Opioid Settlement Funds | Eastern North Carolina Now

Opioid Settlement Funds

BY: HOOD RICHARDSON

This is about behind the scenes, or what some of those puzzling things really mean, that happen in public meetings. Watching any government board meeting can be confusing unless you happen to have a lot of experience with these kinds of meetings. Some boards deliberately keep the observer in the dark by following the agenda by item number or page number. I have seen board chairmen call out item numbers or page numbers, proceed to make changes in the item and vote without ever describing to the public what is really going on. I disapprove of this kind of behavior because those board members know they are deceiving the public. That is why I regularly vote against the “Consent Agenda”. Most of the time board members do not adequately know what they are voting for or against in consent agendas. Many times, they vote for items that if exposed to public view and explanation they would never vote for. Sometimes the staff will surprise you by telling you what you really voted for.

Consent agendas and failure to publicly explain what is really going on, many times, put the bureaucrats (hired help) in charge. Most hired help are delighted with this situation. They have less work to do, and they can manipulate the situation to set policy. The great majority of our employees are not this way. However, those who do manipulate stick out like sore thumbs.

A situation at the September 8, 2025, Board meeting involves the use of Opioid settlement funds. A simplified explanation of opioid settlement funds is that governments sued the manufacturers of these addictive substances for damages. The settlement, nationwide, involved the payment of billions of dollars to governments. The money is basically being divided according to population. Beaufort County joined the class action suit for damages, and we will get more than $300,000 each year for several more years. The settlement requires that we use the money to combat drug addiction.

Combating drug addiction is a broad category. It goes all the way from hiring people to talk about drug use to building rehab hospitals. The use of our money has to be approved by the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners. Locally our enlightened people, never mind who, decided to hire people to talk to people and provide counseling. A 365,000-dollar budget came before commissioners for approval at the June meeting. Our District 2 Court system runs a program that is approved by the legislature called “Recovery Court”. This allows people to opt to lead drug-free lives rather than going to jail. The cost of this court is funded partially by the State and other private grants. Beaufort County donates $10,000 each year. The Court could handle more cases if they had more money. District Court Judge Regina Parker, who runs our Recovery Court, asked for additional funds during our budget process this year. Commissioners did not give her an increase.

I made a motion that we reduce the proposed $365,000 budget by $20,000 and give the money to the Recovery Court. This passed unanimously. Commissioner Booth then made a motion to approve the remaining $345,000 as the requested budget amount. This passed unanimously.

Along comes the “hired help” at the July meeting telling me that the budgeted amount had not been changed because some group of unelected volunteers had the final authority. Both the County Manager and the Director of Finance adamantly insisted this money is not controlled by the Commissioners. Let’s see, the Commissioners brought the lawsuit, the Commissioners were awarded the money, the Commissioners decide how it is spent. So, what does the unelected committee of volunteers and the “hired help” have to do with this situation? Answer, most of the unelected committee are helping to spend the money. Why are the County Manager and the Director of Finance taking this so seriously? Answer, their policy making authority has been challenged. Conclusion, the commissioners make policy not the “hired help”.

I read the June minutes with the unanimously approved motions several times during the meeting. These facts seemed to upset the Manager and Finance Director. The Gang of Four became so upset that Fake Frankie Waters called a recess. Upon their return to the room The Gang of Four advised staff to bring the issue back at the October Commissioners’ meeting.

This situation focuses on why Beaufort County Government has grown over the past ten years and why you, the taxpayer, cannot have a reduction in taxes, why there is no supervision of tax money being used for education, why government expenses keep going up, and why we are not aggressive in going after fraud in local governments in which we have county dollars. When these issues are presented, this unelected staff, (the manager and finance director) make the arguments (against). Then the Gang of Four vote with the staff. The Gang of Four (Fake Frankie Waters, Randy Walker, Ed Booth and Jerry Langley) have turned over county government to a few individuals, with the Gang of Four rubber stamping whatever they are told to do. The County Commissioners only have one short meeting every month because we have less and less to do. It was not that way before the Gang of Four was invented. The same practices are going on in the school system. The majority of the Beaufort County School Board members think they work for the unelected Superintendent.