By DAN DEARTH
dan.dearth@herald-mail.com
GO HERE for the official article.
HAGERSTOWN — Although the City of Hagerstown in January hired a lobbying firm to help the city obtain federal funding, the Hagerstown Fire Department has gone it alone, with some success.
Hagerstown Fire Chief Gary Hawbaker said the fire department didn’t use a lobbyist to land nearly $2 million in grant money since 2002.
A committee made up of firefighters typically joins forces to write grants, he said. If they hit a snag, other fire departments in Washington County lend a hand — even though they are competing against each other — because “the pot (of available federal funding) is so big,” Hawbaker said.
The first attempt to land grants in 2002 was unsuccessful, but Hawbaker said the firefighters learned enough to improve their technique and, in 2003, they received two grants totaling about $32,000. The amount steadily increased.
This year, the fire department received $948,825 in federal grants, he said.
U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-6th, said he is willing to help the city obtain federal funding for its projects with or without professional help.
“I am working with the City of Hagerstown and the (Washington) County Commissioners,” Bartlett said in a prepared statement. “Lobbyists are not needed for me in assisting with their request. If they hire lobbyists, that is up to them, but lobbyists are not needed for my assistance.”
Melissa Schwartz, a spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., wrote in an e-mail that Mikulski met with Mayor Robert E. Bruchey II and representatives of The Ferguson Group earlier this year.
“At that time, Sen. Mikulski explained that she receives far more requests than can be funded, and does what she can to fight for priority projects,” the e-mail said. “She also encouraged them to look at competitive grant opportunities ... Sen. Mikulski’s door is always open to the City of Hagerstown.”
Sue Walitsky, a spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said Cardin also is open to discussing federal funding opportunities with the City of Hagerstown.
“Sen. Cardin is working with Hagerstown and other Maryland cities to get funding every day,” Walitsky said. “Getting (federal money) for Maryland is a part of his agenda.”
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Why doesn't Salisbury get some grants like this and save the tax payers some money for a change?
ReplyDeleteSalisbury already has a high paid grant writer, Loray Chamberpot, and they can't even secure a simple grant. Yep, she is worth her weight in gold. Did I mention she was worthy of a significant raise again this year?
ReplyDeleteDefinition: A grant is a form of federal or state financial aid that does not need to be repaid. They're typically given to people who demonstrate financial need.
ReplyDeleteHow can the city demonstrate financial need when they just purchased a $10 million fire station, renovated one that was only 10 years old and now planning to renovate another. How can they demonstrate need when they are abandoning two pieces of prime property. How can they demonstrate need after purchasing 5 new fire trucks when 3 were puchased in recent years. How can they demonstrate need when they purchased 3 brand new heavy duty ambualances recently. How can they demonstrate need when they spent $500,000 on new breathing apparatus because they wanted the same type that FDNY uses.
All of this waste under the current administration. Remember that during the next election.
How about the new sedan they want to buy with the surplus money left over from this year so they will have more cars that are needed in the "pool"
ReplyDeleteThe lovely Lore needs a new pair of shoes -- every week -- and they cost more than double digit dollars per pair.
ReplyDeleteLore buys her shoes at Pay Less and Shoe Dept. She's a wannabe just like her shoes wanna be designer shoes.
ReplyDeleteThere are over 900 grant programs offered by the 26 Federal grant-making agencies.
ReplyDeleteI will Say Don't pay a penny to get a CD on Grant information. Get all information for Free regarding Government, Private, Personal and all types of Grants at http://grantinfo.us
All the Best!