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Posted on Thu, Jan. 22, 2004
Nation's Mayors Say Security Funds Lacking
HOPE YEN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The nation's mayors called Thursday for more federal funding to improve homeland security, saying their own budget shortfalls don't allow them to spend all that's needed.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors released a survey of 215 cities that found 76 percent have yet to receive any of the $1.5 billion in federal homeland security funds designated for "first responder" teams such as police and fire departments.
"As leaders of cities which must be prepared to move at any time to higher terrorism threat levels - just as we did one month ago - this is completely unacceptable," said James A. Garner, conference president and mayor of Hempstead, N.Y.
The study, released at the mayors' winter meeting, also found 59 percent of cities said they lacked adequate opportunities to influence how the states, which receive the federal funds, distribute the money to cities.
In addition, 41 percent said their city government or health departments were shut out of state planning for emergency health preparedness, while 46 percent said they had not been reimbursed for law enforcement costs associated with ramped-up airport security.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., told the conference that Congress and President Bush are committed to giving cities adequate funding for homeland security, but said state governments must have a role in determining how that money is distributed.
Mayors have argued that federal funds for emergency response teams have been unduly delayed by state bureaucracy and should be allocated directly to the cities.
"You are not only the front line of defense and prevention, but you are the front line of response," Frist said. "We all know that. With appropriate feedback, we can act. (But) it has to include the governors."
David Wallace, mayor of Sugar Land, Texas, said the funding delays have unnecessarily put cities at risk.
"This analysis clearly shows that cities of all sizes - small, medium and large - are not getting the money they need to prepare their first responders and protect residents," he said. "No city should be underfunded or underprotected."
Dr. Julie Louise Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also spoke to the conference and pledged greater efforts to disease prevention at the local level.
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta told mayors that his department was working to improve traffic flow in the nation's skies and on local roads, which he said was key to keeping the economy thriving.
"Now is the time to begin rethinking how we move people, how we transport goods and products and how we run our airports, because change is coming," he said. "We are doing some of that thinking in Washington D.C., but the key to relieving congestion will be the planning that all of you do."
The 215 cities surveyed were from all 50 states and Puerto Rico. They ranged in size from Lincolnwood, Ill., - population of 12,359 - to New York City.
ON THE NET
U.S. Conference of Mayors: http://www.usmayors.org
Are we at our risk, readers ? Do you believe this is goin' to happen in your city or town ? I put a post somewhere in AllDeaf.com about the United States is a way, way overboardin'. It's gettin' out of control in this now days. There'll be a food shortage, because of diseases like MAD COW and other illnesses. There'll be a vaccine shortage and so on. How are we goin' to get help when all those things are goin' to happen in the near future ? The only problem is that our Government is in deep debts... still owin' over 1.4 trillion dollars. Can you imagine that ? *SMH* Is our country goin' to be a "poverty" ? It's goin' to be very interestin' to watch how the world changes. I wouldn't be surprised if, all that happens.
Nation's Mayors Say Security Funds Lacking
HOPE YEN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The nation's mayors called Thursday for more federal funding to improve homeland security, saying their own budget shortfalls don't allow them to spend all that's needed.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors released a survey of 215 cities that found 76 percent have yet to receive any of the $1.5 billion in federal homeland security funds designated for "first responder" teams such as police and fire departments.
"As leaders of cities which must be prepared to move at any time to higher terrorism threat levels - just as we did one month ago - this is completely unacceptable," said James A. Garner, conference president and mayor of Hempstead, N.Y.
The study, released at the mayors' winter meeting, also found 59 percent of cities said they lacked adequate opportunities to influence how the states, which receive the federal funds, distribute the money to cities.
In addition, 41 percent said their city government or health departments were shut out of state planning for emergency health preparedness, while 46 percent said they had not been reimbursed for law enforcement costs associated with ramped-up airport security.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., told the conference that Congress and President Bush are committed to giving cities adequate funding for homeland security, but said state governments must have a role in determining how that money is distributed.
Mayors have argued that federal funds for emergency response teams have been unduly delayed by state bureaucracy and should be allocated directly to the cities.
"You are not only the front line of defense and prevention, but you are the front line of response," Frist said. "We all know that. With appropriate feedback, we can act. (But) it has to include the governors."
David Wallace, mayor of Sugar Land, Texas, said the funding delays have unnecessarily put cities at risk.
"This analysis clearly shows that cities of all sizes - small, medium and large - are not getting the money they need to prepare their first responders and protect residents," he said. "No city should be underfunded or underprotected."
Dr. Julie Louise Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also spoke to the conference and pledged greater efforts to disease prevention at the local level.
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta told mayors that his department was working to improve traffic flow in the nation's skies and on local roads, which he said was key to keeping the economy thriving.
"Now is the time to begin rethinking how we move people, how we transport goods and products and how we run our airports, because change is coming," he said. "We are doing some of that thinking in Washington D.C., but the key to relieving congestion will be the planning that all of you do."
The 215 cities surveyed were from all 50 states and Puerto Rico. They ranged in size from Lincolnwood, Ill., - population of 12,359 - to New York City.
ON THE NET
U.S. Conference of Mayors: http://www.usmayors.org
Are we at our risk, readers ? Do you believe this is goin' to happen in your city or town ? I put a post somewhere in AllDeaf.com about the United States is a way, way overboardin'. It's gettin' out of control in this now days. There'll be a food shortage, because of diseases like MAD COW and other illnesses. There'll be a vaccine shortage and so on. How are we goin' to get help when all those things are goin' to happen in the near future ? The only problem is that our Government is in deep debts... still owin' over 1.4 trillion dollars. Can you imagine that ? *SMH* Is our country goin' to be a "poverty" ? It's goin' to be very interestin' to watch how the world changes. I wouldn't be surprised if, all that happens.
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