The Board of Aldermen voted 3-1 Monday night to spend $20,000 to hire a lobbyist to seek federal grants for sewerage and road construction projects in the city.
"The more I think about this, the more I think this is a waste of taxpayer money," said Ward I Alderwoman Pamela Murray.
Murray said the lobbyist would be doing what the people elected the mayor and members of the Board of Aldermen to do. She said she called all Missouri offices of members of Congress and discussed with them the need for the funding. "It only took a few minutes," she said.
To help the tornado-stricken people of Dumas and surroundings, donations can be made to the Delta Area Disaster Relief Fund, care of the Delta Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 894, Dumas, AR, 71639, or through the Arkansas Community Foundation, 700 S. Rock St., Little Rock, AR, 72202.