{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"KZYX News","title":"Latino groups want equitable distribution of one-time funds","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":388,"description":"May 3, 2022 — The Board of Supervisors is holding a budget workshop today in preparation for budget hearings on June 7th and 8th. At the hearings, community organizations will have an opportunity to make a case for why they should receive a portion of a $16.8 million award from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), intended to alleviate the long-term impacts of the pandemic. Though the United States Treasury Department urged local governments that received the funds to engage the public in deciding how to allocate them, public outreach has been minimal so far. \r\nAnd although the deadline for allocating the money is a year and a half away, organizations providing direct services to those who’ve been hardest hit may have only a few leftovers after the budget hearings, according to Interim CEO Darcie Antle, who spoke to KZYX on April 27. “Currently, we’re under the Board’s direction to look internally first,” she said. “And then when the Board considers the 22-23 budget, if there’s funds available and left over, depending on how they want to spend this ARPA money, there could be opportunities. And I know obviously one of their priorities is public safety, which includes fire.”\r\nClose to five million dollars of the award has already been obligated, some of it to the Community Foundation and North Coast Opportunities, which used it to provide food and childcare during the pandemic.* A little over $60,000 went to upgrade the audio and telecom systems in the Board of Supervisors chambers to allow for more accessible hybrid meetings.\r\nBut another $266,000 was spent on remodeling the chambers, plus $40,000 for an automatic door system,and $35,000 is slated for the purchase of seven metal detectors. \r\nEduardo Garcia is the senior policy manager at the San Francisco-based Latino Community Foundation, a statewide organization that advocates for the civic and economic power of Latinos, many of whom continue to be disproportionately affected by the fallout of the...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/xZpAumwbhFUpJUYcwaQ1-q6snzOyqAm13l7cW6AWPCM/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mMzkz/NjAwNjc2OWMyZmFk/YWY2YTdmYjI5M2Mz/YWMxNy5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}