Clovis creates emergency fund after SNAP crisis. ‘We need a rapid response’
Clovis has created an emergency fund to address future crises following the wave of food insecurity experienced by the city’s needy families during the federal shutdown.
The $20,000 funding allocation, which the City Council passed this week, was proposed by Councilmember Lynne Ashbeck earlier this month to gird the city for future emergencies. The idea came during the federal shutdown, in which thousands of families temporarily lost their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
“I think we can’t sit back and act like it’s okay that people don’t have enough to eat,” Ashbeck said at a Nov. 3 meeting. “Politics aside, whether you think SNAP is good, bad, or indifferent, it’s a reality for these folks that they don’t have food.”
Though the amount is modest, the new emergency fund marks the first time that Clovis has set aside money for charity purposes. For years, Clovis officials largely believed that charity groups and nonprofit are able to do a better job than the government in helping people in times of need.
The council plans to set up guardrails for the actual spending of this fund. The city is working on develop a longer term plan on emergency funds in the next budget process, according to the city manager.
“We’ve never given money to anyone like this effort. We barely bought a table at the Chamber of Commerce breakfast. So it’s kind of a new territory,” Ashbeck said at a Monday meeting. “We need a rapid response, and people can’t go hungry. So I think we need to craft a little bit of a framework around it.”
About 248,000 Fresno County residents rely on SNAP benefits, a quarter of the county’s total population.
In Clovis, the senior center has long partnered with a regional agency to provide free meals for adults over the age of 60 from Monday through Friday. When the federal government shut down, city officials were concerned that seniors would struggle to obtain food over the weekend, according to a Clovis staff report.
“Once this was realized, our staff sprang into action, and by the next weekend, we provided meals to seniors for weekends,” Andrew Haussler, Clovis’s city manager, presented to the council on Monday. “Through a generous donation, volunteers and some city funds of about $2,500, we provided about 250 food kits over two weekends, and also provided a meal on Veterans Day.”
The initial $2,500 funding was made available through the City Council’s unspent travel budget, according to Haussler.
With the limited resources the city could offer, Clovis residents stepped up to help their neighbors. Some set up free food pantries for anyone in need or organized hot meals giveaways.
The proposed $20,000 for future emergencies comes from the council’s unspent budget, according to Haussler.
“Last year, during the budget process, I requested some money to potentially hire some staff to help us, consultants, etc., with legislative outreach,” Haussler told the council. “We’ve been able to do with internal staff and leadership from this council on those issues, so we have not spent that money, and I don’t plan to.”
Some Clovis residents were in favor of the plan.
“I don’t know your finances, but I know the mayor of Fresno gave $250,000 to the food bank,” said Steve Trevino, a Clovis resident, at the public comment. “We’re the second largest city in Fresno County, , and here we are, we don’t have money to give to the federal food bank.”
Jeni-Ann Kren, a Clovis resident, said having a capacity for contingency is a good idea.
“We step up when we need to do so, we don’t know there may be another problem that comes up at some point in the future. Maybe food, maybe emergency shelters, an apartment building burns down, or something like that. There may be some things where we do want to be able to reach up,” Kren said.
The council passed the proposal but decided to discuss further guardrails for the future use of the funds.
“I only worry that it starts putting a broad paint brush on a small pot of money, which is $20,000 now, it can be used for anything else, as opposed to what it was specifically set aside for in the first place,” said Councilmember Matt Basgall. “I don’t disagree with what you’re saying, I just think that if we make it too broad, then it gives us too much leeway to do what we want with it, as opposed to what this intent is for.”
