D.C., N.Y. Mayors Criticize Cuts

From left, D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, N.Y. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and N.Y. Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly. (By Melina Mara -- The Washington Post)

D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams and New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg yesterday sharply criticized the Department of Homeland Security for cutting anti-terrorism grants to the two cities, telling a congressional panel that the cuts would delay upgrades for bomb squads and communication systems in the District, as well as a new program to increase security in lower Manhattan.

The agency's decision to cut funds by 40 percent for the two cities targeted in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks -- while increasing funds for places such as Omaha, Charlotte and Louisville -- suggests that the grant process has been infected by "the exact kind of political pork barrel it was specifically designed to avoid," Bloomberg said.

"There are places that should get the agriculture money because they have agriculture," he said. "And there are places that should get the homeland security money because they have targets."

Bloomberg (R) and Williams (D) appeared with their top police officials before the House Committee on Homeland Security in a hearing room hung with huge color photographs of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in flames. The four-hour hearing -- convened by Chairman Peter T. King (R-N.Y.) -- featured broad condemnation by representatives from both parties of a new DHS formula for doling out $711 million in 2006 funds to urban areas across the country that face the greatest risk of terror attacks.

Under that formula, the Washington region, which received $77 million last year, is slated to get $46 million this year. The District also received a smaller allotment than requested through a separate program designed for states. Under that program, the District will get $4.3 million, down from $9.2 million.

New York, meanwhile, saw its anti-terrorism funding slashed to $124 million, down from $207 million last year.

DHS officials have noted that there was less money to hand out to urban areas this year because Congress cut 15 percent of the program's budget from the previous year. They also noted that New York is still receiving the highest grant, while Washington ranks fourth, behind Los Angeles and Chicago.

DHS officials have declined, however, to make public the full details of the methodology they used to assess risk in 46 urban areas.

"I wouldn't be sitting here if I really knew what the formula was and what the process was and what the objective was," Williams said.

Whatever its components, the results make "no sense," said D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey. "I don't want to take anything away from the master's degrees and doctorates that put this thing together. . . . But the cake is just not being baked properly. It will not rise."

George W. Foresman, DHS undersecretary for preparedness, defended the complicated formulas used by a secret panel of reviewers to divide funds, though he said the agency is willing to "tweak the process." Foresman said he plans to meet with homeland security officials from across the country next month.

"We will continue to look at methodology on risk and on effectiveness, and we'll get these processes where they need to be," he said.