By Matthew Mosk and Eric Rich
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, March 7, 2006; A01
For more than a year, Maryland first lady Kendel S. Ehrlich has been executive producer and star of a largely unnoticed half-hour television talk show about drug and alcohol abuse.
Comcast Cable Communications Inc. paid her an undisclosed sum to host 16 episodes of "Live Right: Straight Talk on Substance Abuse," which can be seen only in the cable provider's on-demand library.
Ehrlich's day job represents more than an abrupt change in career path for the governor's wife, a lawyer by training. It also illustrates the reach of Comcast, the state's dominant cable provider with more than 1 million subscribers, as it has repeatedly given work to prominent public officials, their relatives or their friends.
Those hired by Comcast and its affiliates have included two members of the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, two sons of a key General Assembly committee chairman and former county executives from Prince George's and Harford counties.
Responsible for most of that hiring was Stephen A. Burch, who until recently served as president of Comcast's Atlantic Division, according to one former and one current senior Comcast official and some of the workers. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal, said that within the company, the recruits were known informally as "FOBs" -- Friends of Burch.
None of these politically connected workers has been accused of wrongdoing, and those who could be reached said they were hired on merit.
Still, dual roles such as these raise questions about possible ethics violations and conflicts of interest. Such hires also illustrate a discreet way that some corporations can seek influence with decision makers, not just in Maryland but on Capitol Hill and elsewhere.
"Comcast has to go before every governing body in the state for something," said Bobbie Walton, executive director of Common Cause Maryland. "If they're giving jobs to people because of who they are, it looks a lot like payola."
It is, said Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D-Montgomery), "quite clearly a conflict of interest."
In some cases, Comcast's personnel moves in Maryland came amid public policy debates affecting the company's bottom line. For instance, Comcast hired then-Sen. Thomas L. Bromwell's two sons shortly after the Baltimore County Democrat championed legislation that has enabled cable companies to collect millions in late fees.
Ehrlich was first hired as a lawyer by Comcast when her husband, Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R), sat on the House of Representatives' telecommunications subcommittee. She was brought back as a producer in 2004 -- as the cable giant began facing competition over franchises from Verizon Communications. That battle has not come before regulators in Maryland, as it has in some states.
Comcast spokesmen said the company has no reason to suspect that Burch's hiring decisions violated company policy but added that, because he has left to lead a British company, they would neither discuss nor defend his actions.
"Steve Burch is no longer employed by Comcast," said Jim Gordon, a company spokesman. "We are not in a position to comment on decisions made by or relationships entered into by former employees."
Burch responded in an e-mail that said: "To the extent I was involved in these decisions, my actions were appropriate, known to Comcast, and in compliance with Comcast policies."
Comcast's affiliation with Bromwell, the former chairman of the finance committee, has drawn scrutiny from federal investigators. The company received a subpoena in 2003 in connection with the probe that led to Bromwell's indictment in October on corruption and fraud charges, Comcast officials said. They said the company has been assured it is not a target of any probe.
Public officials working on the Comcast payroll say they have been careful to recuse themselves from votes involving the company.
That was the case in 2000, when Comcast was involved in talks with the University of Maryland, seeking a long-term contract to provide cable service in student residences and negotiating for naming rights to a basketball arena. At the same time, the company had a contract with the public relations firm run by David H. Nevins, a member of the board that oversees the university system.
A year after the $20 million deal for naming rights was struck, Comcast tapped Nevins to be president of its newly acquired regional sports network, Comcast SportsNet. He held that post until 2004.
Nevins, who now chairs the Board of Regents, has recused himself from votes related to Comcast, according to ethics filings.
His decision to accept the job at the sports network, though, might violate state ethics law. Ethics Commission Executive Director Suzanne S. Fox said she could not comment on specific cases but noted that the law says a regent "may not have a financial interest in or be employed by an entity having or negotiating a contract with" the university, unless that relationship existed prior to his appointment.
Nevins said his conduct was proper because his initial contract with Comcast predated his joining the board. "While I took on an additional role with them, it did not change my responsibility to continue to recuse myself from those Board matters, which I always did," he said in an e-mail.
Even so, at a time when Nevins headed the regents' finance committee, his public relations firm continued to represent Comcast in its dealings with College Park, negotiating placement of signs and logos at the arena, Nevins said. "Recusal means from the U of M board, not from my own business," he said.
Another regent, lawyer Leronia A. Josey, found an unusual way to satisfy the ethics requirement when Burch contacted her about a job in 2000, one year after she had joined the board.
"I had to resign, and then I was reappointed," Josey said, describing the maneuver that allowed her to become a regional director of government and community relations. The former regent, who now consults with Comcast, said she did not even miss a meeting.
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.
"He's a very affable, capable, well-spoken and likable figure in the business community and in all of the corridors of Maryland politics," said Wayne K. Curry (D), a former Prince George's county executive.
Late in 2000, Burch hired Eric M. Bromwell, a son of the Baltimore County Democrat who was then a state senator. Within a few weeks, brother Thomas L. Bromwell Jr. was also on the payroll.
Earlier that year, their father sponsored a bill that had a dramatic impact on Comcast revenue. The state's highest court had capped late fees and ordered that millions in refunds be paid to subscribers. Bromwell's bill lifted the cap.
A court later struck down a retroactive provision in the legislation, and Comcast was forced to pay the refunds. But the lasting impact of the bill was to restore a revenue stream for Comcast and other cable providers.
The former senator said in an interview that his sons got their work on their own, and he said any suggestion that the jobs came in response to his legislative work would be ridiculous. "I heard they were hiring, and they went through the process," he said.
Eric Bromwell, who now serves in the House of Delegates, said he recuses himself from any debate that touches on Comcast.
Because cable franchises are granted by counties or municipalities, Comcast's business is often negotiated with local officials. In 2001, the company faced an assault on its monopoly in Prince George's when rival Starpower Communications sought a franchise there.
Curry's administration initially reached an agreement with Starpower. But after the County Council approved it, the administration insisted that Starpower pay for an additional $400,000 in technological improvements. Faced with the new demand, Starpower dropped out.
"We're at a loss to explain why additional requirements were proposed after the fact," a Starpower spokeswoman, Patricia MacEwan, said at the time.
In February 2003, three months after Curry left office, Comcast hired him as a "general business consultant," a position he still holds, the company said.
Curry said any suggestion his job was a reward would be "absurd" and added, "the Comcast people were angry with me," because of the initial contract. Curry said he believes Starpower dropped out because of financial troubles and added he "would never have had even the slightest inkling of a detail that trivial in the transaction."
Gordon, Comcast's spokesman, said, "It's not really uncommon for past elected officials to become consultants." Hiring such officials as Eileen M. Rehrmann, a former Harford County executive and Democratic candidate for governor, "can add value to our in-house workforce," he said. Rehrmann did not return calls for comment.
Comcast announced in December that Burch was leaving the company to become chief executive of NTL International, a British telecommunications company. In January, Comcast announced a restructuring that could result in 125 layoffs.
Eric Bromwell said he is among those whose jobs are in jeopardy. He worked directly for Burch and called him "the best boss I ever had."
