Here’s a mighty interesting twist on an earmark story that may have many of you asking if we are making it up, but we assure you, it is every bit the truth. What if there was, say, a Representative from Alaska, who was beholden to a certain SW Florida land developer for his generous political contributions, and that land developer just needed a teensy-weensy little favor in return, i.e. some money funneled into development of a road that would lead from a major interstate right to a large tract of land that the developer just happened to own?

And what if that Representative, who just happened to be Chairman of the House Transportation Committee, was able to wrangle some $10M in earmark money out of a house transportation bill to hand to the Floridians in Ft. Myers, FL, doing so in such a way as to make them believe it was for a much needed county project to widen I-75, only to find out that at the last minute, the earmark wording would mysteriously change from widening I-75 to building Coconut Road?

In this particular case, you’d have to stand in line to take turns getting at Rep. Don Young (R-AK) for trying to pull one of the boldest earmark switcheroos in recent history. Here’s how it went down:

-In a 2006 transportation bill, Rep. Young placed an earmark of $10M for the construction of a road known as Coconut Road in Ft. Myers, Florida, which would connect it to I-75, but it was sent back twice, so it was written in such a way as to have people believe it was to widen I-75 in Lee and Collier Counties.

-Bypassing the district’s own representative, Rep. Connie Mack (R-FL), Young proposed the earmark to widen I-75, but is being investigated for allegedly going in later and changing the wording of the earmark to something entirely different, supposedly as a to pay back to local real estate developer, Daniel J. Aronoff, for his generous $40,000 contribution to Young’s campaign days before the legislation was introduced.

-Just to tie up one more loose end, it is important to note that Rep. Connie Mack invited Young down to the area to show him how badly road improvements were needed and Mack was the person who introduced Young to Aronoff.

-According to a report in August, 2007, by a former deputy assistant secretary for the Department of Labor, the wording of the earmark had mysteriously changed--after being passed by Congress, but before being signed by the president—from allocating $10 million for widening and improvements to I-75 to adding the phrase “Coconut Road interchange I-75/Lee County,” which would specifically direct the funds to Coconut Road.

Here’s where it gets interesting. According to officials in Florida’s state, county and municipal governments, they had no idea of the origin of the earmark or why the monies were allocated to the area. One thing they all could agree on was that if SW Florida was going to get $10 million, it sure as heck wasn’t going to be spent on one road. They wanted the money to go for widening I-75 or other more worthy projects.

With that in mind, on August 17, 2007, in a packed meeting of the Lee County Regional Planning Council, the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) voted to reject the $10 million earmark, hoping that by sending it back, they could request it be re-sent for the purpose originally intended, the widening of I-75.

But then, the MPO was convinced by Rep. Connie Mack (R-FL) that if they rejected the $10 million, there was a chance they’d not receive any future allocations, and so they reversed their decision and decided to keep the earmark as is, even after learning the earmark likely came from some dirty dealings by Rep. Don Young, who, they since found out, only had his best interests at heart all along.

So, while an investigation into the why’s and how’s of this earmark and other dealings by Rep. Don Young seems to be ongoing, you’re probably wondering what happened to the taxpayers’ money. The $10 million ended up being $9.2 million after federal “adjustments were made and was used for improvements of I-75 at Bonita Beach Road and Immokalee Road, with an accord struck by the governments of Lee and Collier Counties to share the rest of the money.

And what of Young? He’s alive and well in Alaska readying himself for a run at his 20th term this year. Alaskans, albeit a bit tired of his antics, seem to still be behind him, so it looks like he’s got a pretty decent shot of staying right where he is, that is, as long as an indictment isn’t handed down, which seems to either be taking a heck of a long time or will end up being unlikely in the end.

Part two of the story of Rep. Don Young will take us back to Alaska and his involvement in not only the “Bridge to Nowhere” but another attempted bridge project that became known as “Don Young’s Way.”