photo from dailykos.com
The House That Todd Palin’s ‘Buddies’ Built
http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/20081013_the_house_that_palins_buddies_built/
Posted on Oct 13, 2008
First Dude Todd Palin has said he and some “buddies” built his lakefront home in Wasilla, Alaska, but an investigation by the Village Voice connects the home’s construction, if circumstantially, to the beneficiaries of a local boondoggle championed by his wife.
Village Voice:
THE $12.5 MILLION sports complex and hockey rink that is the lasting monument to Palin’s two terms as Wasilla mayor is also a monument to the kind of insider politics that dismays Americans of both parties. Six months before Palin stepped down as mayor in October 2002, the city awarded nearly a half-million-dollar contract to design the biggest project in Wasilla history to Kumin Associates. Blase Burkhart was the Kumin architect on the job—the son of Roy Burkhart, who is frequently described as a “mentor” of Palin and was head of the local Republican Party (his wife, June, who also advised Palin, is the national committeewoman). Asked if the contract was a favor, Roy Burkhart, who contributed to her campaign in the same time frame that his son got the contract, said: “I really don’t know.” Palin then named Blase Burkhart to a seven-member builder-selection committee that picked Howdie Inc., a mostly residential contractor owned at the time by Howard Nugent. Formally awarded the contract a couple of weeks after Palin left office, Nugent has donated $4,000 to Palin campaigns. Two competitors protested the process that led to Nugent’s contract. Burkhart and Nugent had done at least one project together before the complex—and have done several since.
A list of subcontractors on the job, obtained by the Voice, includes many with Palin ties. One was Spenard Builders Supply, the state’s leading supplier of wood, floor, roof, and other “pre-engineered components.” In addition to being a sponsor of Todd Palin’s snow-machine team that has earned tens of thousands for the Palin family, Spenard hired Sarah Palin to do a statewide television commercial in 2004. When the Palins began building a new family home off Lake Lucille in 2002—at the same time that Palin was running for lieutenant governor and in her final months as mayor—Spenard supplied the materials, according to Antoine Bricks, who works in its Wasilla office. Spenard actually filed a notice “of its right to assert a lien” on the deed for the Palin property after contracting for labor and materials for the site. Spenard’s name has popped up in the trial of Senator Stevens—it worked on the house that is at the center of the VECO scandal as well.
UPDATE 1-US Sen. Stevens to testify at his corruption trial
(adds details of Sen. Hatch's testimony)
By Randall Mikkelsen
WASHINGTON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens said he intended to take the witness stand in his own defense at his corruption trial, a step which would expose the veteran Republican lawmaker to questioning by prosecutors.
Stevens, who is charged with filing false financial disclosure forms with the Senate, was one of four witnesses scheduled to testify on Wednesday, and on Tuesday he told the judge he understood he had no legal obligation to do so.
Lawyers often regard testimony by the accused as a risky strategy, because of the possibility intense cross-examination by prosecutors could undermine the defense.
Stevens is charged with failing to disclose more than $250,000 worth of home renovations and gifts from a close friend, Bill Allen, whose oil-services company had major business in the state.
Stevens has said his wife, Catherine, who also may testify, was responsible for the family finances and for the renovation at their home in Girdwood, Alaska near Anchorage.
He said the family had paid all the bills it received for the renovation, but Allen said he did not submit bills for the entire project because of his friendship with the senator. Allen has pleaded guilty to bribing state lawmakers.
A guilty verdict would make Stevens's re-election bid more difficult, meaning the trial's outcome could influence the Democratic Party's attempt to tighten its hold on the U.S. Senate.
Last week former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, a Democrat, testified as a character witness on Stevens' behalf.
The defense called another character witness on Tuesday, Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, who told the jury that he has known Stevens for more than 30 years.
"He's totally honest," Hatch said, calling Stevens one of Senate's "most decent and honorable" members and describing him as "a very good person."
But under cross-examination, Hatch said he had never been to Stevens' home in Alaska and had no personal knowledge about the case. "All I know is what I've read in the newspapers," he said. (additional reporting by James Vicini) (editing by David Wiessler)
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