Prominent Ties Among Comcast Hires

Josey said she was hired solely for her skills and experience. "They were looking for somebody who knew people and could help them establish a local presence."

The Comcast employee with access to the highest-ranking politician in Maryland, though, is Kendel Ehrlich.

The first lady, a former prosecutor and public defender, has worked for Comcast in a variety of capacities since her husband served in Congress. Shortly after the couple came to Annapolis, she moved from Comcast's legal office to a Comcast job described in disclosure forms as "education liaison."

In June 2003, when the governor vetoed a bill that would have stopped Comcast and other companies from shifting the state tax burden to Delaware holding companies, the advocacy group Progressive Maryland publicly questioned whether the first lady's job posed a conflict. The governor's office dismissed the allegation.

Soon after, a pregnant Kendel Ehrlich announced she was leaving Comcast to have her second son. There was no public announcement when she returned, but her salaried job as a "production manager" reappears on her husband's disclosure forms for 2004. She is not required to disclose how much she is being paid and would not say, when asked.

Her return came as Verizon was beginning to offer cable television over its fiber optic phone lines. In Indiana, Missouri and elsewhere, Comcast has tried to block Verizon by appealing to state officials.

In Virginia's legislature this year, Comcast and other cable companies have lobbied furiously against a bill that would give Verizon short cuts around local franchise rules. Verizon officials said that battle will come to Maryland inevitably.

Kendel Ehrlich declined through her spokesman to be interviewed about her show, but each segment opens with an explanation of her motivation.

"I got involved in this project because I'm a mom," she says. "I have a 5- and a 1-year-old, and I'm trying to guide them through life. It's not easy. In fact, it's pretty scary."

In each episode, she interviews people about addiction. She talks with the wife of the Colombian ambassador, whom she asks, "Coming from a supplier nation, what is it like?" Talking about drugs with a group of Anne Arundel Community College students, she asks: "It's all about instant gratification, right?" In the final episode, she reenacts the cross-examination of a drunk driver. "That was a fatal decision, wasn't it?" she presses.

In the credits, she directs special thanks to Burch.

Burch, 55, is a University of Maryland graduate who has served on bank boards and with charitable organizations in the Baltimore area and has become friendly with many of the state's power brokers.