JOBS Ohio loses to Miss. for new NASA center

Rep. Dennis Kucinich said Ohio should have been chosen because its economy could use a boost.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- NASA Glenn Research Center, already facing major job cuts, lost its bid Monday to land the space agency's new administrative center and 500 jobs.
Local leaders expressed disappointment with the space agency's decision to select the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi over a site in suburban Cleveland.
U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, questioned how President Bush could allow Ohio to lose out.
"It's incredible that the administration, which won the election with the help of Ohio, would kick Ohio to the curb," Kucinich said. "It's hard to understand how it could happen. It shows where the administration's priorities are. Apparently, they don't need Ohio anymore."
The news comes three months after NASA Glenn learned it would lose 700 of its 1,900 jobs by the end of 2006 as the space agency cuts back on aeronautics research.
NASA Glenn was working with the city of Brook Park in its bid for the administrative center, which will consolidate NASA's financial management, human resources, procurement and information technology now located around the country. NASA has estimated annual savings from consolidation at $6 million a year.
Finalist
NASA Glenn's Brook Park site was named a finalist last month and was competing with bids from Alabama and Mississippi.
"NASA kept this bidding process rather tight, but it seems that the Mississippi center was able to put together a better bid from a cost standpoint," Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, said in a statement.
Kucinich said he believed Brook Park and NASA Glenn proved it was the best choice.
"Considering the fact that Ohio's economy is struggling, considering the fact that the poverty level in Cleveland is among the highest in the nation, you would think that the administration would take that into account in terms of where to locate the center," Kucinich said.
Marcie Ridgway, spokeswoman for Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, said the senator was disappointed with the decision, but believed the bidding process was nonpolitical and based on which site would provide the best value for NASA.
Julian Earls, director of NASA Glenn, said they submitted a quality proposal and that the competitive process was positive for the space agency.
NASA Glenn consists of 24 major facilities on 350 acres near Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and the 6,400-acre Plum Brook Station in Sandusky.