Chief took $1,200 trip from Motorola

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Baltimore City Fire Chief William Goodwin accepted money for travel from an employee of Motorola, a company that supplies the city with communications equipment, according to financial disclosure forms obtained by The Examiner.

He accepted more than $1,200 for tickets, hotels and meals, according to 2006 financial records filed in the city.

Goodwin listed the travel as a gift from Cynthia Leighton, director of Motorola’s Public Safety Markets.

City supervisors must file annual financial disclosure forms, listing any gifts received from companies doing business with the city.

Fire department officials said the gift did not represent a conflict of interest, even though Motorola supplies radio equipment for the department. The city’s Board of Estimates and finance department approved the trip, said Goodwin’s spokesman Rick Bennetti.

“The trip met all the standards under the ethics code,” he said.

Leighton paid for Goodwin to attend the Fire-Rescue International 2006 Conference in Dallas. The event is a gathering of fire officials sponsored by the International Association of Fire Chiefs, a nonprofit trade group that represents more than 12,000 fire chiefs and emergency officials worldwide.

The conference included seminars on firefighting techniques, safety and personnel issues such as hiring and recruiting. Benetti said Goodwin gave a speech on emergency communications.

“It was a speaking engagement on the real-world, practical application of Motorola electronics,” he said.

Expenses included $486 for an airline ticket, $467 for hotel room and $300 for meals, records show.

Motorola spokesman Steve Gorecki said that Goodwin’s trip was not unusual, and that the company often pays for fire officials to attend conferences and dicuss their products.

“For Motorola to be involved with high-level conferences like this one, we need a fire chief to get in the door,” he said.

Gorecki said that Motorola carefully reviews travel expenses for customers paid the company.

“A lot of due diligence is done is in this, Motorola has an extreme code of business conduct,” he said.

sjanis@baltimoreexaminer.com

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