In an earlier blog, I blasted Massachusetts for allocating $25 million for the 230 or so Katrina evacuees airlifted to Camp Edwards, providing $108,000 in largesse for each man, woman and child in that group.
I stand corrected.
The actual EXPENDITURE was a mere $4.5 million, which translates to a little under $20,000 per person.
This, of course, doesn’t include private contributions, and it doesn’t look at long-term estimates of housing, clothing and feeding people who will not be self-supporting.
$20,000 is still a good chunk of change, and probably most of that went to the army of paid professional staff at Edwards rather than to the evacuees themselves.
I still think the whole thing was really stupid, but maybe we’ll get a Cajun restaurant or two out of the deal.