At next week’s council meeting, the council will discuss how to deploy over $4 million in ARPA funds (federal COVID relief funds).
A staff report outlines recommendations on how to spend all of it. Notably absent: any assistance for struggling Moraga businesses. The absence of any business assistance – which virtually every neighboring jurisdiction is providing to its businesses, either through direct financial support or paid-for consulting assistance - is unsurprising given the Town’s prior, feeble attempt at business assistance. That endeavor was so poorly designed that it actually was undersubscribed. So much so that the town actually clawed back the allocated funding in favor of building a trellis outside the council chambers.
We expect residents, businesses and business groups will be vocal about the glaring omission. As they should be.