Vernon
Joe
Q ..
Well, he liked the Capitol Hill scene didn't he?
Oh yes. Well, I think that his primary activity was being over on the Hill and briefing
A
Congressmen and senators all t h e time. He spent most of his time doing that I think.
That's probably why he wasn't ready for some of those meetings because he was so busy
off lobbying for one thing or another and trying to get projects. Now, he was one of
others who did things like Joe Auberg--1 know Joe Auberg worked for Alex. Joe would
tell Congressmen how to get around the laws and stuff like that. Some Congressman
would be wanting to do something and Joe would say, "Well, if you do this, you can get
it through.
Q ..
You can make a lot of money on the Hill doing that kind of thing, can't you?
A
Well, he was just giving away his advice. Finally, I guess, the Assistant Secretary's office
got so mad at him that they took him over in their office and then locked him in a room
where he couldn't talk to anybody. But he was always conjuring up some project or how
they could get it through. This was at a time when the President didn't want to spend any
money. He was giving Congressmen ideas on how to get their projects.
Q ..
I can think they would lock him away.
A
There was Gianelli trying to figure out ways to stop spending. But anyway, Alex was
kind of like that, too, in a way. He was there to help them in anyway he could. A lot of
them really didn't know how to go about promoting their own projects, and he would help
them.
Q ..
That really is one of the things that Gianelli and Dawson especially didn't like, wasn't it?
A
They didn't like that at all. They would have preferred not to have Civil Works people
going over and talking to Congressmen. As a matter of fact, I think they picked people
that they would let talk to Congressmen. They would call up the Director of Civil Works
and say, `Well, obviously Bory Steinberg can talk to them and Alex can talk to them. But
I don't want these other guys talking to them. They had their own people that they knew
would be pretty cautious about what they said and so forth.
Previous Page
