LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Mayor Craig Greenberg appointed nine members to a new board that will guide how to spend the bulk of Louisville's $57 million in opioid settlement funds.
Greenberg announced the formation of the board in July, when he outlined spending of the first tranche of money from companies that include opioid manufacturers, distributors and retailers.
He named Connie Mendel, Metro government's interim chief health strategist, as board chair and interim medical director Dr. Inder Singal as co-chair. The Metro Council, which ultimately has the final say on the panel's recommendations, is represented by Philip Baker, D-6th District.
Other members include Nicole George, a deputy mayor; Dr. Maryia Leyderman, executive administrator-chief psychologist at the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections; Lee Zimmerman, CEO of KidzClub; Adria Johnson, president and CEO of Metro United Way; Mariana Barzun, executive director of Greenberg's philanthropy office; and Barry Allen, president the Gheens Foundation.
The Opioid Settlement Distribution Advisory Board is required to meet at least twice a year. It's charged with creating priorities, goals and plans for spending the money and reviewing grant applications.
The payments, which began in 2022, will be received for 18 years, according to a press release.
The first amount the city has received — $7.2 million — covers the first two years. Greenberg previously proposed giving $1.57 million to organizations working in the city's western neighborhoods and with the homeless, as well as to the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness to bring the overdose-reversing drug naloxone to areas most affected by the opioid epidemic.
He also pushed for the health department to get more than $256,000 to analyze how the settlement funds are used. The Metro Council approved that spending plan in August.
The newly created advisory board is expected to seek proposals for the rest of the $5.4 million in initial funds in October.
“We all must acknowledge that addressing the opioid crisis is a complex and multifaceted challenge,” Greenberg said in a statement. “Our Opioid Settlement Distribution Advisory Board will play a pivotal role in distributing funds to organizations and programs that can help individuals and communities recover and heal.”
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