EDITOR’S VIEWPOINT/Looking for a piece of Uncle Sam’s pie
It is two months after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and cities and counties are beginning to realize the enormity of the task before them. Protecting the country against future terrorist actions suddenly dominates the local government agenda (see page 20).
Oakland County, Mich., home to Detroit, is looking for money to expand the scope of its Emergency Management Department beyond its usual flood and tornado planning. The Washington, D.C., suburb of Arlington County, Va., is arguing that it should not have to provide fire and rescue service to the Pentagon unless the federal government pays part of the cost.
Allegheny County, Pa., and Pittsburgh are working to consolidate their emergency operations. Metro, the transit system that serves the Washington, D.C., area, is asking for nearly $200 million to install sensors that can detect biological or chemical attacks. Montgomery County, Md., wants almost $50 million to hire emergency workers, purchase equipment and improve its communication system. And Atlanta Police Chief Beverly Harvard, who makes upwards of $113,000 a year, is asking for overtime pay for her and her top brass.
All, with the notable exception of the last one, are reasonable reactions to the events of Sept. 11.
The National League of Cities surveyed 401 cities in the wake of the attacks. Many reported weakened economies and increased spending, mostly for public safety-related concerns. The U.S. Conference of Mayors surveyed 93 mostly small and medium-sized cities and reports that they intend to spend $122.5 million to increase security this year. Additional security costs could top $1.5 billion over the next year, USCM says.
But who has that kind of dough? Well, the federal government does. It is an interesting lesson: During the good times we rock along, insisting that the federal government keep its overbearing self out of our business. But these aren’t the good times, and we are asking the federal government to be our benevolent grandpa, forgetting how we have rolled our eyes at its attempts to be part of our lives in the past and asking it to loan us a twenty.
But gramps is in the middle of what gives every indication of being a protracted war. His resources are limited.
That doesn’t mean we can storm to our rooms and slam the door. It means we must be creative.
In Seattle, King County Executive Ron Sims is proposing a one-year, $3 million property tax increase to pay for domestic security effort. He calls the proposal “an insurance policy.”
No one likes tax hikes, and this one could cost Sims his job. (Sims faced reelection this month after AC&C went to press.) But it is a grownup response to a serious problem. Right now, nothing is more important than “homeland security.” We should all be willing to chip in for it.