Reno County residents may voice their ideas about American Rescue Plan dollars at listening sessions

03 Sep Reno County residents may voice their ideas about American Rescue Plan dollars at listening sessions

A bold effort to conduct up to 60 community listening sessions across Reno County aimed at harnessing the wisdom of residents is now underway.

The public is invited to convene a meeting as part of the Reno County Resident Engagement campaign, an effort aimed at capturing input from roughly 1 percent of the county population about how the approximately $17-plus million destined for Reno County from the American Rescue Plan Act should be invested. The task force behind the initiative hopes to wrap up meetings by Sept. 30.

Meetings are being convened by residents throughout the month and will be posted as they are scheduled at rallyreno.org/meeting-schedule. Individuals interested in convening a meeting of eight to 20 of their friends, neighbors, peers, church groups, colleagues or community partners may do so by filling out the American Rescue Plan Meeting Form at rallyreno.org/convene-a-meeting.

The bill, signed into law March 11, provides $350 billion for state, local, territorial and tribal governments to accomplish four main objectives:

• Support COVID-19 response efforts to bring the virus under control
• Replace lost public sector revenue
• Support immediate economic stabilization for households and businesses
• Address systemic public health and economic challenges that have contributed to the inequal impact of the pandemic

U.S. Treasury guidelines urge local governments to engage communities in developing plans for the funds, so a task force of representatives from organizations serving Reno County, along with city and county leaders, began in May to develop a process that reaches as many residents as possible. Organizations represented on the task force are Hutchinson Community Foundation, Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce, Hutch Rec, StartUp Hutch, United Way of Reno County, Hutchinson NAACP, Young Professionals of Reno County and Leadership Reno County.

“This Reno County/Hutchinson ARPA process is in keeping with the U.S. Treasury’s intent of these ARPA funds,” said Calvin Wright, Hutchinson NAACP president and a task force member. “The inclusion of our communities of color and diversity creates a unique opportunity for communities that are typically excluded.”

Participants of the facilitated 90-minute discussions will examine the challenges and inequities families have faced during the pandemic then offer their ideas for how money may be allocated in accordance with the U.S. Treasury’s broadly defined spending areas:

• Equity-focused services
• Broadband infrastructure
• Support pay for essential workers
• Addressing negative economic impacts
• Water and sewer infrastructure
• Replacing public sector revenue loss
• Supporting public health response efforts

Data from the meetings will be synthesized into a report this fall for governing bodies to consider as they make their final spending decisions.

“We don’t see large infusions of cash into our communities like this very often, and the task force wanted to help seize this chance to engage residents in an inclusive, transparent process,” said Aubrey Abbott Patterson, Hutchinson Community Foundation president and CEO and a task force representative. “So hopefully, whatever investments our elected officials ultimately decide to make, we can all feel confident that we’ve heard from the people and that we’re positioning our community for a more equitable and resilient future.”