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City Commission to look at hurricane relief

By BROOK GRIFFIN, Chronicle Staff Writer

Public pleas to the Bozeman City Commission for hurricane relief efforts may have been successful Tuesday night, but just how much the city contributes -- if any -- is unknown.


 Tracy Velazquez, a Bozeman resident and former candidate for the U.S. House, asked commissioners to redirect $4 million in federal funds from the proposed parking garage project downtown, to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

"We can't pass on disaster relief," Velazquez said. "This is fiscally, and morally the right thing to do."

Velazquez's comments were echoed by others, including Bob Dehlendorf, who said the tragedy outweighs a garage.

"There's so little understanding of what went on in the south," Dehlendorf said. "You (commissioners) could set a precedent that would blow the mind of the politicians in Washington."

Commissioner Marcia Youngman said the city should try to get more involved.

"It's a special time for special responses," Youngman said. Commissioners Steve Kirchhoff and Lee Hietala also said they wanted to see if the city could do anything for relief efforts.

City Manager Chris Kukulski said the money for the garage could not be used for anything else but a garage and not taking the money is no guarantee it would be used toward relief efforts.

"The money would stay in federal hands," he said.

Despite this, the commission agreed to put the matter on a future agenda to see if there is a way the city could get more involved in relief efforts.

Brook Griffin is at bgriffin@dailychronicle.com

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