ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10, where 1 is of no concern, Contra Costa County Supervisor Shanelle Scales-Preston ranks herself as a “10” when it comes to the expected federal funding cuts to social services.
“One of the programs that’s being threatened is Medi-Cal, which is what we call Medicaid here in California,” Scales-Preston said. “It is a huge deal. That’s our health care! It’s something we are all worried about.”
Other programs in danger include Head Start, Meals on Wheels, White Pony Express, and others that provide support to the most vulnerable, Scales-Preston said. White Pony Express, based in Concord, recovers food from grocers, farmers markets, restaurants and wholesale vendors, and relays it to 98 nonprofit service providers.
“We, as the Contra County Board of Supervisors, are looked at as the social safety net. It makes it harder on us to make sure that all of these services will be in place and not impacted,” she said.
Scales-Preston is one of five government panelists who will appear at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 3 at the Walnut Creek Library. It’s a panel discussion, and is sponsored by the League of Women Voters, Diablo Valley. The free event in the Oak Room is open to the public; advance reservation is required. The League of Women Voters advertises that “Local officials … will discuss DOGE and the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’s’ impact on local health, education, and social services.”
Other officials at the event will be Walnut Creek Mayor Pro Tem Kevin Wilk, Concord Mayor Carlyn Obringer, Antioch Mayor Pro Tem Louie Rocha, and County Superintendent of Schools Lynn Mackey.
Many share apprehension.
All of the programs Scales-Preston mentioned have reached out to her, expressing distress. Hospitals have too.
“They all have great concerns about what’s coming down the line,” she said.
Walnut Creek buffered, nonprofits worried
The impression that Wilk gives is slightly different. It is likely that Walnut Creek isn’t going to suffer greatly because, as a sales-tax “rich” city, it is more dependent on consumer spending than on federal financial support, Wilk said.
Still, Wilk said that local programs serving the homeless, like Trinity Center, which receives up to 25% of federal funding, are worried.
“I was just with our Congressman Mark DeSaulnier at the Trinity Center,” he said. “This is difficult. There is no good news. He’s going to try to mitigate the bad news and hope to reduce the impact that these nonprofits will feel. Unfortunately, the money that is being cut back in those areas are often going to federal enforcement, or ICE as we know them.”
While panels with other officials are a huge help in coming together to solve problems and reach goals, Wilk feels that these discussions also serve another purpose.
“I really do think it’s to inform. I don’t think people here know enough. … They hear about the cuts, they see ICE, they see people being deported, they’ve heard that there are budget cuts that are going to impact these different groups, but they don’t see what that means.”
He attributes this to an unfortunate decline in local media, but believes that these panels are a big help in getting the public to truly know what is going on.
At the moment, the county is waiting on a final budget from the federal government. Scales-Preston isn’t sure how the cities will actually fill the cuts. And, she is especially worried about what these cuts might do to Contra Costa’s undocumented community.
“They are looking at making cuts there, where our undocumented community will be unable to receive any type of health care benefits. … People shouldn’t be afraid to take people to school, they shouldn’t be afraid to go to a doctor, go to a grocery store, go to work, to live their life normally,” Scales-Preston said.
So far about 50 people have RSVP’d to the event, said Janey Hoy, civic engagement chair with the League of Women Voters, Diablo Valley.
And what can the average person do in the face of threatened social programs?
“If you’re passionate about an issue, there is no better time than now to become involved with that issue and make your voice heard,” Wilk said.
Caroline Donahoe is a 12th grader at Northgate High School in Walnut Creek. This story was made possible by support from the Lesher Foundation, its Newsmakers speaker series, and the Bay City News Foundation. Stories are produced independently by the CCYJ news team.
This story originally appeared in CCSpin.