Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh has been on the board of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) for a number of years.

She also self published childrens books.

From 2011 through 2018, the University of Maryland Medical System had a deal to spend $500,000 for 100,000 copies of Pugh’s self-published book series. The system placed five orders of 20,000 books at $5 each while Pugh sat on the hospital’s board of directors

https://hotair.com/archives/20...ate-continues-books/

The passage of time and various requests for information from Mayor Catherine Pugh, the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) and the Baltimore City School District have not made this tale smell any better.

If she supposedly “sold” 100,000 copies of her self-published children’s book to UMMS to be distributed around hospitals and schools in the city, where are they all? The last order for 20,000 books may or may not have been canceled, but that still leaves a lot of books to account for. The Baltimore Sun has been digging for answers and as of yet, nobody seems to know. Some are beginning to wonder if the full quantity of books ever existed at all.

The Baltimore Sun has been unable to locate many copies aside from the more than 8,000 sitting in a warehouse with no paperwork indicating where they came from or what was to be done with them. Does anyone involved in this grifting scheme have anything to say to the public?

The fruit-themed book that’s being stored in a district warehouse is the third volume in the Healthy Holly series. It’s roughly 20 pages long and follows Holly as she accompanies her parents on a trip to the grocery store where, as a surprise, she gets to pick out the produce.

The Mayor has been asked if she would provide copies of her tax returns showing all of the money she received was accounted for as she claimed. She declined.

The Mayor has been asked if she would provide receipts showing that the books were printed and who they were distributed to. She didn’t even respond to the request.

UMMS was asked to provide receipts showing the books had been printed or distributed. They declined.

Baltimore City Public Schools officials were asked if they received the books. They said they “remember” one shipment sometime between 2011 and 2013, but no records are available.

The more we learn about this story, the worse it looks. And yet Mayor Pugh is shrugging it off as if nobody can lay a glove on her.

Pugh has resigned from the UMMS board.

After the Baltimore Sun started digging into the details, it turned out that eight other members of the 30-person UMMS board also had lucrative deals worth hundreds of thousands of dollars each. These range from consulting to pest control, covering any number of different goods and “services.”

https://www.baltimoresun.com/n...-20190318-story.html

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sdy,

Repeated across most of America on all levels.

She 'cooked the books'...

The Mayor is very lucky this came out the same time as the Mueller report. No, I did not expect the MSM to give it more than 15 seconds of coverage, but now they can ignore it.

https://hotair.com/archives/20...s-board-end-session/

Pugh finally stated that her “deal” to sell 100,000 of her children’s books to UMMS for a half million taxpayer dollars (and I’m quoting here) “was essentially a handshake agreement.”

Who in the world ever gets a $500,000 deal on a “handshake” with no paper trail, particularly when it’s taxpayer money being spent? Neither the Mayor nor UMMS has provided any sort of documentation. And why would they when the entire thing is such an obvious case of grifting?

But that Healthy Holly scandal isn’t all. The local newspapers have been digging hard and fast into all of the Mayor’s affairs since this news broke and other items are coming to light. For just one example, Pugh moved to a new home last summer. The job of moving all of her belongings went to Allen & Son Moving & Storage. Then, only a couple of months later, the owner of that moving company somehow was awarded a city-owned condominium for far below its appraised value. And who authorized the sale? The Mayor and the Board of Estimates.

The more rocks that get kicked over, the more it looks as if Catherine Pugh has been lining her own pockets and living quite well during her time as Mayor and even back when she was in the state Senate. More details of the self-dealing going on with up to a dozen other members of the UMMS board are expected to be forthcoming. This apple may be rotten to the core, and yet the citizens of Baltimore keep electing the same people over and over again.

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
https://hotair.com/archives/20...s-board-end-session/

Pugh finally stated that her “deal” to sell 100,000 of her children’s books to UMMS for a half million taxpayer dollars (and I’m quoting here) “was essentially a handshake agreement.”

Who in the world ever gets a $500,000 deal on a “handshake” with no paper trail, particularly when it’s taxpayer money being spent? Neither the Mayor nor UMMS has provided any sort of documentation. And why would they when the entire thing is such an obvious case of grifting?

