Houston denied stimulus money for cops

[editor]

MAYOR BILL WHITE STATEMENT ON DENIAL OF HOUSTON'S REQUEST FOR POLICE FUNDING THROUGH STIMULUS PROGRAM

The City of Houston was informed by the White House this evening that the majority of applications for $1 billion in federal stimulus funding for police were denied and that Houston was among the largest cities whose applications were turned down.

"This is the wrong decision for the wrong reasons," said Mayor Bill White. "We were told that Houston did not receive funding because our City budget is not distressed and our crime rates have gone down to the lowest levels in decades. Cities should not be penalized for good law enforcement and sound financial practices."

[Reaperducer]

Stimulus money is supposed to be used for projects that stimulate the economy, like new roads and schools, anyway. It's not for filling budget gaps that shouldn't exist in the first place. If the city pays for cops with stimulus money, what happens when the money is used up? Fire all the new cops?

[citizen4rmptown]

I also read that Pittsburgh and NYC were not given stimulus money.

A Yahoo News Article said Houston was one of 4 "big" cities not given this money

[RedScare]

I have a sneaking suspicion that this statement was not a complaint at all, but rather bragging that Houston is in such better shape than other cities. And, while I'd love me some free fed money to help balance the budget, they really shouldn't give stimulus money to cities that are not in distress.

[citizen4rmptown]

I have a sneaking suspicion that this statement was not a complaint at all, but rather bragging that Houston is in such better shape than other cities. And, while I'd love me some free fed money to help balance the budget, they really shouldn't give stimulus money to cities that are not in distress.

Yes, but maybe we need that stimulus money to continue our "better shape".

Bringing up the issue of the officer's over-time money, I'm sure that's one way we could've benefited.

[The Great Hizzy!]

I had a suspicion that Houston wouldn't qualify and for the very reasons the White House outlined. That said, given Houston's lingering staffing problem (one of many possible negative consequence related to strong population growth), it would have been nice to have had more money to broaden the search for qualified and conscientious candidates.

I wonder about cities like Portland, Seattle and San Diego, which already have pretty low crime rates as well. Granted, I realize the unemployment rates in those places are a lot worse than here in Houston but still...

[ricco67]

I have a sneaking suspicion that this statement was not a complaint at all, but rather bragging that Houston is in such better shape than other cities. And, while I'd love me some free fed money to help balance the budget, they really shouldn't give stimulus money to cities that are not in distress.

Goes to show most of the whiners in the around town that COH *IS* in better shape than the rest of the country.

I agree that I would have loved to have some some cash come here to help with some of the IKE related costs, I hope Galveston got some that would take care of what FEMA deemed unworthy to pay for. Those DRB's.

[Porchman]

Stimulus money is supposed to be used for projects that stimulate the economy, like new roads and schools, anyway. It's not for filling budget gaps that shouldn't exist in the first place. If the city pays for cops with stimulus money, what happens when the money is used up? Fire all the new cops?

I see what you're saying. However, the idea was to keep cities with need from firing cops in the first place because their tax revenue has dropped on lower property values, lower retail sales, fewer people paying income tax (an issue for localities outside of Texas).

Only 1 in 7 requests were funded. http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2009/07/ap-only-1-in-7-agencies-to-get-police-aid.html