An ethics investigation into Dixon’s personal relationship with developer Ronald Lipscomb — including gifts and trips he gave her while she supported tax breaks and zoning changes benefiting his projects — could distract from the state prosecutor’s criminal probe, board director Avery Aisenstark said.
“That makes no one’s life easier if you have two different inquiries,” Aisenstark said. “Right now it’s before the grand jury. Let that play out.”
The city’s ethics board cleared Dixon in January 2007 following a yearlong investigation of the role she played in approving contracts with Utech, a firm that employed her sister, Janice Dixon. Aisenstark said that probe was a response to a complaint specific to Utech and Janice Dixon, and did not delve into Dixon’s relationships with other companies.
Details of the state prosecutor’s investigation were disclosed in an affidavit first reported Tuesday by The Sun. It describes a $2,000 gift certificate to a local furrier Lipscomb gave Dixon and trips to Chicago, New York and the Bahamas he may have paid for.
Public officials may not accept any gifts from anyone who does business with the city, according to city code.
“The mayor admitted that she exchanged gifts with a developer who had business before the city,” Ryan O’Donnell, director of public watchdog group Common Cause, said in a statement. “Baltimore’s ethics code would seem to prohibit that in no uncertain terms. Still, we can’t rush to judgment until we see all the facts emerge.”
Aisenstark said any civil penalty imposed by the ethics board would be less severe than criminal penalties. The five-member board has two vacancies after former chairman and University of Baltimore President Robert Bogolmony and former member Kristin Mahoney resigned earlier this year.
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