The White House response doesn't call inclusion of LB's 14th St. Park skatepark false but terms it misleading, saying the project "would be funded under the CDBG grant program, and no CDBG grants have been awarded yet."

In a related development, LBReport.com reported on June 16 that LB City Manager Pat West informed Mayor Foster, Councilmembers and other officials by email on June 15 that a Department of Housing and Urban Development representative had alerted City Hall to "an opinion piece [by Sen. Coburn] for [Tuesday's] news complaining about certain projects" and said the agency would prefer that skateboard parks not be used for stimulus dollars although it views them as an eligible use.

"[A]t this stage, [the skateboard project] continues to be an eligible use. HUD has not sent us anything in writing denying this project," City Manager West added in his email.

On June 2, the City Council approved authorizing city management to seek CDBG "stimulus" funds for a project to end chronic flooding on Arlington St. in WLB...and to fund a 14th St. Park skateboard project.

In its application to HUD seeking federal funds for the skate park, city management said it qualified for funding by (among other things) promoting "smart growth" and "reducing pollution emissions" as follows::

Description of how activity wil achieve above items:

The project is a "smart growth" in that it provides surrounding youth with a nearer local recreation choice that will reduce trips to faraway similar facilities within the City, hence, reducing pollution emissions.

Below is the White House response to Sen. Coburn's report in general, and its reference to LB's 14th St. Park skatepark:

[begin White House text]

A Second Look at the Second Opinion: Coburn Report Riddled With Falsehoods, Outdated Information and Misleading Assertions
A Statement from Ed DeSeve, Senior Advisor to the President for Recovery Act Implementation:

We have approved more than 20,000 Recovery Act projects to get America's economy moving again. The program is, overall, a great success. With 20,000 projects approved, there are bound to be some mistakes -- when we find them, we have been transparent about it, and worked on a bipartisan basis to shut them down immediately.

Sen. Coburn’s report, however, is filled with inaccuracies, including criticisms of projects that have already been stopped, projects that never were approved, and some projects that are working quite well.

If Sen. Coburn has found any problematic projects, we will address them immediately - but much of this seems to be little more than an objection to the Recovery Act itself, which Sen. Coburn opposed. As state officials in Sen. Coburn's own home state have noted, 'We have people working today who would not have jobs if the stimulus package hadn’t passed.'

[from responses to each project]

...

[citation to Coburn report]...A California skate park will get a $620,000 "facelift."...

Response: MISLEADING. This project would be funded under the CDBG grant program, and no CDBG grants have been awarded yet.