The Obama administration has taken credit for canceling or modifying more than 170 proposed projects to prevent waste in the $787 billion stimulus program, yet government records show projects similar to those rejected have received millions in stimulus funds.

 

The White House said the military rejected nine projects to renovate athletic facilities, for example, but contractors' reports show that the Pentagon paid more than $500,000 to refurbish gyms at installations in Maryland and Utah. Although the administration halted 48 communities' plans to apply stimulus funds to parks, it allowed spending on basketball courts in Milpitas, Calif., and a skate park in Michigan.

 

White House spokeswoman Elizabeth Oxhorn said of the more than 100,000 projects "there may be some ill-advised projects that have slipped through our review." She said the administration will evaluate "any dubious projects … and if they do not meet the standards set forth by the president and vice president, we will take immediate, appropriate action."

 

The administration, for example, decided not to use stimulus money to renovate a recreation center on an Army post in Alaska after USA TODAY asked about the project, Oxhorn said. The work would have included renovating a former warehouse into a facility featuring an archery range and golf simulator. The Army will use other funds for the $1.5 million project at Fort Wainwright because it was "not the wisest use of Recovery Act dollars," she said in an e-mail.

 

Pentagon spokeswoman Tara Rigler said in an e-mail that the Pentagon approved more than 4,200 stimulus projects "after a very careful review." She would not say why some projects similar to those rejected had been approved. "Providing specifics on these potential DoD (Department of Defense) projects that eventually did not go forward … does not advance the purpose of showing how (stimulus) funds are being spent," she wrote.

 

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., a stimulus critic, said the inconsistencies in project funding found by USA TODAY show the administration is "afraid to make tough choices" about spending.

 

In announcing last month that it had rejected or modified proposed projects, the White House said it wanted to ensure stimulus spending "meets the highest standards for creating jobs and boosting economic growth."

 

The administration statement, for example, said the Department of Housing and Urban Development rejected plans in four cities to use stimulus funds for skateboarding parks — a type of project Coburn had singled out for criticism. Still, the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe in Michigan reported it plans to spend a $476,000 HUD grant on park upgrades, including building a skate park.

 

HUD officials asked Long Beach to reconsider using $620,000 in stimulus money for a skate park, Councilman Robert Garcia said. The city agreed to spend stimulus money on sidewalks and flood control and used other money for the skate park, Garcia said. "We felt it was absolutely a worthwhile and credible project," he said of the skate park.