U.S. Mayors Cite Lack of Money for Security

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, which found that 76% had 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 that 59% 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% said their city government or health departments were shut out of state planning for emergency health preparedness, and 46% said they had not been reimbursed for law enforcement costs associated with ramped-up security at airports.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) told the conference attendees that Congress and President Bush were committed to giving cities adequate funding for homeland security, but he said state governments must also 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 had 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 Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also spoke to the conference and pledged greater efforts on disease prevention at the local level.