Homeland Security agency to require cities to compete for funds

WASHINGTON — More of a $765 million counterterrorism program will go to cities at greater risk, the Homeland Security Department said Tuesday, cheering those who say too much has been sent to communities unlikely to face major threats.

The announcement created potential winners and losers among dozens of metropolitan areas competing for money from the urban-area security initiative, which is being cut from the $855 million Congress provided last year.

"I think that's exactly what we have been screaming for all along," said New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. New York received $207 million from the program last year, by far the most any community received.

Homeland Security officials said they will not announce how much each qualifying metropolitan area will receive until June, after a competition that will include agency scrutiny of plans for the money. That means there could be months of lobbying by city officials and their representatives in Congress before any decisions are made.

The money also can be used to prepare communities to respond to a natural disaster or a health crisis, such as a flu pandemic.

The agency said 35 metropolitan areas will have to apply for funding and show they have a good use for the money. Those cities include Seattle, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New Orleans, Denver and Miami.

One city, Memphis, Tenn., was added to the eligible cities this year. The eligible communities are in 29 states, plus the District of Columbia.

The decision to restructure payments was bad news for 11 cities that had previously been awarded such money. They will be given "sustainment" money to finish work already started, but they are in danger of being dropped from the program in years to come.

Las Vegas, Buffalo, N.Y., Tampa, Fla., and Louisville, Ky., are among the 11 facing elimination. Officials in many of those cities voiced hope that even with the new hurdles, they could persuade the agency to keep the money flowing.

"Now it's competitive," said Nevada state Homeland Security Director Giles Vanderhoof, whose state's casinos attract many tourists. "If they really run this as a competition, I think we'll come out OK."

Officials in Louisville said they would try to prove they should remain in the program to keep improving their emergency-communications system. The city received $5 million last year.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the changes show the agency is responding to complaints about possible waste and misallocation of money.

"We are taking a giant step forward in implementing this risk-based strategy," Chertoff said.

He added later that the grants were "not party favors to be distributed as widely as possible."

Some cities are lumped together. Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., will be considered a single metropolitan area by the agency, as will Dallas, Fort Worth and Arlington, Texas. Cities in such areas will have to work together to apply for money, which could lead to disagreements about how to spend it.

Other grants distributed by the Homeland Security Department pitted highly populated areas against rural regions and were criticized for providing more money per capita to some sparsely populated states.