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Comcast Ties Entangle the Ehrlichs
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Her employment status is one key factor in determining whether the governor's vote represents a conflict of interest, but not the only one, said Charles O. Monk, a Baltimore lawyer who is the immediate past chairman of the Maryland State Ethics Commission.
"You would want to know these kinds of things: Was Mrs. Ehrlich given an assurance that the job would be there when she returned? Or was it a circumstance where, if she wanted to come back, they would consider it when the time arose?" Monk said.
If the first lady and Comcast had an understanding that she would be free to return, then, Monk said, the vote "would seem to be a conflict."
Massoni said the vote was on "a routine contract" and was not problematic.
" He doesn't work for Comcast," Massoni said.
Comcast, the state's dominant cable provider, has hired several politically connected people including the daughter of Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller (D) and former Prince George's county executive Wayne K. Curry (D).
Comcast's application for a license to lay 1,225 feet of cable below the bay bottom won unanimous support from the board's three members. Comcast paid a one-time $500 fee and agreed also to pay a small annual fee, records show. The fees were standard, and the application was handled as any other would be, according to Doldon Moore, the board's wetlands administrator.
The governor appears to have taken steps to avoid a conflict with his wife's job in other instances. In 2003, when he was going to veto a bill that would eliminate Comcast's and other companies' ability to redirect corporate taxes to a Delaware holding company, his administration helped pass a law that would protect his ability to do that, Fox said.
"The issue was, veto power cannot be designated, so they needed to create an exemption," Fox said. "Under that exemption, he was permitted to act."
In July 2005, a $557,416 Comcast contract came before the Board of Public Works. Ehrlich was out of town, so Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele (R) took the governor's seat and cast a vote in favor of the contract.
