G.K. Butterfield, who will be my new congressman if the redistricting maps of the GOP legislature pass legal muster, got some attention this morning from The Washington Post:
Butterfield has helped obtain $817,500 over the past few years toward revitalizing buildings in Wilson, N.C. The lawmaker owns 19 properties within three-quarters of a mile of the project. The congressman’s spokeswoman said his properties are outside of the revitalization area. “The location of the Downtown Wilson buildings in no way influenced his decision to support the projects,” she said. “The City of Wilson developed these projects without his consultation or input, and there is no potential for Butterfield to personally benefit.”
Butterfield is among nearly 50 lawmakers whom the WaPo said might have used earmarks to enhance property holdings or to enrich friends an neighbors:
The process uncovered nearly 50 members who helped direct millions of dollars in earmarks to projects that either held the potential to enhance the surroundings of a lawmaker’s own property, or aided entities connected to their immediate family. Lawmakers said their earmarks and spending provisions were done to benefit the public, not their private interests.
Some of the connections made by the Post reporters are pretty suspect. If a lawmaker lives in a small community, it’s hard for some of their interests to be a great distance from the property that might have been the benefit of an earmark. Still, it’s good to get these things on record.
