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Coconut Road, The Other Side
To be fair in our coverage of Rep. Don Young's (R-AK) controversial $10 million Coconut Road interchange earmark, we should point out that there are locals who want to keep the extra-Constitutional language change. One of the more vocal advocates also appears to have a financial stake in the decision.
Last week when county authorities voted to ask Congress to use the money to widen Interstate 75, rather than for the pet project, there was some opposition. Heather Mazurkiewicz, who belongs to the citizens advisory board, which advises the Metropolitan Planning Organization, supported keeping the changed wording. According to theNews Press she was appalled that the county ignored her advice:
"I should be able to discuss the merits of this without a bias from you," she said. "We make recommendations to you. You don't make them to us."
As it turns out, Mazurkiewicz is married to a consultant who pushed for the project and attended the fundraiser that netted Young $40,000 right before the earmark appeared. Joe Mazurkiewicz spoke with the New York Times and CNN about the fundraiser and the funding. In his initial interview with the Times, Mazurkiewicz was a bit more candid about the fundraiser, saying he and other developers were looking for "a lot of money" and Young delivered. According to Young's contribution records, the Mazurkiewiczs gave Young's campaign $1,000 a few weeks after the February 2005 fundraiser.
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Comments (13)
Fred C. Dobbs wrote on August 24, 2007 4:09 PM:And the Southwest Florida Sleaze-a-Thon rolls on...
Dr. Wu wrote on August 24, 2007 4:33 PM:"As it turns out, Mazurkiewicz is married to a consultant who pushed for the project and attended the fundraiser that netted Young $40,000 right before the earmark appeared."
It's almost inconceivable that her actions aren't in violation of the conflict-of-interest policies that govern the "advisory board" she sits on, and it is possible that her actions are illegal. Anyone know the local District Attorney?
Anonymous wrote on August 24, 2007 4:36 PM:We folks in the rest of the country can only wish that this stuff was confined to Florida but alas... this bloodline has evolved to include the entire nation...
Will the person with integrity please stand up?
Anonymous wrote on August 24, 2007 6:13 PM:No! I will NOT pay you to stand!
code word "snake" need I say more
parrot wrote on August 25, 2007 2:17 AM:You don't say.
lunalegere wrote on August 25, 2007 7:19 AM:In a time of Fauxholes all its warriors believe in mammon .
Hector wrote on August 25, 2007 9:45 AM:Code fear : fear someone might be getting more
"We make recommendations to you. You don't make them to us."
I think the lady misunderstands at a pretty fundamental level. She, by her own statement, gets to make "recommendations to you". "You", if "the county authorities/Metropolitan Planning Organization" has the authority that its counterparts in any other county I know of have, gets to decide. They are, in an immortal phrase, "the decider guys (and gals)".
justsaynoemore wrote on August 25, 2007 11:19 AM:The local MPO has had the Coconut Road/I75 exchange on the books for 26 YEARS and already bought up the WEST SIDE exchange ROW. The plans and ROW are on the WEST SIDE of I-75. The supposed briber's land is on the EAST SIDE, where there is no plans for an exchange or road. Minor details, glad Heather and Joe are there trying to keep it all straight in the MPO's pea-sized brains.
Guy James wrote on August 25, 2007 12:15 PM:So then, you want us to believe that the value of the 4,000 acres the "briber" owns on the east side of the proposed exchange won't be affected? Other than a quid pro quo, what possible reason would a Representative from Alaska have for being personally involved in this project?
justsaynoemore wrote on August 25, 2007 10:56 PM:Um, because in 2005 he was the head of the Transportation Committee for the US House and it was his job to pass the bill with 6,000 nationwide transportation projects in it? I believe this is how Congress funds transportation projects, but I could be wrong since most of our money is now in Iraq. And since there are no plans for the East side of the exchange to be built, no road or access to this property could happen. I suggest you catch up in the Naples Daily News after Rep. Young's 2005 visit here, and perhaps concede that we need these feeder roads from the west to I75 for hurricane evacuation. I highly suggest you research the role of The Brooks Subdivision and local county Commissioner Ray Judah's role in this NIMBY exchange issue. And its really too bad our former Rep, Porter Goss, spent our transportation money during his tenure on building a new bridge to his home on Sanibel Island, maybe then we wouldn't have had to beg Rep. Young to come down here for a townhall meeting and get caught in the I75 traffic and be late to the meeting. But ole Porter was too busy realizing that cell phones can take pictures by male homosexuals at poker parties at the Watergate, sponsored by Jack Abramoff - ever wonder why he suddenly resigned? No wonder SWFL's transportation grid is a disaster, we built the bridge to nowhere in Florida, not Alaska.
Stuart Winer wrote on August 26, 2007 5:10 AM:The rules are crooked, and yet they still managed to break them..
At what point do we see Don Young led away in handcuffs? For christ sake, justice delayed is Justice denied and this guy - and whoever changed the language in that bill for him - both need some serious jailtime.
Donny the Elder wrote on August 27, 2007 9:49 AM:Dear Florida Road Planners - for the umpteenth time, No! I will not come down to the drippy hot South to look at your special interstate project unless you couple it with a fund raiser. I've got 48 other states and a few territories who'd otherwise love to have me visit. And if you've seen one interstate ramp, you've seen them all. So, put up or lose out.
PS: there's now a 25% surcharge added to my standard kickback deals in order to pay for my attorneys' retainers, retroactive to the last election. And I'm going to have to buy some more TV time in Alaska this coming year, so please add another 25% too. You can still backdate the checks, of course.
Anonymous wrote on August 27, 2007 12:01 PM:No follow up story in Alaska's media
ADN and KTUU let it drop again