Dept. gets $665K grant from DHS

[Guest]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/...?p1=MEWell_Pos4

[AFS1970 504]

I don't see this as pork at all. However it shows a problem with the whole grant issue. Which is the perception, both from the public and within the fire service.

Since the DHS is ultimately in charge of several grant programs, they all get lumped into the category of homeland security grants. A small town getting a SAFER grant for recruitment has absolutely nothing to do with terrorism or the threats that are present in New York City or not present at that Cheese monument.

The article did not say that they had been turned down for their AFG vehicle grant, but I can tell you from past experience, a department with seven vehicles, even old ones, will not rate that highly on the vehicle list. Either way, the AFG and SAFER programs are only related in that they are both managed by DHS, they each have thier own guidelines and project limitations.

Ordinarily I would say that $665K is alot for a recruitment plan, but I also know that advertisements cost alot of money. If their request made it through all the levels that it did, they must have made a very good argument. Also since SAFER is about staffing, the ammounts are usually very large, due to the high costs of staffing.