Meanwhile, my attention remained focused on a flawed UDAG funding formula, which, since December 1983, had changed a national program into a regional one.
Gilliam said Pierce took a direct role in a proposed UDAG project at Hampton Institute, a predominantly black college in Virginia.
Des Moines normally would never qualify for a UDAG because as a relatively well-off area it flunks the "economic distress" test.
To that end, the equitable distribution of UDAG funding stands to go a long way toward serving the development needs of not only Iowa, but all of America.
Seven developers were involved in 25 different projects that received nearly $240 million of a total $2.6 billion in UDAG funds.
The point is we now have a system that allows the UDAG program to go beyond a few states in the Northeast to begin serving taxpayers throughout the country.
One argument aimed at UDAG in the past was that money went disproportionately to Northeastern areas.
According to the museum foundation, the federal UDAG funds were used in refurbishing the pier where the Intrepid is permanently berthed.