• BY SONNY LONG - SLONG@VICAD.COM
• Originally published December 31, 2009 at 6:24 p.m., updated December 31, 2009 at 10:05 p.m.

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• RURAL TRANSIT

  The RTransit rural transportation program overseen by the Golden Crescent Regional Planning Commission includes bus service in eight counties. The number of RTransit buses per county:

  Calhoun - 6

  DeWitt - 2

  Goliad - 3

  Gonzales - 6

  ...
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RURAL TRANSIT

The RTransit rural transportation program overseen by the Golden Crescent Regional Planning Commission includes bus service in eight counties. The number of RTransit buses per county:

Calhoun - 6

DeWitt - 2

Goliad - 3

Gonzales - 6

Jackson - 4

Matagorda - 7

Lavaca - 17

Victoria - 6

Crossroads' agencies received approval for $74 million in economic stimulus funds this year, an Advocate analysis of federal records shows.

The $787 billion American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, passed by Congress in February, aims to stimulate a U.S. economy reeling in the wake of recession, lawmakers say.

Many in the Crossroads fought for their sliver of the pie.

The federal government approved 67 awards for 37 agencies, including several awards used for vehicle purchases, food programs and employee training.

RECENT ANNOUNCEMENT AIDS HOMELESSEarlier this week, the Obama Administration announced the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is renewing grant funding needed to keep 222 Texas homeless assistance programs operating.

Locally, these programs include $164,345 to the Mid-Coast Family Services Gateway Project, $92,868 to Perpetual Help Home for Hope Net and an additional $33,111 to Perpetual Help Home for the Victoria Area Homeless Management Information System.

"We have been overwhelmed with the need, and are having to limit the number of applications we take in order to make the money last two years," said Ginny Stafford, chief executive officer of Mid-Coast Family Services. "The stimulus money has been a real blessing to our community."

This money is not part of the Advocate's analysis of federal stimulus funds approved by Oct. 30.

Editor's note: This is the sixth in a seven-part series that details federal stimulus funding to the Crossroads. Saturday, the Advocate reports on funding for private industry.

Bus driver Freddy Castillo knows as well as anyone and better than most how important a new ride is.

Castillo has driven a bus since 2005 - both on urban routes with Victoria Transit and on rural routes with RTransit. He logs about 150 miles a day behind the wheel.

On this day, he drives a 2000 model bus with more than 300,000 miles.

"It's very important to me and my customers to have something newer," Castillo, 43, said. "These buses are in good condition, but they have a lot of mileage and a lot of wear and tear."

The Golden Crescent Regional Planning Commission was awarded, in part, $1.4 million in federal stimulus funds for new buses. The money is part of $4.7 million awarded to Victoria County agencies to fund everything from food programs to employee training and vehicle purchases.

This funding, lumped by the Advocate into a category dubbed "Other," did not fit snugly into other broad categories such as "Schools" and "Housing."

The Golden Crescent Regional Planning Commission oversees the area's urban and rural public transportation services, including routes for senior citizens and the disabled.

The commission received a $490,000 award to replace vehicles for the Rural Transit program; a $913,309 award will buy eight buses for Victoria Transit.

The planning commission's transportation programs are operated under a contract through the Texas Department of Transportation and the Federal Transit Administration.

"It's a blessing," fleet manager Jack Scarborough said. "We're dealing with buses that are 10 years old and have quite a few miles on them."

Currently, eight nine-passenger buses await state transportation department inspection before being put to use in and around Victoria. One will be put into service in the planning commission's rural program in Victoria. Also slated to receive new vehicles are the:

Calhoun County Senior Citizens Association.

Gonzales County Senior Citizens Association.

Friends of Elder Citizens in Matagorda.

Senior transportation services in Goliad and Lavaca counties.

Fourteen of the 24 buses in the urban fleet have already met their life expectancy, said Lisa Cortinas, director of transportation services for the planning commission. On the rural side, 26 of the 51 vehicles have met their useful life.

"This money has been a blessing," Cortinas said. "Currently, there is no statewide vehicle replacement program. We receive a small amount of funds to replace vehicles as the Texas Department of Transportation has funds available."

Cortinas said newer buses in the fleet will cut maintenance costs and improve air quality.

"The older the vehicle is, the more money it costs to keep them operating. We will see a significant savings in our repairs costs, but also in vehicle down time," she said. "We are also improving our local air quality by taking older gasoline vehicles and replacing them with diesel vehicles that use ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel."

Cortinas said she hopes to have 16 new buses running in Victoria by the end of August.

MORE AWARDS

The regional planning commission also received money to provide meals to senior citizens throughout the region.

"It was not a substantial chunk of money for food," said Joe Brannan, the commission's director. "Fifty thousand dollars for seven counties is not a lot. Obviously, we'll take anything."

While the commission received approval for four awards, Brannan awaits distribution on the bulk of money.

"By and large, most of the stimulus - except for the transit money - is still being managed on the state level. They're still building a process to allocate it," he said.

While Brannan waits for funding to trickle to this region, other agencies were already paid to perform services. They include:

Workforce Solutions of the Golden Crescent, which received approval for $2.7 million to hire temporary staff, offer training to its jobless customers and provide child care for at-risk children.

Advocates for Children and Families Inc., which received approval for $333,000 for air conditioning upgrades and cost of living adjustments for 60 employees.

Coastal Prairies Coalition, which received approval for $100,000 to enhance Attwater prairie chicken habitat.

NOT ALL AGREE

Although Mid-Coast Family Services will receive more than $160,000 to help fund its Gateway Project for the homeless, no funds were forthcoming for its new women's shelter, a disappointment to Ginny Stafford, chief executive officer.

"Our project is shovel ready, would have provided construction jobs and provides a service to the community for years to come," she said. "And given the fact that our capital campaign began the very month that the economy began its free fall, it only made sense to me that we should be able to get some help with funding meant to spur the economy."

Stafford said she spent time in Austin meeting with legislators trying to get assistance.

"But the mechanism for us to access the money just wasn't there," Stafford said. "It was and is a very frustrating situation."

Because the $4.7 million in funding for this sector only created temporary jobs - the bulk of which ended this summer upon completion of a youth employment program - some question the use of this money. Victoria County Commissioner Gary Burns, a Republican, certainly does.

"The money ought to go to creating sustainable jobs," Burns said.

Fellow County Commissioner Kevin Janak agreed with his Republican peer.

"We don't need to spend taxpayers' money just to be spending money," Janak said. "The money should be spent to save money over the long run. Also, I don't see where it's creating jobs at all."

Others see the use of federal funds in these areas differently.

"They are designed to cushion the blow of the economic downturn as a result of job loss and job reduction," said Stephen Jabbour, Victoria County Democratic Party chair. He pointed to stimulus money for the Community Food Bank of Victoria. Hunger is a direct result of the down economy, he said.

"These are also some programs that have been traditionally under-funded," Jabbour added. "These funds assist our most needy citizens."

Burns made it clear that he is not against the work done by the groups receiving the money, especially the nonprofit groups.

"I am all for giving to charity," he said, adding that he personally sits on the board of more than one nonprofit organization. "Just don't call it stimulus money. Call it what it is."

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