Napa Valley Wine Train wants to set Sen. John McCain straight on his stimulus money claims

"Top Chef finale season six filming at The Napa Wine Train

The Napa Valley Wine Train that was just featured on the final episode for Top Chef’s season 6 is in the quick fire again.

The Napa Valley Wine Train was mentioned in Senator John McCain’s "Stimulus Checkup."  According McCain's report, (page 14) $54 million was allocated to the Napa Valley Wine Train.

Which confused representatives of the Wine Train.

Melodie Hilton, director of marketing and public relations for the Napa Valley Wine Train, says she was shocked to hear this. And she would like Sen. McCain to get his facts straight.

”Fifty-four million dollars of stimulus money did not go to the Wine Train," Hilton says. "Not even close; it went to the flood control project that we’re smack dab in the middle of.”

The project was an award-winning living ocean river project that was approved by Napa residents. Hilton says the train just happend to be in the middle of all the construction.

” I don’t know how it happened," she says. "I don’t know how our name got on it but not a penny of money is going to the Napa Valley Wine Train.”

Hilton says she doesn’t know how the Napa Valley Wine Train's name even got in the report; she says McCain didn’t do his homework and that no one from the train or any of the city officials received phone calls or letters verifying the information.

Photography by Jim Barrett

Several attempts were made to reach Sen. McCain for this story, but a staff member said he was out of the office and he never returned the phone calls.

Napa's Public Information Officer Barry Martin says the Napa Valley Wine Train don’t deserve the negative publicity; adding that he feels the report is just plain mean. Martin has worked very closely with the flood control project and also serves as Napa's community outreach coordinator.

Martin adds that the wine train has been a tremendous boon to downtown Napa for many years by adding tax revenue and jobs. He says the way they’ve been smeared by this bogus report is just shameful.

”Neither of the senators that signed off on this report have any concept what a flood project is about and they are just trying to score political points against the current administration,” Martin says.

Martin also says the report mentions sideways remarks against the contractor and the contracting process: “That contractor was carefully selected and negotiated with during the previous presidential administration so they’re pointing fingers back at themselves."

Hilton says she wants an  apology from McCain. She'd even like him to come to Napa, meet with officials and see, first hand, what the money went to and how the train simply got caught in the crossheirs of a political move.

• See the Wine Train on Top Chef