In response to a letter sent to him earlier this week, David Strickland, who heads the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), called today to inform Senator Susan Collins that the agency is committed to finding additional funding to fund a grant request from the Town of Fort Kent.
At issue is the recent decision by NHTSA to deny Community Voices, which is an entity of the Town of Fort Kent, a $175,000 grant under the Limiting Teens Access to Alcohol Program. The grant was to be used to fund a pilot project that aims to curtail incidences of teenage drunk driving. According to an email sent by the contractor that rendered the decision to deny the grant, the funds were declined because Fort Kent is “WAAAAAAYY off the beaten path,” a comment that angered many people including Senators Collins and Olympia Snowe. Senator Collins wrote to Administrator Strickland and asked him to look into the agency’s earlier decision to deny the grant.
In a phone call today, Administrator Strickland told Senator Collins that “upon review, NHTSA determined that the finalists were close; each had a strong application. NHTSA is committed to finding additional funding to ensure that all qualified applicants are included in the pilot demonstration.”
Senator Collins said, “This is very good news. This grant will help fund an important program that examines ways to put a stop to teenage drunk driving—an enormous concern in Maine and throughout that nation—and the Fort Kent program that will undertake this work is immensely qualified for this endeavor. I am grateful to Administrator Strickland for taking the time to reexamine the grant application.”
In her earlier letter to Administrator Strickland, Senator Collins wrote, “I wish to add my concern to that of my colleague, Senator Snowe, with regard to the manner in which a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration contract officer recently dealt with Community Voices Coalition in the Town of Fort Kent, Maine. As you are aware, Community Voices applied for, and I understand was a strong contender for, a Limiting Teens Access to Alcohol grant for an important pilot program aimed at curtailing teenage drivers from drunk driving in Maine and throughout the nation. It is truly troubling to learn that this contract officer stated in an email to community officials that Fort Kent was not awarded the grant because, “Fort Kent is WAAAAAAYY off the beaten path” as compared to the other applicants.
“As a native of Aroostook County, where Fort Kent is located, I was particularly offended that the location of Fort Kent was held against the group that applied for the grant. This comment also raises a host of issues and concerns.”
Senator Collins asked Administrator Strickland to conduct a review of the grant process related to this matter, and to examine whether the contracting company followed the agency’s grant criteria.
Read the letter here...