Town Asks For Firetruck, Gets $665,962 Homeland Security Grant; Not Allowed To Buy Firetruck

Here's a lovely example of idiotic budgeting, decision making, and bureaucracy. With billions going into Homeland Security spending each year in America, why exactly can't the money be put to good use throughout the system, instead of throwing it to communities in ridiculous quantaties, whilst stipulating what they can and cannot use the moeny for? Here's a perfect example of money thrown into the wrong jar:

The fire departmentof Cheshire, Massachusetts, needed a new fire truck, and turned to the government to lend a hand, and ended up getting a lot more than what they expected: a $665,962 homeland security grant. That amount is 26 times the annual budget of the volunteer fire department in the town of 3,500. And here's the best part: Under the terms of the grant, the department is not allowed to spend it on a fire truck.

So, instead of getting a bit of money to buy a new firetruck or refurbish an old one, the town of Cheshire won a grant to fortify the ranks of its volunteer brigade. I guess one can see this from the bureacraut's point of view: more men equals more carriers of water. No need for a truck, especially as it's a small town and all...

But wait a minute, how does a small town in Massachusetts receive such a sizable amount of money out of the budget of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)? Their website, (www.dhs.gov) gives little answer to the question.

Maybe the Department of Homeland Security can better explain why. A spokeswoman for the DHS said that the money comes from the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grants, a program that was absorbed into the DHS after the agency was established follow Sept. 11th. The spokeswoman said that the town "presented a multifaceted project proposal", and that the grant could be spent over four years. How it will be spent, there was no elaboration. Except, that they can't buy the truck firetruck.

The Cheshire Fire Department wrote two grant requests, one for the $175,000 fire truck and the other for upping the ranks of its 29-member volunteer force. Still, $665,962 sounds a little too much. And, wasn't this supposed to be about National Security? The town does have the Cheshire Cheese Monument, a sizable concrete sculpture of a cheese press commemorating a 1,450-pound cheese hunk given by town elders to Thomas Jefferson in 1801. But I doubt anyone has yet studied its value as a terrorist target yet, or is there something we don't know?

And why exactly is more and more money going into the mainland and small towns, whilst the towns which might need it, such as Boston, New York, and Washington. These cities complained last year that their homeland security grants were lowered, whilst the small town got more than they bargained for. Cheshire, the smallest town in Massachusetts to get a grant (it also ranks 266th in the state in terms of population), but received the largest grant in Massachusetts. And the story continues all around the country...

The money will now be put to use to hire more volunteer fire fighters, especially from amongst high schoolers, and to reimburse the volunteers lost wages whilst on duty. The town council is to meet to decide just where the money will end up. Still, even with all that excess money and possibilities, there are still pressing matters in Cheshire, according to the firechief;

"We really needed the truck."

Sources:
Homeland Security spending: idiotic pork - Boing Boing
Firefighters' windfall comes with a catch - The Boston Globe
U.S. Department of Homeland Security | Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program |