But that Healthy Holly scandal isn’t all. The local newspapers have been digging hard and fast into all of the Mayor’s affairs since this news broke and other items are coming to light. For just one example, Pugh moved to a new home last summer. The job of moving all of her belongings went to Allen & Son Moving & Storage. Then, only a couple of months later, the owner of that moving company somehow was awarded a city-owned condominium for far below its appraised value. And who authorized the sale? The Mayor and the Board of Estimates.

The more rocks that get kicked over, the more it looks as if Catherine Pugh has been lining her own pockets and living quite well during her time as Mayor and even back when she was in the state Senate. More details of the self-dealing going on with up to a dozen other members of the UMMS board are expected to be forthcoming. This apple may be rotten to the core, and yet the citizens of Baltimore keep electing the same people over and over again.

Why Good Old Harry Reid got a cool $1,000,000 on a handshake deal to get a zoning change out in Nevada. His son sat on the zoning board. When the IRS asked for documents and where was the tax money, Harry told them the law firm, old pals of his, paid the taxes as part of the deal. When the IRS asked Harry for a copy of the contract, Harry said it was a handshake deal, no contracts. Then Harry told the IRS to go pound sand and they slinked away never to bother Speaker Reid again on it.

"Some animals are more equal than others."
_ George Orwell

...if she was more complex in her business dealings and a bigger thinker, she'd own a hazardous waste company, general contracting company or, uniform supplier that 'agreed to' a multi-year contract with said hospital. At $500k, she's an amateur.

Now Mid-Atlantic Kaiser Permanente is implicated, having spent >$100K on 20,000 Healthy Holly books, which they say they DID distribute.
Governor Hogan is apparently calling for an investigation and the mayor is calling in sick.
So much for Healthy Holly.

Balto Sun Link

sjstill's link above gets complicated

Pugh said she only sold books to UMMS

Now Kaiser Permante says it bought $100k of books from Pugh when it was trying to get a contract w the city.

This is in addition to the $500k UMMS buy.

It is unclear if the books that went to Kaiser were an additional printing, or a resale of books already sold to UMMS.

another story:

https://www.baltimoresun.com/n...-20190324-story.html

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, facing a call by Gov. Larry Hogan for a criminal investigation into a book deal worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, announced Monday that she will take an indefinite leave of absence because of her health.

The Democratic mayor’s office issued a statement Monday saying she had been advised by her doctors to take time to recover from a bout of pneumonia that hospitalized her for five days last week.

“With the mayor’s health deteriorating, she feels as though she is unable to fulfill her obligations as mayor of Baltimore city,” the statement read in part. “To that end, Mayor Pugh will be taking an indefinite leave of absence to recuperate from this serious illness.”

City Solicitor Andre Davis confirmed Pugh’s leave will start at midnight and that the mayor will continue to be paid her $185,000 annual salary.

Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young, also a Democrat, will take over temporarily as mayor. Young said in an interview that he was “heartbroken” by the mayor’s deteriorating health and that his first aim was to ensure stability in the city he will now lead.

“People shouldn’t notice any difference,” Young said. He said he will meet with city agency leaders, work crews and police officers because “I want to assure them that the city is going to be in good hands until the mayor recovers.”

After The Sun reported the Kaiser purchase, the Republican governor asked the office of the state prosecutor to begin a criminal investigation of the allegations against Pugh. State Comptroller Peter Franchot and City Councilman Zeke Cohen, both Democrats, called on Pugh to resign.

Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke said it was right for Pugh to step aside for now.

“It’s a tsunami here and we’re drowning,” Clarke said. “We need to survive as a city and to thrive.”

While Pugh and Young cast the leave as a temporary step, Councilman Ryan Dorsey said he does not expect Pugh to return to office.

Pugh, a veteran of almost two decades in Baltimore politics, secured the mayoralty by winning the 2016 Democratic primary, taking 37 percent of the vote to defeat a dozen other hopefuls.

Pugh’s chief rival in that election was former Mayor Sheila Dixon, who sought her old job back after being forced to resign after being convicted of embezzling gift cards for the poor.

It does seem as if the Baltimore Way is pretty pitiful small change embezzlement, doesn’t it?

