St. Petersburg Times Editorial
Published July 27, 2006

The Hillsborough County Commission is poised to throw millions of dollars at the New York Yankees
but deny money for the poorest children and families who actually live here. Are these really the
priorities commissioners want to endorse in an election year?

The board rejected a request last week by Commissioner Kathy Castor to spend $2-million to winnow
the waiting lists for Head Start pre-school programs. This is an opportunity to help some of the 2,000
children on waiting lists break the cycle of poverty. The board cut Castor's request in half. It also refused
to spend $3.3-million on a program to make services to the homeless more efficient. That is bizarre,
given what this county is spending to expand affordable housing and the effort the community is making
to address its growing homeless problem.

These cuts came a day after the board voted to spend nearly $100-million in the coming years to
renovate its pro sports facilities, including nearly $8-million at Legends Field, where the Yankees train
every spring - even though the Yankees are responsible for maintaining Legends Field and had not asked
for the money. Today's budget hearing gives the board a chance to readjust these priorities - to say, as if
it needed saying, the neediest deserve our help as much as America's best-paid athletes.