-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: August 10, 2007 5:31:59 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Republicans in Congress Not Only Liars and Thieves but
FORGERS
Report shows someone
'edited' federal transportation bill
Phrase 'Coconut Road interchange' was slipped into $10M earmark
AFTER congressional vote
By Julio Ochoa
August 9, 2007
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/aug/08/
lee_county_metriopolitan_planning_organization_rel/
The words "Coconut Road interchange" were not in the federal
transportation bill approved by Congress in 2005.
Those words were attached to a $10 million earmark sometime after
the House and Senate votes but before the president signed the bill
into law.
Within that time, someone with access to the bill deleted the
earmark’s original language that would have given $10 million more
for widening and improvements to Interstate 75 and attached the
phrase "Coconut Rd. interchange I-75/Lee County," according to a
study by a former federal official who lives on Sanibel Island.
At the time, the interchange was not in Lee County’s 30-year plans.
"It’s amazing. That is all I can say," said Don Eslick, chairman of
the Estero Council of Community Leaders, which opposes the Coconut
Road interchange. "It certainly tends to point the finger at (Don)
Young," the Republican congressman from Alaska who was chairman of
the Transportation Committee when the bill passed in 2005.
Young visited Southwest Florida in early 2005 to attend a town hall
meeting.
While in town, Daniel Aronoff, a wealthy part-time Naples resident
who owns property east of Coconut Road and would benefit from the
interchange, held a fundraiser for Young.
Many believe the fundraiser and Aronoff’s financial influence were
the reason Young allegedly earmarked money for the interchange.
The report by Darla Letourneau, a former deputy assistant secretary
for the U.S. Department of Labor, also states that Lee County does
not lose the $10 million if it doesn’t proceed with a study of the
controversial interchange, as some politicians have professed. In
fact, county leaders could follow an established process to change
the bill’s language so the money could be used for other more
pressing projects within the county, Letourneau wrote in the report.
The new information made local leaders Wednesday further question
the motives for the earmark and consider changing a controversial
decision to study the interchange once again.
"My feeling is that we’ve been operating in a fog for the past year
and a half," said Carla Brooks Johnston, chairwoman of the Lee
County Metropolitan Planning Organization, who asked Letourneau to
look into the issue.
"This money really should be designated for a higher priority,"
added Lee County Commissioner Ray Judah, who is also a member of
the MPO. "It should have been spent for I-75 to begin with."
The language within the earmark was changed during a process called
"bill enrollment," when technical corrections are made to
legislation before being sent to the president. Such corrections
include changes to punctuation, section numbers or updates to
reflect final actions taken by the House and Senate.
"This goes beyond the intent of the technical corrections process,"
said Keith Ashdown, a researcher for the Taxpayers for Common
Sense, a Washington, D.C., watchdog group. "It’s supposed to be
about getting your punctuation right, not about making sure that
your major benefactor is getting their pork."
The correction process can often be rushed, between the bill’s
passage and its signing, Ashdown said. The change was made on page
367 of the 800-page bill.
"This is not how the process is supposed to work," he said. "I’ve
seen little gimmicks and little tricks used to make sure somebody’s
friend or contributor is taken care of but this is by far one of
the more underhanded, surreptitious examples I’ve seen — ever."
Young could not be reached for comment.
Letourneau’s report also outlines a process by which Lee County
leaders can reallocate the money, despite what they have been told
in the past. In letters to county leaders, Young and U.S. Rep.
Connie Mack, R-Fort Myers, warned that the money could be lost and
future funding jeopardized should it be rejected.
The process to reallocate the funding would take legislative
approval, but is a common practice that only requires a sponsor,
Letourneau said.
"If this had come to light right after the bill had passed, there
would have been a very quick technical amendment," she said. "This
should not have happened."
Jeff Cohen, Mack’s chief of staff, said the congressman will follow
the will of the people.
"We support the need for local leaders to make local decisions and
will continue to support their decisions," Cohen said.
Local leaders have until 2009 to request a change. In the meantime,
the state could use some of the money for another project as long
as it is repaid when the funding is reallocated.
The decision to continue with an interchange study or use the money
for something else is up to the MPO, said Johnston. Needed
improvements to Corkscrew Road and Bonita Beach Road are worthy
alternatives, she said. The MPO’s next meeting is on Aug. 17. A
discussion on the interchange is already scheduled.
After more than a year of discussing the issue, Johnston made a
successful motion in the spring to move forward with the study as
long as environmental protections were in place and the MPO was
involved in all decisions.
But she never felt confident that she had the whole story.
"I believe in looking at the law and official records of the
documents," Johnston said. "We are not a country of people’s
opinions. We are a country of laws and that is how we make our
decisions.”
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