Stimulus or Pork? Questionable Projects Slated for Funding

Updated February 26, 2010

In a period of recession it is easy to argue that an acceleration of government spending can have a stimulative effect on the economy. It is important, however, to closely evaluate how the money is spent. In times of economic downturn it is equally easy to argue that tax cuts could be stimulative. Or, to carry the argument to an extreme, it could be argued if the U. S. Air Force flew over the country and showered the 50 states with Federal Reserve notes, that too could have a stimulative effect. It does matter how the money is spent.

The nation’s mayors submitted their wish lists for stimulus infrastructure spending at the U. S. Conference of Mayors. The Heritage Foundation, a think tank based in Washington, DC, then took a fine-tooth comb through the mayors’ list of “vital infrastructure” projects.

Heritage found 56 requests for museum funding, including:

• $35 million for the Music Hall of Fame in Florissant, Mo.
• $35 million for the Scottsdale Museum of the West in Arizona
• $20 million for the Virginia Key Beach Museum in Miami, Fla.
• $26 million for a new museum and exhibits in Meridian, Miss.
• $20 million to build a Minor League Baseball Museum in Durham, N.C.
• $30 million to create a Museum of Contemporary Science in Trenton, N.J.
• $80 million for the Philadelphia Museum of Art
• $1.75 million for the Music Museum of Ponce, Puerto Rico

Parking garages were high on the mayors list, including:

• $43 million for parking garages in Tucson, Ariz.
• $94 million for Miami to build a parking garage where the Orange Bowl once stood (and where the Florida Marlins plan a new baseball park), plus another $200 million for other garages around town.
• $16 million for parking in Hercules, Calif.
• $85 million for “solar-powered” airport parking in Long Beach, Calif.

More than 200 projects were bicycle-related, including: :

• $5 million for four bicycle paths in Long Beach, Calif.
• $8 million for citywide bicycle facilities for Miami, Fla.
• $2.6 million for bicycle paths in Lewiston, Maine
• $15 million for bicycle/pedestrian ways in St. Louis, Mo.
• $2.5 million for bicycle paths in Austin, and the same amount for Arlington, Texas
• $14.5 million for new bicycle ways in Salt Lake City

Projects in North Carolina
Below are some of the shovel-ready projects North Carolina mayors submitted to the Conference of Mayors for their 2008 report. Oddly, only eight of North Carolina’s mayors submitted proposals, but those projects total $1,976,159,270 in spending.

All proposed projects from North Carolina can be reviewed at the national Stimulus Watch site, where readers can review each project and then vote on whether or not each is critical to the people of North Carolina.

Some of these projects, both in the nation and in North Carolina, are no doubt worthy of funding. Are all of them critical? Worthy or not, do they have sufficient merit to justify the federal government borrowing perhaps in excess of $1 trillion to pile on top of the existing mountain of debt - particularly at a time when North Carolina is currently struggling to shrink the state's budget by over $4 billion dollars?

Some of the proposed projects are listed below, but you can view them all here and decide for yourself:

Asheville
Upgrade parks to become ADA accessible - $1,700,000
Bike racks - $40,000
Bike lockers - $40,000

Charlotte
Animal control green roof - $400,000
Wilora Lake Rehabilitation - $1,000,000
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Dept Green Roof - $300,00

Concord
Rocky River Golf Course sewer outfall - $609,000
Upgrade Hartsell Recreation Center - $45,000
Remodel McInnis Aquatics Center - $15,000

Durham
Construct Bethesda Park (covered sports courts, disc golf course, walking trails, playground and parking) - $4,245,000
Construct Old Chapel Hill Road Park (soccer fields, basketball courts, trails and parking) - $3,353,000
Parrish Street Museum without walls - $2,500,000
Third Fork Creek Trail - $2,497,000
American Tobacco Trail - $2,459,000
Renovate Old Lyon Park Center - $881.000
Lyon Park upgrade - $533,000
Durham Skateboard Park - $431,000

Fayetteville
Construct NC Veterans Park and Visitors Center - $2,500,000
Construct Linear Park Trail-Phase 3 - $850,000
Construct Walkable Community Blount’s Creek Trail - $700,000
Construct Fayetteville Community Gardens - $500.000
Construct a daycare center for employees - $500,000

Gastonia
Gaston Mall redevelopment - $3,100,000
Project “Big Splash” (aquatics center, fitness facility and quality meeting space) - $10,000,000
Rankin Lake Park improvements - $1,700,000
Lineberger Park--Phase 2 - $1,500,000
South@Main Pavilion Park - $770,000
Highland Rail Trail--Phase 3 - $700,000
Lineberger Park pool renovation - $500,000

Rocky Mount
Upgrade Amtrak customer/traveler amenities - $300,000
Complete remaining phases of Rocky Mount Sports Complex - $1,200,000
Employee Fitness Center - $250,000
Renovate South Rocky Mount Community Center - $250,000
Construct shelters at city parks - $250,000
Resurface 35 tennis courts - $175,000
Replace gym floor at Booker T. Washington Community Center - $125,000
Replace gym floor at South Rocky Mount Community Center - $250,000
Install and replace playground equipment at city parks - $125,000
Resurface 12 basketball courts in city parks - $70,000

Winston-Salem
Sedge Garden gym - $5,000,000
Playground parks and recreation centers - $4,500,000
Civic Plaza Park - $3,000,000
Construct greenways and trails - $1,000,000
Public infrastructure to support film and theater production - $1,000,000
Swimming pool spray park conversions - $500,000

In February 2010, Brian Balfour pored through the federal stimulus website and compiled a list of what the Civitas Institute believes to be the ten worst federal stimulus projects in North Carolina.  To see his review, click here.