Topline: As lawmakers battle over how much to spend next year on disaster funding, it’s worth looking back at one of many instances where federal emergency funds didn’t bring all that much relief.
In 2010, officials in Cook County, Illinois threw a picnic party at a local zoo for victims of a 2008 flood, instead of using the money to rebuild homes as intended.
The party only used up $79,000 of the city’s $10 million from the federal government, but it was a slap in the face for some local families who were denied disaster grants.
That’s according to the “Wastebook” reporting published by the late U.S. Senator Dr. Tom Coburn. For years, these reports shined a white-hot spotlight on federal frauds and taxpayer abuses.
Coburn, the legendary U.S. Senator from Oklahoma, earned the nickname “Dr. No” by stopping thousands of pork-barrel projects using the Senate rules. Projects that he couldn’t stop, Coburn included in his oversight reports.
Coburn’s Wastebook 2010 included 100 examples of outrageous spending worth more than $11.5 billion, including Cook County’s catered storm relief — which would be worth $114,000 today.
Key facts: The event’s largest expense was for a buffet that included “hungry as a bear picnic baskets” at a cost of $28 per adult and $23 per child.
The party also featured a bizarre assortment of activities: face painting, “prostate screenings,” a “music therapy workshop,” caricature artists and more.
The county spent $2,000 just to rent the pavilion.
It was all paid for with federal relief funding meant to help the county recover from a flood caused by Hurricane Ike.
Search all federal, state and local government salaries and vendor spending with the AI search bot, Benjamin, at OpenTheBooks.com.
Supporting quote: “It wasn’t spent just to have a day at the zoo. It was spent to get people in one spot where they can have health services, find out about the disaster grant. It was there to be something that could help people,” Cook County Board President Todd Stroger told WLS-TV at the time.
Summary: Unfortunately, Cook County’s blunder was not a one-time phenomenon. The Federal Emergency Management Agency still doesn’t have its disaster relief funding priorities straight 14 years later, recently offering to pay $12,000 for a month-long hotel stay for a North Carolina family in lieu of replacing their window broken by Hurricane Helene.
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