Senator Gillibrand Requests One-Million Dollar Earmark for Emergency Operations Center

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) is attempting to secure a one-million dollar grant for an emergency operation center to be operated in Kiras Joel, NY. The request is part of a larger 4.65 Million dollar bundle of earmarks.

As the Herald Record indicated, Orange County already has an emergency operations center in a $40 million building that opened in Goshen in 2008.

Why would Gillibrand request a second center in a town of 22, 000 folks?

The answer to that question was not forthcoming by Senator Gillibrand. In fact, Gillibrand's staff abruptly shut down inquiries and failed to respond at a later date as promised.

Associated Content writer, Michele Starkey contacted Gillibrand's DC and NY offices and received a host of rude comments, but no answers.

Senator Bill Larkin's office responded with courtesy, professionalism, and assistance in contacting his senatorial colleague. Senator Gillibrand's office questioned his motives and would not even release a schedule of events. How's that for transparency?

Click here to read Michel Starkey's article.

Starkey reminds us that Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand will be on the New York U.S. Senate primary ballot this September. A simple attempt at gathering routine information should not be a nightmare.

Perhaps, the information was not forthcoming because the answers are not politically expedient.

Before Senator Gilibrand went mum, the Herald Record reported that she claimed the emergency operations center will serve the entire region in the event of a natural or man-made disaster.

Why then, did the county's emergency services commissioner, Walter Koury, not hear anything about the project? Before you ask, the Woodbury police Chief Robert Kwiatkowski did not hear anything about the regional project either.

The obvious has emerged; Senator Gillibrand's earmark requests have raised more questions than answers and those questions are obviously uncomfortable for the junior Senator.

While we ponder about the emergency operations center in Kiras Joel, one will be hard pressed not to ask about the one-million dollar request to study a dairy proposal that would help Congress analyze agricultural policy proposals. It is a wordy description to say the least; it has something to do with 'diversity and fairness' within the dairy and livestock world.

So far, we have a million dollar Gillibrand proposal for an emergency operations center to join one that already exists and a million dollar earmark to study a study. No wonder why Kirsten Gillibrand is not answering her phone.

We won't even go into the money the junior Senator is requesting for grape genetic research.

Sources: embedded in article.