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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-013-01/19/2021-DESIGNATING MAYOR WADE TROXELL TO REPRESENT THE CITY ON THE COLORADO ATTORNEY GENERAL'S LOCAL GOVERN RESOLUTION 2021-013 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS DESIGNATING MAYOR WADE TROXELL TO REPRESENT THE CITY ON THE COLORADO ATTORNEY GENERAL'S LOCAL GOVERNMENT OPIOID SETTLEMENT FUNDS STAKEHOLDER WORKING GROUP WHEREAS, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS"), in the late 1990's,pharmaceutical companies reassured the medical community that patients would not become addicted to opioid pain relievers and healthcare providers began to prescribe them at greater rates; and WHEREAS, this led to increased prescription of opioid medications, and then to widespread misuse of both prescription and non-prescription opioids, before it became clear that these medications were in many instances highly addictive; and WHEREAS, in 2017, HHS declared this opioid crisis a public health emergency, and the Centers for Disease Control announced that life expectancy in the United States had declined in the prior several years, due to the increase in drug overdose deaths; and WHEREAS, opioid addiction is understood to cause many negative consequences for individuals, families and communities, including significant detrimental impacts to health and human services,child welfare,criminal justice systems and other support systems,as well as local and state governments that provide them; and WHEREAS,widespread and increasing prescription of opioids,which tracked the increase over time of opioid-related deaths,enriched the manufacturers,distributors and retailers of opioids ("Opioid Defendants"); and WHEREAS, lawsuits filed by several hundred counties across the United States along with a handful of states based on the marketing conduct,distribution conduct and regulatory violations of these Opioid Defendants are being managed together as part of a nationwide "multi-district litigation"or"MDL"that began in 2018; and WHEREAS, as of September 2020, over 2,600 county and city governments had filed suit against 28 Opioid Defendants, including manufacturers, distributors and pharmacy chains, many states had filed cases and all states were in some form of organized negotiations with the Opioid Defendants; and WHEREAS, over the past decade, Colorado has lost over 5,000 Coloradans to opioid overdose deaths and another 2,000 to heroin and fentanyl overdoses; and WHEREAS, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser has, on behalf of the people of Colorado, sued Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family, and is currently engaged in a range of settlement conversations with other companies, in an effort to recover needed funds for Colorado to support prevention and education efforts, drug treatment and recovery programs; and -l- WHEREAS, although the details of these settlements are still being worked out, a fundamental tenet of the settlement plan under discussion would result in Colorado receiving twice the amount of settlement dollars if the state and local governments can agree to a single plan for distribution and use of the settlement funds; and WHEREAS, in an effort to develop a consensus plan and obtain local government agreement on it, AG Weiser has been working for many months to engage with and work toward a framework for settlement agreeable to local governments across the board; and WHEREAS, under the expected settlement framework, in addition to the distribution of funds directly to local governments based on an allocation formula,funds will be allocated to state infrastructure and partnership initiatives and the majority of the funds will likely be directed to abatement efforts planned and managed at the regional level; and WHEREAS, a coalition of Colorado Counties, Inc., Colorado Municipal League and representatives of many counties and municipalities (the "Coalition") has collaborated to propose a regional map and general approach for consideration; and WHEREAS, building on his conceptual framework and the proposal of the Coalition, AG Weiser has convened a stakeholder working group to continue to develop a consensus plan for eventual presentation to Colorado local governments for approval; and WHEREAS, Mayor Troxell has been invited to participate as a member of the Attorney General's Opioid Settlement Funds State/Local Government Small Working Group ("Opioids Working Group"); and WHEREAS,the efforts of the Opioids Working Group are expected to take place primarily over the next few months, with the goal of developing a proposed framework for allocation, use, governance and oversight structure for the opioid settlement funds ("Opioid Settlement Framework") to be presented to Colorado local governments for timely approval; and WHEREAS, Section 2-570 of City Code allows City Council to appoint, in its discretion, any number of its own members to serve as City representatives to, or members of the boards of directors of, other governmental or private agencies; and WHEREAS, Mayor Troxell is interested in serving in this capacity and the Council desires to designate him to represent the City in that role. NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF FORT COLLINS that the City Council hereby designates Mayor Wade Troxell as the City's representative on the Opioids Working Group formed by AG Phil Weiser. -2- Passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Council of the City of Fort Collins this 19th day of January, A.D. 2021. C: or ATTEST: FORT, 0 City C SE0 -3.