Opioid settlement fund use

A recovery-network director said his 3,000 monthly statewide calls are for treatment, not warming shelters, and called spending $900,000 of settlement money on a six-month shelter an egregious waste given last year's city-run operation.

Read a statement from Ryland Najim, who lost his mother and brother to addiction, arguing settlement dollars must stay dedicated to treatment and recovery services rather than backfilling a shelter budget gap.

The Maine Recovery Action Project director supported a nightly warming center but urged the council to find alternative funding, minimize any settlement spending, and plan for people excluded from the HSC.

A West End resident contrasted the $900,000 with recovery-housing subsidies — $2,000 can house someone for two months — and urged funding permanent recovery infrastructure instead.

Said the city should fund warming shelters in its $360 million budget if it's a priority, and accused the council of repeatedly raiding finite settlement money meant for people harmed by the opioid crisis.