$1 Million Donation Helps Long Beach City Services
By Michael A. Bell, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.
Jun. 6–LONG BEACH — A $1 million donation from Mittal Steel after Katrina has helped the city buy a fire truck, rebuild the police station and begin construction on a senior citizens/recreation facility, city leaders said.
“It was a huge help,” Alderman Richard Notter said.
A caller to the Sun Herald’s Sound Off line asked how the donation from the steel company was being used to help Long Beach recover.
Mittal Steel, now Arcelor Mittal after a merger, is the world’s largest steel company. Today, its annual revenues are expected to be about $108 billion.
After the storm, the company decided to help Long Beach with the donation, but the city had to use the funds towards a certain criteria of rebuilding.
“You couldn’t just use it as you wanted it,” Notter said.
Mittal Steel provided consultants and engineers to the Friendly City free of charge to help draw up plans for rebuilding. It helped find matching funds for numerous projects, and helped in the city’s reconstruction of the library, which reopened last year.
Additionally, “Some of the money has been set aside for the non-reimbursements from FEMA,” Notter said.
Alderman Allen Holder said Mittal was the city’s biggest contributor to recovery.
“It wasn’t just a $1 million donation, it was the manpower,” said the alderman-at-large, adding there are still people from Mittal on the Coast.
“I don’t know if we could have done it without them,” Holder said. “I don’t know if we could be where we are in our recovery.”
The Sound Off “I’d like to ask the mayor of Long Beach or the Board of Aldermen something. I know after Katrina, Mittal Steel donated $1 million to the city. I’d like to know what that money has been used for, or if it has been spent. If it has been used, what has it been used for? There have been no improvements to the city. I’d like to know what that money is designated for or what it’s been used for. One million dollars is quite a large sum of money. Could someone tell me?”
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