Thursday, May 10, 2007

Rail trails and campaign dollars

Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus was a key participant in a workshop Tuesday on the Harlem Valley Rail Trail, which was the basis of a story in today's Journal. Another key participant in the workshop was Clough Harbour & Associates, the design firm that is working on the rail trail for the county.

Straw Poll footnote: Clough Harbour also is a contributor to Steinhaus' campaign committee – at least $2,000, according to online records maintained by the State Elections Board.

Is this notable? Maybe. Maybe not.

Clough Harbour, after all, has spread thousands of dollars in campaign cash all over New York's political landscape. Eliot Spitzer's successful campaign for governor last year benefited from the firm's donations. So did John Bonacic, the Republican state senator from Orange County.

As for Steinhaus, he hasn't limited his corporate donor pool to Clough Harbour, either. His January campaign finance disclosure includes the names of a major developer (Ginsburg), a fitness center chain (Arteaga) and a Hyde Park lab that tests well water (Smith).

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