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January 8, 2009

Indictments for a city councilwoman and a developer

Yesterday's indictments of Baltimore City Councilwoman Helen L. Holton and developer Ronald H. Lipscomb, the former boyfriend of Mayor Sheila Dixon, was not the atomic bomb that the probe into City Hall corruption could have yielded.

But they raise some intriguing political questions that remain unanswered. As our colleagues Annie Linskey and Julie Bykowicz reported, it is highly unusual for a an incumbent council member in heavily Democratic Baltimore to commission a poll, even if they are considering a run for city-wide office. (Holton was repotedly mulling a run for comptroller, if the position was vacant.) So why did she want a $12,500 survey? Who did the work? (The indictment names Company Z, which intrepid reporters will surely uncover soon.)

And why did Lipscomb agree that his company, Doracon Contracting, would pay for the survey? Lipscomb knows campaign finance laws well, and knows how to exploit loopholes. He knows -- because he has done it -- that a series of limited liability corporations can give campaign donations that, added together, exceed the state limit on donations from individuals and individual companies. Why didn't he use that technique, and the many LLCs he controls, to get money to Holton?

And just how influential has Holton been in getting tax breaks through the city council? Is there really a quid pro quo here? The biggest question of all will be answered soon: Will the mayor be snared in the state prosecutor's investigation before the current grand jury disbands this week?

So many questions. So much time passed during this investigation. So little time left this week.

Posted by David Nitkin at 10:01 AM | | Comments (1)
        

Comments

I am copying and pasting my e-mail to Ms. Marbella after reading her column this morning.

I feel so overwhelmed with political corruption.
All I want to do anymore is lay down and sleep away the unjust the people put up with year after year.
Not for my sake but for my kids sake.
Who are these people?
I don't know them, they don't know me but they affect every part of my being because of the power they hold.
I'm so frustrated.

Posted by: Carole | January 8, 2009 11:19 AM

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About the bloggers
Laura Smitherman has been ensconced in the State House basement, writing about the governor, General Assembly and vagaries of Maryland politics for several years. An erstwhile business reporter, her interest in politics dates to her days in Washington when she covered Congress and national campaigns for another media outlet. She now follows a range of policy debates from slot-machine gambling to universal health care and energy regulation, while keeping an eye on the next election.

Paul West covers Washington for The Baltimore Sun, continuing a tradition that began the month the paper was born, in 1837. He hasn't been in the DC bureau that long--only since Ronald Reagan was president. He's covered Congress, the White House and presidential campaigns as the paper's national political correspondent and Washington bureau chief. He's on the lookout for news of significance to Sun readers at the other end of the B/W Parkway. That includes the activities of the state's congressional delegation and anything else that might shed some light on the inner workings of the nation's capital.

Julie Bykowicz's first days as a political reporter, in January 2009, coincided with Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon's indictment and the start of the Maryland General Assembly's 426th legislative session. She focuses on coverage of state agencies, such as social services, juvenile justice and prisons. During the session, she wrote about the death penalty, slots parlors and speed cameras, among other hot topics. Julie began political reporting after more than seven years on The Baltimore Sun's crime desk. She lives in Baltimore and works primarily in Annapolis.

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