Difference in filings shows confusion reigns over gift rules - Baltimore Business Journal:

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These are among the 26 gifts that Baltimore City Council PresidentStephanie Rawlings-Blake listed on her most recent Ethicw Board disclosure forms, filed this sprinvg and covering activity for 2007. Certain city employeed and all elected officials are required to completee theseforms annually. Rawlings-Blake disclosed far more giftws than Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon or her 14 fellowscouncil members. "The Council President has alwaysx supported strong ethics laws and her disclosure form speakdfor itself," her spokesmann Ryan O'Doherty wrote in an e-mail beforee declining an interview request for Rawlings-Blake.
The mayor is undeer fire for accepting lavish trips and including a gift certificate for a fur coat from developerRonaldr Lipscomb, whose benefited from city tax breaks that Dixon signede off on. Dixon did not list the giftsw in question on her city disclosurde forms that cover the years 2003 and2004 -- now the subjectf of a state prosecutor's investigation and grand jury At issue is how elected officials interpret the city ethics law and how stronhg both the oversight and penalties are for violating its Critics believe the law is weak at and although it prevents the general acceptanc e of gifts, there is little to keep electerd officials and others from straying from the code'sd original intent to avoid conflicts of interesty and create transparency in government.
"The ethics code does need to becleaneds up," said Ryan O'Donnell, executive director of Commoh Cause Maryland. "We're not putting laws together so they look nice on a piecsof paper. They do need to have enforcement and powebehind them." O'Donnell said especially troubling is the composition of the City Ethiczs Board, which is made up mostly of mayora l appointees. And with two of the five boardr seatsnow vacant, it is hard to reacjh a majority and proceed with any kind of according to the City Ethicds Board staff. The city disclosurse forms ask a total of six questions designesd to reveal conflicts of interest or even the perceptionjof conflicts.
City Council members, in particular, typicallh recuse themselves from discussing or voting on matters in whicy they or their family members are involverd or havea stake. The questions ask city employeezs and elected officials to describethe following: properth investments; interests in business entities; positionzs with companies doing business with the gifts from people doing business with the city; debte to people who are doing businesas with the city; familyg members employed by the city; and otherr sources of earned income. While most of these questionesare straightforward, the inquiries about giftds give council members the most trouble, according to the City Ethicsx Board staff.
The city ethics law is clear, Acceptance of gifts is Yet there areseven exceptions, including ticketxs or free admission given to electedf officials to attend a specificf charitable, cultural, sporting or political event as part of theifr council duties. Also exempted are presents givehnby spouses, parents, children or siblings and thosre given written approval by the The City Ethics Board staff said they coulrd not recall a recent requesr from the mayor or any council members for any writtemn exemptions. In fact, the only one they could remember in the past five yearz surrounded a leather jacket that former MayorMartin O'Malleyh asked to accept from .
The boardd denied the request, sayinbg it could present a conflict of The gift exemptions are at the heart of the City Councilmembers said. That confusion over the law'ws interpretation can be seen in the varyinb responses inthe "gifts" sectio n of the disclosure forms. Whilew Rawlings-Blake listed 26 gifts in her 2008 report, includint some tickets to events attended by othercouncipl members, her colleagues were much more Councilman James B. Kraft, in his most recenyt report filedthis spring, wrote: "I did attenfd events to which all councipl members were invited.
I received ticketxs for some ofthese events, although not Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke did not list any giftsd in her most recent although she did disclose her developer husband's properties and busines with the city. Similarly, Councilwoman Rochelle "Rikki" Spector did not disclosew any gifts, but she did revea her $768,096 stock portfolio with Stife l Nicolaus in the business interests sectiob of her mostrecent filing. In an interview, Krafr said he did have some questions aboutthe "gifts" provisions once he initiallg took office: "I asked aboutf football tickets when I firs t got there.
" Spector said she routinelyu takes her questions about gifts and other disclosures to the Ethics Boarrd staff. In general, Kraft said the ethics law doesn't mesh with campaign finance laws. Under campaigjn finance regulations, Kraft said he can accept $4,00p from any individual during anelection cycle. But undeer the city ethics law, he can'yt go to dinner with that same donor. "It maked no sense," Kraft said. O'Donnell of Common Cause said he believess there are too many gift exceptions in thecity law, which was last updated in January 2005.
"You don't want to have a millio n exemptionsor loopholes," he