Our
View: Grant should not be uselessly
spent
Among the many worries gnawing at the American conscious, fear of a bioterrorist
attack is one of the most prominent and continually growing concerns. As news
of thwarted terrorist plans is methodically leaked to the masses, public concern
for safety has grown exponentially.
Angelenos should know. The recent news about the potential bombing of the U.S.
Bank building in downtown Los Angeles has spiked public awareness about terrorist
attacks and safety. Rather than wisely using an $83 million grant given to Los
Angeles
County by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a means to calm
worried citizens, the money was squandered away on useless promotional items
like flashlights, whistles, magnates and mouse pads, further deteriorating L.A.
residents' confidence in our city’s preparedness in the case of a terrorist
attack.
According to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times, $128,000 has been spent
on silly gadgets promoting other health related issues like nutrition and fitness.
The grant was issued with the specific purpose of adequately preparing our populous
county with the tools and skills necessary in handling a terrorist threat in
a large area.
Rather than mollifying the increasingly anxious public by taking action and wisely
spending taxpayer dollars, the city instead decided to soothe our worries by
giving away massive quantities of worthless trinkets. Hundreds of thousands of
dollars have been piddled away on things most people usually toss in the trashcan
or shove in their junk drawer.
Not only did the city use the bioterrorism preparation grant on promotional items,
it also used the grant to pay Central Casting, a Hollywood casting service, $57,045
to provide actors for a smallpox vaccination drill and give them gift bags.
Instead of giving away silly trinkets and gift bags to assure citizens in the
greater L.A. area something is being done to prepare for terrorist threats, the
health department should use the money wisely and actually prepare its workers
for an attack. L.A. is a potential target for bioterrorist activity and its government
employees need to be prepared.
Instead of disrespecting our nations citizens with reckless spending of taxpayer
dollars, our city’s leaders need to take careful consideration into how
federal grants are spent. $83 million is no chump change. Most of the taxpaying
citizens of the United States work hard for the money they earn and do not look
kindly on using their money on frivolous expenditures.
Thankfully, this loose spending has not gone unnoticed by other government agencies
in L.A. The L.A. County Board of Supervisors has decided the health department
will be held accountable for its spending spree with an audit of how it spent
the grant money.
But maybe this pessimistic hype about the health department wasting money is
unnecessary. Maybe L.A. leaders are encouraging Angelenos to become more proactive
in the hunt for and prevention against terrorists. The whistles and flashlights
may not only be the items promoting terrorist prevention; they are the tools
Angelenos will need to use in the case of terrorist threat.
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