important, They send us here to do some systems transformation work. And so, just to say that I am very encouraged by my County Sheriff's Association, by folks who are in county attorneys associations, and also within different county commissioners, all who have been doing work in and around the rule 20s, the forty eight hour rule, some of the priority admissions work, and the direct care and treatment who continue to say, we're not going to just look and admire the problem. What can we be doing to truly meet the moment and the needs of our community? So, that work continues.

It's a big part of what I'm doing when we're not here. I also want to say that I've had a chance, as goes St. Paul goes Ramsey County, as we know in our Building Stronger Together, that making sure that we have a vibrant downtown is truly important. I had the chance to be with some organizations this last week with the Saint Paul Tourism Celebration, the Landmark Center's Annual Meeting, and then the Ordway Circus Soiree. Thanks to a constituent who invited me to go to that.

And I will just say it's wonderful to see that there are ways for people to visit St. Paul for all ages and all different price points and all different ways. And I hope people will enjoy the summer downtown. I was able to enjoy be with colleagues and constituents on the Capitol Lawn on the Driving for Equality Tour in support of the ERA. I cannot believe we are still having this conversation, but now important And as then, just a shout out to all of our Ramsey County outreach staff, whether that's in Parks and Rec or public health or mental health, environmental outreach, all the different things.

I was at the Shoreview Water Safety Day, at Arden Hills Touch a Truck, and at the Rice the Rice Larpenter Alliance Community in Bloom. And, man, are they out there with smiles on engaging with community explaining what it is that the county does every day. So, thank you all for doing that. I just want to say that even though the Rice Larpenter Alliance was at McCarran Park, not my current district, but where right around the corner from where I raised my kids. Could not resist being on my old stomping grounds again. So,

thank you. Ms. Shong.

Ms. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Similar to the collaborative update, county manager Becker, thank you so much for convening the three collaboratives. My biggest takeaway was there's just a lot of shared interest and desire to best serve the needs of the families who are in Ramsey County.

And I'm just so proud of the work that the St. Paul Children's Collaborative has done also. We actually met just before that convening, and we took action to set aside about $50,000 to be able to best serve families' needs in moments of crisis where systems cannot support them. And this is, you know, as a result of operation Metro surge, has just really forced us to be more responsive because the current way of how we are doing things with granting out every two years, You know, we're still trying to meet families' current needs and also know that operation Metro Surge has had those compounded effects on families and children who need the most support. So we established a committee to continue to discuss and review guidelines on how that funding may become available to our current partners.

Thank you.

Thank you. Commissioner McMurtry?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. A couple of things I wanted to highlight. I know that Commissioner Jeppenstein mentioned our visit to Roots Wellness last week, a great opportunity to tour their facility and learn more about not only the services that they offer, but what they hope to do with that specific space, and providing services to folks in the community, specifically around mental health. I also had a chance to speak at the Arbor Month tree planting, Pierce Butler Tree Canopy Improvement Project at Newell Park this past week.

A great collaboration between Ramsey County, the city of St. Paul's Parks and Rec, as well as a number of community organizations, including Human Nature, Frogtown Green, and the Beeline. And it was just an amazing opportunity to get out with community and to showcase the importance of environmental justice. I mean what we're doing here is identifying some of our more climate vulnerable communities and addressing the environmental and honestly, the public health impact of not having the level of tree shade from trees that we know that other neighborhoods in our community has. And so, great to be a part of that event.

Also, this weekend I had a blitz of community events

that were

happening, the Front Avenue Community Crawl, the Rice Larvander Alliance Community in Bloom, the Mighty Midway Festival, and the Falcon Heights Spring Together events. I went to all four on Saturday. So, was And a then yesterday, we had a chance to meet with the Snellengan University Alliance, the working group, as they prepare for the next phase of what this group will become centered around economic development for that corridor. One interesting thing that we learned in that meeting is kind of figuring out as we think through next steps is one of them creating a business improvement district for Snelling Avenue to really spur economic growth around that really key corridor. And so, was great to meet with so many different partners, to hear their perspectives, and to really see momentum growing for the Hamlin Midway neighborhood and how this group can be a part of that.

And then last night, I had a chance to attend the Interfaith Action Annual Assembly with Commissioner Miller to learn more about the just transformational work that Interfaith Action is doing across the community and the different programs that they lead up. And so, really a great evening to celebrate their work. And then, I'll end with this. Is graduation season. And, we have a graduate on this dice. So a huge congratulations to Commissioner Miller for graduating from

the U. I

think folks don't realize that Commissioner Miller on top of having this very full time job and raising a family was going to get her degree which kudos to you, congratulations, you remain an inspiration to all of us on this dais and so just wanted to highlight this big moment for you. So, congrats.

Thank you. I appreciate that.

Well, now she has to continue. You know, when Commissioner Reinhart came on the board, she didn't have a BA either.

Yeah.

