At the City Council Finance Subcommittee meeting held on Thursday, June 7th at 4:00 pm, we learned that 1586 ARPA applications have been submitted but only 79 applications have been approved. There are 472 senior applicants and 293 household applicants yet none of those applications have been approved. It is deplorable that the money the City received for the most disproportionately impacted people is not going out to help them recover from the impacts of COVID-19. It is even more deplorable that big conglomerates (once again by this administration) and historic buildings that have been vacant for years take precedence in receiving ARPA funding over our senior and families in need.
“Over the past few weeks, I have received numerous complaints from residents about not receiving a single word after submitting their ARPA Fund application.
It disturbs me, no it actually hurts me to know that organizations, like Big Y will receive $1 million dollars in funding and the Build Back Springfield programs was created using 12 million of dollars of ARPA funds to restore buildings that have been vacant for many years takes precedence over the care of our seniors and households in the City of Springfield. It puzzles me as to why no one in the Mayor’s Administration or no one appointed to the ARPA Fund selection committee, and especially Mayor Sarno sees this as problem! ” states City Councilor Tracye Whitfield
My constituent Emily Barrows, an East Forest Park resident and single mother of two, who also put in an application wrote this to me in an email:
“Why make seniors go through the arduous application process, which includes tax returns, disclosing personal and financial information, and dropping the applications off, in person, to a location that, unless a senior drives or has a ride, isn’t accessible via public transportation, if they didn’t intend on approving, and as of now, even reviewing, a single application? Yet Big Y, one of the region’s largest grocery store chains, was awarded $1,000,000 to build a location downtown, when we all know that they received plenty of PPP funding throughout the pandemic, and likely didn’t lose much business since no one stopped eating. This isn’t who the funds were designed to help, but it is who Mr. Sarno wanted to receive them!”
At a time when our residents are struggling from increasing gas prices, increasing food prices and all around inflation, they should be treated much better than this. They have lost so much already and should be awarded the funds meant for them, the funds that they desperately need to help them recover from the impacts of Covid-19.
“I intend on contacting our Federal Legislators to request more oversight on how these funds are distributed on a municipal level. We need to ensure our residents and organizations with the greatest needs are put first. We need to ensure our most vulnerable populations are put before before large organizations that have already received multiple sources, and will possibly receive more, Covid-19 related funding. We need to fight for those that may not be in a position to fight for themselves. That’s exactly what I plan to do!” states City Councilor Whitfield
