Regents' Chairman Cleared in Ethics Inquiry

The board that governs Maryland's public university system has concluded that its chairman did not violate university ethics policy by shepherding power company executives around Annapolis.

A three-member investigative panel found that Board of Regents Chairman David H. Nevins "did not attempt to use his status as a member of the board to gain favor for himself" or his employer, Constellation Energy Group.

The review came in response to a Washington Post report about meetings that Nevins conducted in Annapolis between leading lawmakers and the chief executives of Constellation and Florida Power and Light Co.

The university system's ethics policy says "a member of the Board of Regents shall not, for compensation, assist or represent any party in any matter before the General Assembly."

The meetings were held in February, just as lawmakers had begun raising concerns about a proposed merger between the two companies and shortly before Constellation subsidiary Baltimore Gas and Electric announced plans to increase rates by 72 percent. Those matters consumed lawmakers in the closing days of the session that ended Monday.

Nevins defended his decision to represent Constellation at a breakfast with two senators and separate meetings with House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert). Nevins, a marketing executive at Constellation since September, called the sessions nonsubstantive "meet-and-greet" affairs.

Nevins said yesterday that he was pleased that the regents had found no violation, adding, "I think that next time I shall be more careful to make certain that I avoid even the slightest appearance of a conflict -- not just the conflict itself."

Former state ethics commissioner D. Bruce Poole said he was surprised that the regents drew the conclusion that Nevins's meetings did not constitute a violation.

"That certainly is at odds with the rulings the ethics commission has had in the past," Poole said.

The ethics commission's position has been that even social meetings should be construed as trying to have an effect on the outcome of matters before the legislature, Poole said.

"It's not like he was leading a Girl Scout troop coming to see the State House," he said. "These were CEOs with major issues pending before the legislature."

Miller said in February that he was confused by Nevins's presence at the meeting until Constellation chief executive Mayo A. Shattuck III reminded Miller that Nevins is a Democrat. "He said he thought it may soften things up by having [Nevins] in the room," Miller said.

The university panel concluded that the meetings were permissible because they "were not intended as lobbying meetings, but rather as courtesy calls" to introduce the chief executive of the Florida company and because "Nevins did not arrange the meetings; his only roles were to coordinate meeting logistics and make social introductions."

In a statement released yesterday, members of the regents' audit committee said they conducted in-depth interviews with each person who attended the Annapolis meetings and "found no difference of opinion" on the way the meetings were described.

"Based on its review," the statement said, "the panel found that the meetings in question did not take place to influence any legislative action."