And I was teaching at Metro State. She asked me I actually gave her I was at the ceremony, and I gave her her diploma. And she went on to get Well, a

I've got some time, and there will be

a break.

Good to know. There's still plans.

Don't stop. Don't stop.

Right now, I'm stopping.

Take a break. Take a break.

I'm taking this break. I was quite busy, not as busy as you guys were on Saturday because I was at the softball field all day. But last week, we attended the Metropolitan Emergency Services Board, fairly routine board meeting. We did approve a few important items related to emergency communications and regional coordination. One was that the full board accepted the 2025 financial audit.

There was no issues with that. We also approved some updates to armor participation plans for LifeLink three in Sherburne County, so it doesn't really impact us, but impacts the region. And we also approved some funding to support the regional full blood program. I brought this update back when we had our executive committee. Now we just approved it as a full board, so I know that there'll be some full blood in Maplewood, which is great because that's in our East Metro, and then continuing on in Metro. And then amendments related to the school mapping grants and emergency response coordination. We also received some legislation updates. We're excited to hear more after everything passed from them. On Thursday, 05/14, we had the Washington Ramsey County Recycling Finance And Facility Committee. This was really routine as well.

The main item discussed and approved was the proposed 2027 budget recommendations for the R and E Board. The committee, we reviewed the facilities budget, the programs budget, and then the equipment and maintenance and replacement fund, or else EM and R budget, we like to call it. And at this time, there are no major changes from what was previously approved. So, it will pass. But I do want to say one notable update was that the projected tipping fee is going to be updated and is set for $159 per ton, and that is what our partners pay when they bring the trash to the facility.

So it all kind of comes down to us some way. And then, we also, you know, really received a facilities update and continued our conversations around long term planning and maintenance and then also operations at recycling and energy center. We have an old facility and we want to make sure and they do a great job of keeping it up in tip top shape. And then on Thursday that same day, also had the opportunity to present on food insecurity in Ramsey County's work that we're doing with food security at the White Bear Lake Area Food Shelf, their volunteer recognition program. So, it really was a great opportunity to, you know, let community members know our role and how the county is connected into that work.

And then I want to thank and recognize Al Lewiston for his incredible twenty five years of service at volunteering at the White Bear Lake Food Shelf. He's 87 years old and now finally retiring from volunteering there. So I just want to say, you know, volunteers like him, their their commitment to serving others is really truly amazing. Last night, I was at Interfaith Action's annual assembly. This is a place where I used to work prior previously. So it's know, deep holds a special place in my heart, but grateful for the work that they continue to do. And with that,

I am done. Thank you. Yeah. Mr.

Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, I don't know if I mentioned this or not. I've been away at a couple of conference, But I just want to elevate the grand opening of our new Ramsey County Government Center where we had our grand opening which was previously called Metro Square And I just think Ramsey County Government Center identifies what is happening in that building now.

But the space, transformational space, right, the project came together very well and it was encouraging to see the investment in creating a more welcoming and functional environment for residents that come for support and help, but also for the staff. So for those who do not know, the Ramsey County Government Center is located at 121 East 7th Place East. So if you need some support, please come there. It is a beautiful, warm, welcoming space really shows individuals when they come into that space that we are here to help you, we respect you, and you are valued. And I think that is important when people are showing up in their worst moment in lives to have a place that feels like it's gonna help to enhance their life.

So very happy to see that space. Really beautiful space. Good job, Ramsey County.

Me just echo that my brother went there because in '90, he was trying to get some paperwork done for my 97 year old mom. And he was impressed. And he's a hard guy to impress. But to your point, he just felt it was very warming and way different from what he's used to because he sort of does all the heavy lifting with my mom in terms of the medical and all of that. So, you're absolutely right.

Yeah. Feel good, looks good. On May 7 through May 11, I attended the National Organization of Black County Officials Economic Development Conference called NOTCo. The conference provided important discussions and collaborations around opportunities around economic development, workforce innovation, and county level solution that supports strong and resilient communities. And there is still a need for organizations like this, right?

And I can say that from being like one of three African Americans who is a county commissioner, where we have four forty seven county commissioners. And things are impacting our lives and our communities are sometimes this needs to be elevated and talked about in a different way, in a different perspective that we can bring it into these conversations and spaces. So but it was just really good to be at a a national organization to hear, you know, really some common themes that is happening no matter where you are that is happening. You know, I know we have a government that wants to be color blind and don't wanna see color, but what is happening in the South is horrendous and what they are doing at this moment around elections. And, I mean, there are some Southern states that may have one or two black elected official, and they don't even want to see that one black, you know.

So for the supreme court to bring forth a ruling that says that you cannot create a space where you are being more inclusive of diverse communities, but you can gerrymander and have just a white

plan.

Is just mind blowing. Yeah. It's that we are seeing ourselves back in the struggles from the sixties. Yeah. Well, representation did not matter. And representation does matter. It absolutely matters. We are seeing it playing out in big numbers. I love the fact that we are nonpartisan, but this is life. This is real life. This is not about politics. This is about life and representation and being able to have an opportunity to be considered. It's like, how about just be equal? Not if anything special. Just to be equal and seen and to be seen that way.

