The state Department of Public Welfare is spending nearly $20,000 to install a flagpole at its Harrisburg office building even as it looks for ways to cut public assistance programs and costs.
The Patriot-News of Harrisburg reported Friday that department officials defended the expenditure as a small price to satisfy some employees who are service members and are being moved from a leased space nearby. But some other veterans thought the price tag was steep.
Kit Watson of the Pennsylvania American Legion told the newspaper he'd get in trouble for buying a $20,000 flagpole, and questioned why one couldn't be moved from the former Scotland School for Veterans' Children.
Robert Gray of the Military Officers Association of America says the department could've found someone to donate the money.
