Stamford Mayor Presses for More Foreclosure Assistance Funds

March 3rd, 2009 | Tags: Foreclosure

Dannel Malloy, Mayor of Stamford pressed for more foreclosure assistance funds at a meeting of 80 mayors that went on for over an hour. At the close of the conference he said that the accountability would be his – but the priority is release of increased funds.

At the mayoral conference on the eve of the rolling out of the $787 stimulus package, Obama warned the gathering that White House would not want them to waste their portion. The meeting was held in the East Room of White House.

Malloy insisted, “We have urban areas — Stamford, Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven — that are job-producing centers. We need to get the money quickly.” Malloy added that Obama had promised to work with the mayors on the economic stimulus package. Money would be required for weatherization, police forces, schools or repair of roads. The problem is that funds would first have to pass through the state. Malloy is worried on that score. He did not mince words and said, “A lot depends on whether Connecticut state government can do its job and get the money in our hands. My fear is they won\’t.”

Malloy is seeking to be the mayor again in 2010 and anticipates a brewing conflict between the office of the governor and the state legislator over disbursement of funds. The mayor of Laredo, Texas, Raul Salinas echoed the same sentiments and repeated that channeling the funds through the states would delay the procedure. He opined that it was important they directly got the funds.

Obama is poised to keep a hawk’s eye on any sort of waste, abuse or fraud. He hoped that the new tools given by the recovery act would enable more overseeing of the taxpayer’s money with additional transparency than before. Obama has appointed a managerial team to see to its enforcement. Each and every dollar would have to be well spent.

Obama said, “What I will need from all of you, is unprecedented responsibility and accountability. The American people are watching. They need this plan to work. They expect to see the money that they\’ve earned, that they\’ve worked so hard to earn, spent in its intended purposes without waste, without inefficiency, without fraud.”

Obama reiterated that the taxpayers had a right to know that the money was being well spent. He would not spare anybody faltering whether it was a federal agency or a local government.