But anyway, what's happening in the South is just horrendous. You know, we are definitely back into this whole fight over again around your voice and your vote. What they are going do next? Take away the vote from from from women and say that women don't matter no more? You know?

I won't go on anymore about that because I could. On May 14, my office was able to attend the foundation dedication ceremony at McAllister College for the college's new resident hall and welcome center project. The event highlighted McAllister continued investment in sustainability, student housing, and community center campus improvement, including the innovative geothermal energy system with my office has been supporting. It was great to see that they were able to get some support for that college long term decarbonization goals. So kudos to McAllister College and the work that is leading and moving us forward.

Just yesterday I was able to attend a lunch and learn hosted by the YWCA St. Paul that focused on their new velocity program. The session provided insight into how the program is working to support individual through more technology. And so they'll bring some twenty first century technology into that space where you know, you can, for so many individuals who cannot afford to do something as simple as take a driver test because it costs, there's a cost associated with that, they are providing this service free, where they are going to have an actual simulator there where you can sit and take the test and prepare for that. Just some awesome forward thinking work happening under the leadership of Ashley Booker who is the executive director of the YWCA.

I was able to learn more about the organization vision and the community impact and they are just really looking for partners in the work that they do. I think that's going to be really important as we move forward into 2027 and the lack of support that is going to be coming down from the federal government that is going to impact the state and the county government, that we are going to really have to look at how we do our work and be very innovative and creative for what that looks like with other partners, whether that is our state partners or community based organization partners, the philanthropic community, the business sector, it's going to be like an all hands on deck and we all need to be trying to figure out how we are going to do what we need to do with less funds and higher demands because there will be higher demands. And so I didn't want to speak of this but I feel like I just have to while I have this moment to talk about our legislative work. AMC and Ramsey County did some really good work advocating for the things that we need to move our county and our state forward.

It was unfortunate we were not able to get the support that we asked for around Park At River's Edge. But, you know, there is only a limited amount of dollars. There is a high demand that is coming from everywhere. And I think it is really time for us to just sit back and reflect and think about how we prepare and go into '27 and do the work that we need to do. Around the African American Family Preservation Act, AMC Ramsey County did some awesome work to really do some acts.

And I think we pretty much got much of what we asked to happen. The one thing that did not happen at the legislature that was asked was to move the case reviews from the counties to the state. Let me just say this, no one gets everything they want, that they want. But I think this is also an opportunity for the counties to do these case reviews and reflect on what worked, what didn't work, how can we better support the family. I would not want to see AMC say that case reviews don't matter and we are not going to do it.

Because there is a group of families and community members who have been hurt by the child welfare system. There have been families who have been removed, kids who have endured trauma, and families who have endured trauma disproportionately. What this law does is says for those individuals with disproportionality they have been put into a system disproportionately, we need to figure out a new system and do some active efforts and work with the parents, work with the relatives, work with the families to create better outcomes. And maybe we can look at a system through a lens of prevention also so we can stop the harm. There is some work that we can do here.

But counties need to do a self reflection on themselves across the state in the number of African American families who have been disproportionately pulled into a child welfare system, and the trauma that has been endured because of that. We do not take this lightly. And so my hope is that we have to reimagine the system too. We have to reimagine what that looks like. We need more resource centers.

And there are the philanthropic community right now that is investing in counties to give them dollars to create some resource centers across the state. We know that 87 counties do business 87 different ways and there is no one fix for all. So this is an opportunity for counties to reflect on what they need to be doing and how they need to do their work to ensure that we are putting our best active efforts forward. We got the dollars that we requested. Dollars are not unlimited.

And so we have to make the best of what we have with the dollars that has been given based on the formula that is currently being used at the legislature of the child welfare system. I wanted to express that because I am hearing some rumblings about the case reviews piece. The fact is we need to do the case reviews. They need to be done. So I look forward to working with AMC further.

There is a lot of work groups that has been going on for the last two years, and people, individuals, families, and those who have been impacted, county workers are invested in this and have been very invested in this, and the work continues on as we move forward. So, I would end with that and that is it for me.

Thank you, Commissioner. I just wanted to make a comment. Minister of Landmark Annual Meeting was very well attended. It's usually community members and donors who are very supportive of Landmark. There will be a luncheon for the board of Directors of Landmark and the Board of Commissioners to come together and sort of do an annual review.

Moving forward for today, right after this meeting, we'll have the Regional Railroad Authority. We will pause just for a minute or two because we're doing some technical phasing in of a new system. And then, right after the regional rail meeting, we have a closed meeting chaired by myself on the Benjamin Hill versus Thomas Rudnick. And then at 01:30, commissioner McMaltry will do a will chair the workshop on the Association of Minnesota Counties update.

Alright?

We are adjourned.