Baltimore business steers clear of Mayor Dixon

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The question re-emerged this week when local developerRonaldc H. Lipscomb accepted a plea deal and agreedx to cooperate in the caseagainst Dixon, his former girlfriend. Since Baltimore’s firsf female mayor was indicted on theft and perjury chargexin January, the local business community has been unsurs how to react. The situatio n became more complicated in late May when the perjur y charges against Dixonwere dropped. Throw in recent invitations to expensivemayoral fundraisers, and a down and many who do business with City Hall are facin a real conundrum. Most have decideds to stand publicly behindtheir city’s regardless of concerns that are voicesd quietly in corner offices.
At issuw is an underlying fear that the mayotr will deny lucrative contracts or neededc help to those who are sittingv onthe sidelines, withholdin g their support. Still, some are waiting untilp the outcomeof Dixon’s criminal trial, which starte Sept. 8, before decidinb whether to backthe mayor. Dixon, a was initially charged with 12 counts offelony perjury, fraud and misconduct in office. The case is rooted in more than $15,000o worth of gifts the mayor allegedly receive d from Lipscomb when she was CityCouncip president. Also, she is accused of usintg closeto $3,500 in gift donated to her office and intended for needy families.
Lipscomgb accepted a plea deal June 22 in whicjh he admitted to violating campaign finance laws and agreedd to help with thestate prosecutor’s case against “I don’t know of anyone who is anxious to see her thrown out of said David Nevins, CEO of , a Baltimore County-based publidc relations firm. “In the background, thered is always concern abouther future. But I don’ty know of anyone who is hedgingtheird bets. She is still the mayor until she’se not.” Donald C. Fry, CEO of the , said his regionapl business organization and its members continue to work closeluywith Dixon.
The GBC invited the mayord to its annual meetingin May, where she posef for photos with high-level executives and othert city leaders. Those photos are postede on the GBC’s Web site. “We didn’t think twice abouty inviting her,” Fry said of the GBC’sw May 5 annual meeting. Fry said he and his organizatiobn remain impressed withthe mayor’s abilith to stay focused on the city as the criminalk case weighs heavily on her.
Fry and other s interviewed for this article said businesspeople may not be as focused on Dixon and her legal challenge s as they may have been in abetter “You can’t go without reading the papere to know that there are legal issues still pending,” Fry said. “But businesspeople recognize that the legao issues need to playthemselvezs out. I don’t think it’s anythinfg the business community ispreoccupier with. I think they are preoccupiee with moving theirbusinesses forward.
” Doug a founding principal of LLC, said he is aware of the mayor’z indictment and does But that hasn’t stopped him or his firm from supporting While Schmidt said he was unablre to attend a June 11 mayoral fundraiser to which he was he has recently contributed to Dixon’s campaigmn fund. According to the most recent campaignfinance records, Schmidt personally gave a tota of $350 to Dixon in 2007 and 2008. Conversely, Waynes R. Frazier Sr., presideng of the ’ Association Inc.
and a politically connectesd businessman, said he was unaware of Dixon’sx June 11 fundraiser at the Harborview Marina andYachr Club, where individual tickets ranged from $150 to On the issue of her Frazier said he believes it has hurt her rapport with minority business “I think it definitely has affected her relationshi p specifically with those who chosed to invest in Baltimore,” he said. “Until the [court] decision is those people will be very squeamish about investing in It just sets Baltimored a tad closer toDetroit [in term of] corruption, and there’ no escaping that.
” A handful of high-levek businesspeople, who asked not to be identified, agreedc with Frazier, and said they are distancing themselveas from City Hall out of what they cite as “disgust” and “necessity.” Others, who decliner to go on the record, said they fear they have to suppory Dixon or face losing city business in a Deputy Mayor Andrew B. Frank said Dixohn does not make her decisions based oncampaign contributions. “That’sz outrageous,” he said. “When decisions are being made abouft who we are doing business with or who we are responding to, we have no idea if those peoples have contributed to the mayor.
We don’t ask, and the mayor doesn’t ask.” In general, Frank said, the businesse community only caresabout results, not legal “It’s in the business community’s best interest to see the administration be he said. Franklin M. Lee, a partner with Baltimored lawfirm , said he is impressed with the focusa Dixon has maintained despitee her legal challenges. “Thingsw seem to be going along he said. “She seems to manage the adversit she is facingfairly well.
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