By: Dean Vaglia | Mount Clemens-Clinton-Harrison Journal | Published August 3, 2023
MOUNT CLEMENS — The Mount Clemens City Commission took a step towards reducing substance abuse problems in the city by allocating its 2023 opioid settlement funds to the Families Against Narcotics HARM:LESS program.
The program is intended to help homeless drug users by providing them with sterile use supplies and syringes, naloxone to reverse opioid overdoses and basic medical services including testing for hepatitis C and HIV. It will also provide people with medication-assisted treatment and transportation to treatment facilities. The program receives medical support from McLaren Health.
“We have really been able to help with the homeless population and to get them housed, to deal with food insecurities and then, hopefully, get them on the road to recovery,” said Linda Davis, a former judge and the founder of FAN. “It is a program that takes some time to build trust with that community, so I don’t want you to think overnight things will get resolved in the city of Mount Clemens.”
Nearly $17,370 will go to help the HARM:LESS program operate in the city. Already running an established HARM:LESS program on the east side of Detroit, FAN reaches out to housing authorities once trusted by homeless communities with the aim of getting them into residences and ultimately off any controlled substances they are using.
“People are not going to stop using drugs when they’re homeless and hungry, and so we need to deal with basic needs before we can deal with those other things, and that’s what this program intends to do,” Davis said.
Davis says FAN will begin by bringing HARM:LESS street services to Mount Clemens for half a day once a week.
Budget amendments
City services used less money than budgeted in 2023, requiring the city commission to approve an updated budget.
“The general fund was estimated to spend $1,169,670 from the fund balance, with expenditures exceeding revenues when the fiscal year 2023 budget was established,” City Manager Gregg Shipman said. “After 12 months of activities and review of this budget, approximately $974,233 surplus is now projected to be available in the general fund, primarily due to recognition of CARES Act money in the general fund used to offset payments for Macomb County Sheriff services as previously approved.”
City commissioners can also expect monthly budget reports and quarterly amendments, as needed, going forward.
Michigan CLASS
Commissioners also approved bringing Mount Clemens into the Michigan Cooperative Liquid Assets Securities System investment pool. The pool has been operating since 1991, has over 700 local government participants and holds an “AAAm” rating by S&P Global Ratings.
“Funds of the participants are invested in prime or high-grade, short-term, fixed-income instruments selected with the goal of providing program safety, liquidity and competitive rates of return as further defined by the board’s investment policy,” Shipman said.
Mount Clemens will join the CLASS pool for short-term investments.