Healthy Holly - a book on corruption

[Boiler 43,430]

https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-healthy-holly-reax-20190401-story.html

 

A growing chorus of Maryland officials are calling for Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh to resign amid new revelations she had multiple deals to sell her line of “Healthy Holly” children’s books.

Pugh’s office issued a statement Monday saying she’d been advised by doctors to go on a leave of absence to recover from a bout of pneumonia that hospitalized her for five days. City Council President Jack Young will assume the role of mayor in her stead.

 

But she did not address new revelations that she was paid nearly $200,000 by Kaiser Permanente and Associated Black Charities for about 30,000 books. Kaiser was seeking a lucrative contract to provide health benefits to city employees at the time of the sale.

The news comes after Pugh said her only sale was when the University of Maryland Medical System paid her $500,000 for 100,000 books. Pugh was a member on the UMMS board of directors before resigning last month.

The Democratic mayor is facing increasing backlash and calls to resign from Maryland officials, who took to social media to voice their displeasure with Pugh.

[yuna628 9,528]

This is a huge scandal and kudos to The Sun and Baltimore Brew for digging deep on this. It's not just the books though... there's questions about deals and transfer of exact funds for a house (that still has city fines against it because it's in violation of city code), kickback actions she may have taken without recusing herself while a senator, contracts she gave out while both mayor and sitting on the board while taking money from competition, kickback deals she seems to have done with a contractor and a moving company, and a whole host of strange behaviors of late. While people remain extremely skeptical over health claims, she has looked not her usual self, and some believe she is experiencing mental issues. She is not at home and nowhere to be found. Rumor is she will resign soon. The State Prosecutor may be investigating and major lawsuits may be coming, not to mention this scandal has hit UMMS hard with an internal audit and Kaiser which has always been shifty.

[Dashinka 23,238]

Are the books actually any good?

[yuna628 9,528]

1 hour ago, Bill & Katya said:

Are the books actually any good?

Utter trash... but it's the butt of jokes around town. 

 

Yesterday had the Sun revealing that MAIF (uninsured motorists fund) spending vast amounts in a variety of ways to obtain these books, all the while she was sponsoring a bill that MAIF wanted (the head of MAIF also went on to work for her and holds a lucrative gov job). And the Brew's investigation turned up that the obscure and questionable contractor she used on the house also signed lucrative contracts with the city which may have cost taxpayers $100 mil. Jack Young has pulled some 90 questionable contracts.... but he and the previous mayor are not blameless in this and there is some evidence they had also been double-dealing. Former State Sen. Kelly and his sons resigned from the boards of UMMS in the continuing scandal that's unfolding because of all of this.

 

FWIW Hopkins seems to have stayed out of this mess, and has been sending around ethics instructions and tests to employees to help them avoid 'conflict of interests' and evaluate improper behavior.

[Dashinka 23,238]

4 minutes ago, yuna628 said:

Utter trash... but it's the butt of jokes around town. 

 

Yesterday had the Sun revealing that MAIF (uninsured motorists fund) spending vast amounts in a variety of ways to obtain these books, all the while she was sponsoring a bill that MAIF wanted (the head of MAIF also went on to work for her and holds a lucrative gov job). And the Brew's investigation turned up that the obscure and questionable contractor she used on the house also signed lucrative contracts with the city which may have cost taxpayers $100 mil. Jack Young has pulled some 90 questionable contracts.... but he and the previous mayor are not blameless in this and there is some evidence they had also been double-dealing. Former State Sen. Kelly and his sons resigned from the boards of UMMS in the continuing scandal that's unfolding because of all of this.

 

FWIW Hopkins seems to have stayed out of this mess, and has been sending around ethics instructions and tests to employees to help them avoid 'conflict of interests' and evaluate improper behavior.

Btw, did a search for the book on Amazon and I see she has another book going for big money.  Maybe trying to put together a legal war chest?

[Boiler 43,430]

Quote

These funds may have helped her win Baltimore’s tight Democratic primary, where her main advantage was that she had not, like her main opponent, embezzled gift cards meant for poor children. 

https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-op-0404-pugh-scandal-20190403-story.html

 

Sounds like a real winner.

