We were incredulous earlier this week when we read an editorial from our sister paper in Lima, Ohio - so dumbstruck, in fact, that we had to share this story of "Government Handouts Gone Wild" with our readers.
It seems Allen County, Ohio, is seeking a federal grant to bring a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant to Lima. As The Lima News opined, "The actual process involves a more convoluted description, but we thought we'd cut through all that cheese."
Beth Granger, a project manager for the West Central Development Corp., last week told Allen County commissioners an application for a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant is apparently to bring in a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant. The county would get the grant and then fund the local developer through the revolving loan program. The $2.1 million project would create 30 jobs. We're guessing they won't be the high-paying manufacturing jobs that development officials use to justify spending tax money on private enterprise.
As if all that weren't bad enough, there already is a Chuck E. Cheese just down the street from the proposed location for the new pizza-and-animatronic-mice establishment.
Such is the joy of Community Development Blockhead Grants.
