Editorial: Athens-Clarke should play smart with stimulus

It doesn't do much to inspire confidence in the federal economic stimulus program to hear an Athens-Clarke County commissioner liken it to a game of darts.

But that's just what Commissioner Kelly Girtz did in a Sunday story in this newspaper, saying of the county's efforts to obtain a share of the stimulus dollars, "I do sort of feel like we're throwing darts at the board and hoping to hit a few (get funding for some projects)."

Given the multiple billions of dollars in the stimulus package ($575.3 billion in funding and $211.9 billion in tax cuts), it would be nice to believe that getting those dollars into state and local government infrastructure projects - a key component of the stimulus effort's goal to create jobs in a steep and ongoing economic downturn - is a deliberate process.

It appears, however, that the stimulus dollars will be funneled through an array of government agencies, and will be subject to a host of conditions and limits on how, when and where they can be used by local governments. At a recent meeting of the Athens-Clarke Commission's Government Operations Committee - a committee chaired by Girtz - a county administrator unfurled a flow chart the size of a kitchen table showing where the money was coming from and where it could go.

All that said, the Athens-Clarke County government's elected officials and staff deserve some credit for their willingness to put the county into the mix for the funds.

Undoubtedly, there are philosophical arguments to be had with regard to whether the federal stimulus package is a particularly wise outlay of taxpayer dollars, whether it might have made more sense to allow taxpayers to hold onto the money that will fund the stimulus package, or whether the debt engendered by the program will place an undue burden on future generations of Americans.

Practically speaking, however, now that the dollars are available, state and local governments arguably have an obligation to their citizens to ensure that they get a fair share of the stimulus funds and whatever jobs and other economic development opportunities that money might create.

In short, no matter how disorganized and left to chance the process might be, Athens-Clarke County officials, to borrow Girtz's phrasing, should be throwing darts at the stimulus dartboard.

There is one caveat, however, particularly in connection with the commission's decision last week to authorize county government staff members to apply for stimulus grants without first seeking commission approval.

Whatever stimulus dollars the county pursues, government officials - elected officials, staff, whomever - should be sure they're not pursuing funds for projects that will carry ongoing operating expenses. As a one-time infusion of cash, the stimulus dollars no doubt can be a help in getting infrastructure projects - road and bridge improvements, and building enhancements such as energy-saving upgrades - built or installed.

In fairness, a large number of the projects the county has placed on a wish list for stimulus funding are exactly the sort of infrastructure improvement projects that should be funded with the federal stimulus dollars.

A couple of initiatives, however, are somewhat problematic.

A proposal to use stimulus dollars to hire 27 new police officers - a worthwhile initiative that addresses one of the basic functions of government, providing public safety - would nonetheless require the county to commit to funding those positions after stimulus dollars are gone.

Similarly, a proposal to use stimulus money for "youth development and training," while laudable in a community struggling with a 31 percent poverty rate, might carry ongoing expenses in terms of instructional costs - teacher salaries, materials purchases and the like.

It's good that the county is in the game with regard to stimulus dollars, but playing smart will be equally important in the days ahead.

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