Denver security funds halved; Homeland agency's ruling makes for hard choices

Copyright 2006 Denver Publishing Company 
 
By LOU KILZER
Rocky Mountain News (Denver)

Denver's homeland security funds have been slashed in half and will fall millions of dollars short of what disaster planners anticipated.

Local emergency officials said Wednesday that they are headed back to the drawing board to decide what programs to cut or trim.

"This will have a profound effect," said Marty Flahive, manager of the Denver-area Urban Area Security Initiative, an organization that coordinates the use of funds for 26 local jurisdictions.

The Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday that Denver's next grant will be $4.3 million — down from the current $8.7 million and considerably less than the $11 million-plus that the region requested.

Programs to be reassessed range from the purchase of special breathing gear for firefighters and interoperable communications equipment to emergency training, said Denver Deputy Manager of Public Safety Tracy Howard. Public relations campaigns for various possible disasters, including an avian flu pandemic, will also go under the microscope.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper was "disappointed" by the federal funding decision, said his spokesperson, Lindy Eichenbaum Lent.

The funds had "played a really important role regionally" in preparing for a possible disaster, she said.

Excluding Denver, Colorado will get $21 million in anti-terrorism grants, $15 million less than last year.

Officials in Denver did not hide their surprise at the federal budget slashing, but said that at least they were in good company: Twenty-eight metro areas nationwide had their funding cut. Only 15 saw it go up and three will be funded for the first time.

New York City lost 40 percent of its funding and Phoenix's was trimmed 61 percent.

Washington bureaucrats didn't spare the nation's capital either. The District of Columbia grant was reduced to $46.4 million from last year's $77.5 million.

Other cities, however, fared far better. Omaha, for instance, will get $8.3 million - almost twice Denver's allocation and a 39 percent boost overall.

Flahive said officials knew there were budgetary constraints. Homeland security funds for the local jurisdictions were down some 14 percent.

But nothing prepared officials for the deep cuts, he said.

"We don't know what went into the decision," Flahive said.

The effect, though, is clear.

The metro area will see "dramatic changes" in disaster budgeting, he said.

Howard said the federal decision has its pluses and minuses.

On the negative side, there will be fewer dollars. But on the plus side, he said, federal planners have decided that Denver is at less risk for a terrorist attack or other disaster.

In general, funds were funneled to port cities and border states, Flahive said.

The Denver area has received some $27 million since the homeland security program started, Flahive said.

Some $18 million has been spent on communications equipment so that disparate jurisdictions can talk to each other during emergencies.

Flahive called interoperable communications "the Holy Grail of homeland security," so he doubts that funds for that purpose will be trimmed significantly.

Other money was intended for training to combat a variety of terrorist acts, including an attack from weapons of mass destruction, Howard said.

Funds also were planned for public relations efforts like READYColorado, which prepares the state for both human-caused and natural disasters.

Officials at READYColorado could not be reached Wednesday. A local number listed on its Web site provided only recorded messages.

Like the other officials, Denver Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz, head of the council's safety committee, said she was surprised by the cuts. She said she would carefully review the situation.

"I want to know what's going on," Faatz said.