Congressman Bennie Thompson's Town hall Meeting on the Stimulus Money

Town hall meeting on stimulus, Jackson Medical Mall

Money from The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has made its way to local communities. But as MPB's Lawayne Childrey reports there is still much to learn about the plan and how to use it.

“Again thank you all very much.”

There was standing room only in the Community room of the Jackson medical Mall as hundreds of community leaders gathered to hear 2nd district congressman Bennie Thompson. For about two hours he answered questions related to the 2.1 billion dollars the state will receive in stimulus dollars.

“If you assume that money is turned 4 or 5 times in the community, we could talk about an economic impact of about 10 billion dollars. I voted for it because our state historically from the benefit of the federal government otherwise we’d be in worse shape than we are in.”

The money can be used for everything from health, to law enforcement to new construction. But for Carroll County Chancery Clerk, Stanley Mullins deciding how to get started is already proving difficult.

“Our courthouse was build in 1876 and it houses the second oldest land records and marriage records in the state. And ah we don’t even have a vault to protect those records and I’m still not sure where to go to try to get that funding, you know what agency.”

The meeting gave K-12 Assistant . Superintendent for the Clarksdale Municipal School district, Pamela Felder, is clearer understanding on how the dollars may be used in her district.

“There would not be enough funding to do the construction of a new building but there would be monies available to address the needs of those buildings that need some updates.”

For information on submitting a stimulus grant application visit Grants.gov. For MPB News, I'm Lawayne Childrey.