Flaherty Appeals to New Head for State’s Economic Stimulus Dollars

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Flaherty Appeals to New Head for State’s Economic Stimulus Dollars

February 17, 2009

Asks Simon to Make Hub’s Education and Public Safety Top Priority

In a letter sent from his City Council office, Flaherty sought out a

commitment from the state to funnel federal economic stimulus money to city’s

public

schools district, police department and fire department. With pending

layoffs across all city departments, crumbling school infrastructures, and

proposed cuts to valued school programs in the arts and languages, new revenue

is

needed more than ever.

Flaherty, also a candidate for Mayor, sent a letter to Simon,

Governor ’s pick to oversee the state’s distribution of the dollars

received from the federal economic stimulus package.

Motivated by his own commitments to Boston’s public education and safety,

Flaherty sees the federal funds as an opportunity to keep police on the city’s

streets, provide the fire department with badly needed equipment, prevent

teacher layoffs and cuts to educational programs strongly valued by Boston

parents. He also believes that $200 million in new money funneled into our

schools will finally give the city a chance to make critical school repairs,

many

of which present serious risks to students’ health. Three years ago, the

Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (MassCOSH) and the

Boston Urban Asthma Coalition (BUAC), produced the report, “Who’s Sick at

School: Linking poor school conditions and health disparities for Boston’s

children

†that compared the city’s school environmental audits with asthma rates

and concluded that $200 million was needed to make schools healthy and safe for

learning.

In his letter to Simon, Flaherty wrote that “Investments that fix our school

infrastructure and address school repairs that eliminate asthma triggers -

such as leaks, mold, and pests - would not only improve the health and

learning environments for our children, it would also create meaningful

opportunities for job creation, and specifically, green collar jobs. This kind

of

investment - green investment - is what the Center for American Progress - sees

as

the solution to our economic woes, making it an ideal project for economic

stimulus dollars.â€

Flaherty also reiterated his support for bolstering the budgets of the city’s

police and fire departments, noting that “Taking care of our children and

ensuring a quality future for the city of Boston also means shoring up our

public safety departments.†His letter cites the city’s ongoing problem

with

crime and its shortage of adequate equipment for the BFD as two more

compelling reasons for his funding requests.

“As city, state, and federal leaders, we have an obligation to make sure that

we budget responsibly and ensure that these dollars fill the greatest of our

needs,†concluded Flaherty.

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