6.24.2008

Influence Peddling



http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-te.md.ci.dixon24jun24,0,7363358.story

Prosecutors are investigating whether Baltimore Mayor
Sheila Dixon
received thousands of dollars in gifts - including fur coats -
from a prominent developer whose projects benefited from tax breaks and zoning
changes she supported as City Council president, a document obtained by The Sun
shows.Court records, drafted by the state prosecutor's office in November,
indicate that Dixon also went on lavish trips to Boston, the Bahamas, Chicago
and Colorado with the developer, Ronald H. Lipscomb. In one instance, the two
left Baltimore for New York by train hours after she had voted to approve a tax
break for one of his company's largest projects.

I wish I could remember that other large Midwestern city where this sort of thing is de rigeur.