One of
the more interesting votes taken each year by Yorba Linda City
Council members involves the acceptance of federal funds for projects
under the Community Development Block Grant program.
The
dollars the city receives from the federal government aren't much –
$195,791 for the current 2016-17 fiscal year, with a $3.6 million
total since 2003 – but the vote to take this money each year can
tax the politics of council members, all self-identified
conservatives.
And add
the fact the program was developed in the administration of Yorba
Linda's native- son President Richard Nixon, and the quandary for
believers in limited federal government activities is heightened.
Nixon
left office before Congress approved the program in 1974 in Gerald
Ford's presidency, but it was Nixon's idea to consolidate several
existing programs under one umbrella and give cities greater latitude
in how funds would be spent.
The
block grant program is one of the longest, continuously run programs
in the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, with $2.8
billion awarded to more than 1,100 local governmental entities this
year.
In past
years, this city's council members voted 5-0 to accept the money,
often under the expressed theory “if we don't take it, it will go
to some other city.” But that changed upon the election of
Craig Young to the council four years ago.
Since
then, Young has cast the lone “no” vote on accepting the grant
money, citing opposition to the grants “in principle” and
criticizing the program's federal and local administrative outlays.
This
year's vote at a recent council session was 3-1, with Gene Hernandez,
Peggy Huang and Tom Lindsey in favor and Young opposed. Mark Schwing,
a usual grant supporter, was absent.
Here's
how this year's cash will be spent, according to a report from Pam
Stoker, the city's economic development manager:
--$77,264
for Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, including $47,264 to
replace the “obsolete elevator...in a low-income senior
residential community” and $30,000 for “ramps for public
accessibility at Hurless Barton Park and the Community Center.”
--$50,000
for the Neighborhood Improvement Program for funding “rehabilitation
grants to qualified homeowners for general property improvements and
repairs to meet local codes, standards and ordinances.”
--$29,369
for “operational costs associated with the daily senior lunch
program” held at the Community Center (limited to 15 percent of the
total grant award).
--$39,158
for program administration for “overall development, management,
coordination and monitoring” of the grants (20 percent of the
total, 10 percent each to the city and county).
If
the council chose not to participate in the grant application, the
funds the city has been allocated would go to the county “to be
distributed through a competitive process to other Orange County
cities seeking additional funding,” Stoker stated.