[yuna628 9,528]

1 minute ago, Boiler said:

https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-op-0404-pugh-scandal-20190403-story.html

 

Sounds like a real winner.

We often called the previous mayor Sheila the Shoe (quite the expensive shoe addiction that she spent taxpayer money on) and then of course there was the poor gift card scandal. Blake (who followed) also had plenty of issues but was still just as tight with the other women. Pugh and Dixon was always known for being tough while on the council, and often had a severe dislike when O'Malley was in there (with his mob ties and other scandals he had).. most people didn't have a problem with her when she was elected as there was no other strong choices. But she has pretty much proven to be pretty ineffective and terrible. The police scandal a few months was bad enough at first.. now all this mess. She absolutely doesn't look to be in good condition 'mentally'.

 

And then.... there's THIS: https://baltimorebrew.com/2019/04/02/baltimore-auditor-resigned-after-feeling-pressure-to-accept-unsupported-numbers/

[Dashinka 23,238]

Definitely a winner.  Reminds me of Detroit back in the Kwame Kilpatrick days.

[Boiler 43,430]

CNN has an item about Chicago and the Mayor election celebrating 13 Black Women in office and guess whose picture is included, had to laugh.

[yuna628 9,528]

A major update to this case this morning. We had known that the State's Attorney was investigating her, and over the past month some info has trickled out. As of yesterday the acting mayor, Jack Young, had kicked out 6 of her aides, and fired 3 of them, including one who had previously embezzled funds. She has still been awol from any public view, and not even city officials seem to know where she is. Last update from a spokesperson said her 'illness' had not improved. The acting mayor doesn't want her back. However there is not much of a way in our charter to remove her.

 

This morning a very large number of FBI and IRS agents raided her multiple homes, City Hall, buildings relating to possible sham charities she had set up, and many more - including the office of her very prominent attorney, the largest personal injury firm in Baltimore. I'm not going to go into the rumoured possibilities that this is somehow related to Jared Kushner which would like blow my mind right now. Pugh continues to be an embarrassment and laughingstock of the city....

[Dashinka 23,238]

2 hours ago, yuna628 said:

A major update to this case this morning. We had known that the State's Attorney was investigating her, and over the past month some info has trickled out. As of yesterday the acting mayor, Jack Young, had kicked out 6 of her aides, and fired 3 of them, including one who had previously embezzled funds. She has still been awol from any public view, and not even city officials seem to know where she is. Last update from a spokesperson said her 'illness' had not improved. The acting mayor doesn't want her back. However there is not much of a way in our charter to remove her.

 

This morning a very large number of FBI and IRS agents raided her multiple homes, City Hall, buildings relating to possible sham charities she had set up, and many more - including the office of her very prominent attorney, the largest personal injury firm in Baltimore. I'm not going to go into the rumoured possibilities that this is somehow related to Jared Kushner which would like blow my mind right now. Pugh continues to be an embarrassment and laughingstock of the city....

Just curious, did the FBI/IRS agents invite CNN on these raids?

[yuna628 9,528]

25 minutes ago, Bill & Katya said:

Just curious, did the FBI/IRS agents invite CNN on these raids?

Local news has been on a stakeout of her house for months, so they seemed tipped off to what was going on immediately. We don't often get big outlets paying attention to what goes on in B'more. I can only remember a handful of times they cared.

 

Sources say she has fled the state.

Edited April 25, 2019 by yuna628

[Neonred 3,446]

Sounds like a real winner.  Any chance she will jump into the democratic presidential race?

 

Edited April 25, 2019 by Neonred

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

Sad to see this in America, but I doubt much will happen, as she belongs to the same ultra-protected class as SWWBTC.  

[TBoneTX 43,057]

11 hours ago, Neonred said:

Sounds like a real winner.  Any chance she will jump into the democratic presidential race?

She has demonstrated her eminent qualifications, so this action is certainly imminent!