Yeah, my favorite will always be Dixon stealing the gift cards!
The only good thing I can say about living in Maryland is that I don't live in Baltimore.

Just announced today was another great deal (for her) and her books with the MD auto insurance fund and another business.

Not sure what MAIF would be doing with her books.

But the books are for the "chill-rin"

https://www.baltimoresun.com/n...-20190402-story.html

State Prosecutor has opened investigation into Baltimore Mayor Pugh's 'Healthy Holly' book sales, her lawyer says

The Maryland State Prosecutor has opened an investigation into Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh’s sales of her self-published children’s books, Pugh’s lawyer said Tuesday.

“The mayor will be cooperating with that investigation to the fullest extent possible,” attorney Steven D. Silverman said in an email.

Republican Gov. Larry Hogan asked State Prosecutor Emmet Davitt on Monday to start an investigation of Pugh’s $500,000 sale of the books to the University of Maryland Medical System while she was on its board. Several members of the Baltimore City Council, all Democrats, said Monday that they supported Hogan’s request.

Silverman revealed the investigation was underway after The Baltimore Sun asked for details about other sales of Pugh’s books to health insurer Kaiser Permanente and nonprofit Associated Black Charities.

The purview of the state prosecutor’s office includes investigation of political corruption and violations of election laws. The office said Tuesday that it does not confirm or deny the existence of investigations.

On Monday, Kaiser Permanente and Associated Black Charities confirmed they paid Pugh a further $200,000 for copies of the books. Pugh had previously said that UMMS was the only organization that paid her for the books.

Silverman said Monday that the payments by Kaiser Permanente and Associated Black Charities were for additional copies, not the roughly 60,000 books the medical system had already paid for. He has declined to provide documentation that additional books were published.

Shades of Jim Wright!

quote:

Several members of the Baltimore City Council, all Democrats, said Monday that they supported Hogan’s request.

Lest anyone get the wrong idea here, Baltimore City is a one-party town. This literally means nothing. If Pugh falls, another D gets to be mayor and most of the City Council wants that office, so they have every incentive to undo her.

-Rob

quote:

Originally posted by Il Cattivo:
Shades of Jim Wright!

One of the absolute dirtiest SOBs ever to wander the halls of Congress.

And he was one of the Democrats, George Mitchell being the other, to talk Bush 41 into the big tax increase that sank his Presidency.



.

quote:

The mayor will be cooperating with that investigation to the fullest extent possible

The use of the word “possible” at the end of the sentence changes the meaning from the same statement without it. That “possible” implies that she will set the parameters on just where the “fullest extent” ends.

This morning we were up to $700k for Pugh's "books".

Now we are at $ 800k

Another "book buyer"

https://www.baltimoresun.com/n...-20190403-story.html

Businessman JP Grant says he paid $100,000 to Baltimore Mayor Pugh's Healthy Holly LLC in 2016

Columbia businessman J.P. Grant on Wednesday said his company cut a check for $100,000 to then-Baltimore mayoral nominee Catherine Pugh’s Healthy Holly LLC in October 2016. He said he received a copy of one book but no documentation of how his money would be used.

The revelation brings to $800,000 the public accounting of what Pugh’s book company received from local entities since 2011.

Grant described the payment in an interview, saying, “I want to be honest.”

Grant said he had forgotten about the arrangement until Friday, when he had an assistant check the records of the financial company he runs, Grant Capital Management. He said he subsequently recalled meeting with Pugh and agreeing to pay $100,000 to support what she had described as an effort to distribute the books to schoolchildren.

Grant’s firm has long done business with the city . And in December, Pugh voted as a member of the city’s spending board to approve a contract with the company to finance capital projects. The value of the contract will depend on what the city uses it to buy.

In addition to the book payment, Grant has been a major campaign contributor to Pugh. Pugh has raised $29,000 from Grant, his wife, his son, a company controlled by another son, and an executive at his company for her reelection. Grant contributed $6000 to her 2016 mayoral run.

His company donated $20,000 to her inaugural committee and gave the city’s official charitable foundation $85,000 to fund projects backed by Pugh to aid squeegee boys and teenage entrepreneurs, according to records obtained by The Baltimore Sun.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

good that he is "honest"