Tulsa World: Questionable

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Questionable
Stimulus housing funds examined

A chat pile looms in the background of a Picher Housing Authority neighborhood. MIKE SIMONS / Tulsa World file

By World's Editorial Writers
Published: 11/25/2009 2:22 AM
Last Modified: 11/25/2009 5:26 AM

When it comes to federal spending, $135,000 isn't all that much money. But that doesn't mean it should be wasted on something that's not needed.

And surely just about everyone would agree that with just three units occupied at the housing complex, the Picher Housing Authority doesn't really need the money.

Thank goodness a couple of members of Oklahoma's congressional delegation were paying close attention to stimulus-fund distributions and noticed that the Picher authority was set to receive the money.

The Picher housing complex, readers will remember, is in one of the towns that is nearing ghost-town status because of a voluntary buyout program that has left it virtually uninhabited. The federal-state buyout program has enabled most residents to move away from the Ottawa County mining district that is laden with lead-contaminated mining waste and undermined by a labyrinth of unstable caverns. The historic lead and zinc mining area, now known as Tar Creek, is one of the nation's worst environmental disasters.

The Picher Housing Authority didn't seek the stimulus money but was scheduled to receive some nonetheless because every active housing authority in the country was on the recipient list.

The authority has until March to develop a plan for spending the money. If no plan is submitted, the funds will go back to the government.

Authority Director John Sparkman said only three of the complex's units are occupied, and they're expected to be vacated soon. He is trying to relocate the authority to a nearby town but whether that will occur is uncertain at this point.

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., and Rep. Dan Boren, D-Okla., are keeping an eye on the funds. This summer, they asked government officials to put a hold on the money and to be informed if there is any change in the status of the funds.

Unless the money can be used for some justifiable housing needs elsewhere, we ought to just give the money back. There's certainly no justification for spending the money in Picher, unless it's on clean-up work. By World's Editorial Writers

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	Report Comment Dr. Strangelove, Las Vegas (11/25/2009 7:42:28 AM) I think it needs to be transferred to Oklahoma Congressional District 51.
	Report Comment Ric, Broken Arrow (11/25/2009 8:14:05 AM) Why not build a small museum, showing and describing the ill effects of mining and destroying the land.
	Report Comment Thunder196, Tulsa (11/25/2009 9:12:18 AM) The interview I heard the other day was the money would not be spent in Picher. The majority of those people relocated in Fairland and that is where they will probably end up using the stimulus money. Did you not hear that interview TW?

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