Fulton County returns federal dollars rather than spend on unneeded program By HATCHER HURD, Managing Editor April 10, 1998 When a county government sends back dollars to the federal government, it's what they call in the journalism trade a man-bites-dog story that's news. But return $267,144 is just what Fulton County Board of Commissioners did when it voted April 1 not to accept the federal grant to establish the Food Stamp Nutrition Education Match Project. "We don't need to spend [nearly] $300,000 to tell poor people they need to eat more fruits and vegetables," said Commissioner Emma Darnell. "We don't need to create a bunch of $40,000-a- year jobs just to do that." The county would have provided matching funds, but it would be allowed to use nutritionist positions in the county's Women and Infant Children (WIC) program which are already funded to count as the matching contribution. Usually such grants get a rubber stamp from the receiving municipal government, but this project rankled Darnell, and the other commissioners agreed. Only Commissioner Nancy Boxill, who abstained in the vote, saw an upside. "This would allow people such as diabetics and those with food allergies to get some counseling they might not otherwise be able to get anywhere else," Boxill said. But Darnell said this was the "same old game" of giving dollars to bureaucrats for programs that have little or no impact on the lives of the people they are supposed to help. She said she would rather see the money go directly to food stamp recipients, rather than try to encourage them to eat better. "They would monitor their results by coming back and seeing how many people were eating more fruits and vegetables. We don't need this," Darnell said. For once, Chairman Mitch Skandalakis agreed with Darnell, saying he had no problem with sending the money back to Washington. http://www.appnews.com/0410return.htm