Data showing San Benito County has received significantly less
funding than similar areas from the stimulus signals the chaotic
nature of the federal give-away, which should have allocated the
dollars based on need and economic indicators such as unemployment
and foreclosure rates.
Data showing San Benito County has received significantly less funding than similar areas from the stimulus signals the chaotic nature of the federal give-away, which should have allocated the dollars based on need and economic indicators such as unemployment and foreclosure rates.
As an analysis of the data examined by special assignment contributor Marty Richman showed, San Benito received far less per head than other counties in the region and other areas with similar demographics. It points, once again, to a serious lack of wealth with aggressive representation for this county when it comes to getting our fair share of much-needed state and federal funds. It also sends a red flag that the already clouded American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has been funneling the funds under the usual umbrella of political favors and favoritism for larger, savvier areas where federal and state leaders might score more points at the polls.
The analysis of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act contract and grant funding for 11 California counties indicates that San Benito County’s $12.6 million in awards was the lowest funding per capita – only $218 per person – compared with a weighted average of $386 for the other 10 counties with similar populations or geography. If there had been an even distribution of the funds – just based on the populations among the 11 counties examined, and not economics – it would have netted San Benito County an addition of more than $10 million without increasing borrowing costs to the federal government. Pinnacles National Monument officials, meanwhile, have noted that some local projects within the park are not included on the stimulus website, but they have not clarified details. As detailed on the recovery act’s own website, the result of the $12.6 million injection into the San Benito County economy has been five permanent jobs, or $2.52 million per job, which speaks for itself.
San Benito County has gotten much too comfortable in accepting scraps. Its leaders, when faced with such realities, fall back on their traditional routine – to simply complain how this area always gets the shaft, and not seeking rigorously for solutions to the discrepancies. Voters, frankly, are tired of the complaining. They want answers. And if elected officials can’t provide answers or bolder-than-standard agendas, then they don’t belong in office.
One glaring problem with the stimulus allocations, as shown in San Benito’s case, has been the structure in which they have been funneled to local communities. Some of the money went directly from the federal government to local municipalities. Some of it went from the federal government to the state, which then, in turn, divvied out the funds.
As a result, San Benito County, having one of the highest unemployment and foreclosure rates in the state, received far less than areas with clout and immense wealth.
When handing out billions upon billions of taxpayers’ dollars, in an attempt to systematically strengthen the nation’s economy, it might make sense to base the allocations on economic indicators and not politics as usual. In that sense, the federal government flopped. Also on the federal level, much of the blame for San Benito County’s unfair share falls with Congressman Sam Farr, the Democrat from Carmel who is up for reelection in November, and who often gives priority to other areas in District 17 along the coast.
Above all, though, local officials should have been keener on the process, aware of the possibility that San Benito County might not get its fair share. Instead of waiting for Richman’s analysis to show the fact of the matter, they should have been more proactive in ensuring the area did get its fair share, that immediate steps were taken to get proposals “shovel ready” as required in the stimulus, that federally and state-elected leaders were watching out for a county that needs help more than most.
