Commissioners clarify food pantry ordering process after precinct complains of shorted allocations

Commissioner Dalla Montez raised multiple complaints that her precinct’s commodity order arrived short of expected quantities. She said she had asked for the ability to make limited changes to items (not quantity) and sought a template or advance notice to avoid shortfalls.

Maribel, the commodities manager, and county staff explained the ordering process, deadlines and warehouse constraints. Maribel said she had been providing a blank order form to commissioners for input, and commissioners debated whether the process should remain decentralized or be moved under the judge’s office to ensure uniformity and transparency.

After extended discussion, the court reached a working resolution: commodities staff will continue placing orders and will provide each commissioner an order template showing quantities and budget parameters in advance; commissioners may request limited changes in a timely manner (a day or two before submission). Staff also committed to clearer pickup dates and better advance communications. Commissioners discussed moving the program to the judge’s office as an option but agreed to try improved procedures first.

No formal vote to reassign the department was recorded; the court asked staff to implement the clarified process and report back if problems persist.