Officials at the city of Little Rock have yet to distribute money from a relief fund they set up in the aftermath of the tornado that struck the metro area on March 31.
At a meeting of the Little Rock Board of Directors on Tuesday, Mayor Frank Scott Jr. was questioned by City Director Capi Peck of Ward 4 about the plan for distributing the money in light of the nearly six weeks that have elapsed since the tornado hit.
Scott reiterated his earlier statement that the money would go to organizations directly helping tornado victims while citing legal compliance and other steps that he suggested had to be taken before the money could be disbursed.
Local emergency management officials have worked to "make sure everything's in line" to avoid getting in trouble with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Scott said.
The mayor downplayed the possibility that individuals might be able to receive money from the relief fund, arguing that direct aid to one hypothetical resident could wipe out half of the funding. For another victim, $10,000 might go a long way, Scott said.
He said that "there has been a decision that most of the money needs to go to organizations that have been helping out tornado victims in that way."
The powerful EF3 tornado initially ripped through neighborhoods in west Little Rock before traveling across the Arkansas River and sowing destruction in more communities.
Little Rock municipal officials quickly set up the "Little Rock Cares Emergency Relief Fund" and encouraged people to contribute as a way to support tornado victims. According to the city's website, the fund is being overseen by the Little Rock Finance Department.
At a tornado-recovery news conference on May 2, Scott said the fund had received just over $300,000 in donations from 500 individual donors.
The funding likely would support organizations helping tornado victims, but officials would also try "to get some of these dollars to as many directly impacted individuals as possible," Scott said at the May 2 briefing.
Officials intended to share the plan for the distribution of the money at the next tornado briefing, Scott said at the time.
A newsletter the mayor's office subsequently issued on Monday said that "the Little Rock Cares fund is at more than $322,000, thanks to the generous donations of nearly 500 people."
At the city board's agenda-setting meeting Tuesday, Peck read from an email she said she received from an acquaintance seeking information on the distribution of funding from the tornado relief fund.
The citizen, whom Peck did not name, said he and his wife contributed twice to the Little Rock Cares fund but expressed dismay with the slow pace in getting the money out as well as the absence of any public accounting, according to the statement Peck read during the meeting.
Peck later indicated she agreed with Scott on the question of providing money to organizations versus individuals, explaining that she "would not even dream" of giving the funding to individuals.
She encouraged city officials to look at contributing to the Arkansas Community Foundation. People who donated to the Little Rock Cares fund were anxious to see "that we get on it," Peck said.
City Manager Bruce Moore clarified at one point that officials had compiled a list of organizations working in disaster relief locally, but no decisions had been made regarding allocations from the Little Rock Cares fund.
"This was just an initial effort to be able to identify organizations," Moore said.
Responding to Scott's request for input from city board members so that officials could move forward with decision-making, City Director Lance Hines of Ward 5 asked for assurances that money disbursed to organizations would help people fill the gaps left by insurance coverage or FEMA.
Hines argued against sending funding to "an organization that's got a high administrative cost." He also questioned why the city board had not been advised with regard to officials' efforts so far.
Scott referred to the legal component and "a whole lot of other stuff" while acknowledging that a few weeks for the city might mean "an eternity for others."