John Doolittle
From Left Space
John Doolittle is the Republican "representing" the Fourth District.
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[edit] Money
According to the San Diego Union Tribune, Doolittle received $118,000 in campaign contributions from Randy Cunningham's co-conspirator, Brent Wilkes. In addition, Mr. Doolittle's wife, Julie, ran a fundraising firm Sierra Dominion whose only clients were friends of Jack Abramoff and Tom DeLay.
Doolittle voted against the environment on five recent important legialative roll call votes: Energy (House R.C. 132); Artic Refuge (House R.C. 666); Environmental Funding (House R.C. 88); Coastal Protection (House R.C. 192) and Fuel Efficiency (House R.C. 121).
[edit] Pork Barrel
On December 15, 2005, The Union, a newspaper for western Nevada County, reported that Doolittle had secured $3 million for eight projects in his district from a recently passed $65.9 billion federal appropriation, and that none of those funds fell within Nevada County borders, (which is entirely within Doolittle's district). Laura Blackann, communications director for Doolittle, called the newspaper claiming the story was incomplete and that "Nevada County didn't receive any money because they didn't ask for any." Text of News Article
Several Nevada County officials (Liberal and Conservative) responded that Blackann's comments were not true.Their response focused on the Dorsey Drive Interchange project, which the County Transportation Commission (CTC) has described as providing direct access to high use sites, including the only hospital within an hours drive. [1].
Nevada City's mayor, Conley Weaver, who is also on the CTC, told The Union that "The county begged. We said we'll do anything for money for Dorsey Drive." Weaver said Nevada City, Grass Valley [2], and Nevada County all passed resolutions asking Doolittle to seek federal funding for the Dorsey Drive project.
Blackann then further clarified her comments: "The Dorsey Drive project was submitted by the city for $11 million. It is such a large project it needed to be funded through the highway bill. (The most recent appropriations bill) doesn't fund projects that large." She said that "The congressman is going to try for the Dorsey Drive project next year." [3]
[edit] Squeezing Samll Towns
Dan Landon, executive director of the CTC, said that he was told recently by Doolittle's staff that "it also doesn't hurt to have a lobbyist". Sharon Atteberry, city administrator for the city of Oroville, said she had also been urged to hire a lobbyist by Doolittle's staff. "They encouraged us that a lobbyist is very important to any city or county government," she said. [4].
[edit] FBI Raid
The FBI raided Doolittle's Virginia home in April of 2007 to investigate his connections to ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The raid came shortly after his chief aide, Kevin Ring, abruptly resigned.
