CLEVELAND - A privately owned bridge over the Ohio River owned by a campaign contributor to Rep. Bob Ney would be demolished under a provision that Ney has inserted in a transportation bill making its way through Congress.
The St. Clairsville Republican has obtained $1.7 million to demolish the Bellaire Bridge, a rundown bridge in eastern Ohio that has been closed since 1990. The bridge's owner, Roger Barack, and his wife have given more than $6,000 to Ney's congressional campaigns, most recently in 1997, and Ney rented office space from Barack, the Plain Dealer reported Sunday.
Ney, a Bellaire native whose district included the city before redistricting, said the money would address a problem getting worse and is not intended to help a friend. Ney spokesman Brian Walsh said the two have not seen each other in more than two years. ``I'm trying to do the right thing,'' Ney said Sunday.
Ney, chairman of the House Administration Committee, previously has been connected to Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who is being investigated by a grand jury and two Senate committees for charging several Indian tribes $80 million to represent casino interests.
. . .
Critics, including Rep. Ted Strickland, a Democrat who now represents Bellaire, say Ney is inappropriately trying to use federal dollars to bail out Barack. ``It seems puzzling to me that public dollars would be used to tear down a bridge that is owned by an individual,'' Strickland said.
http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/11773133.htm
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