Trial sheds light on Baltimore mayor's charitable efforts

Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon's theft case, which remains before a jury this week, has shed light on little-known charitable efforts she ran from City Hall with few controls over solicitations and vague guidelines for who should benefit.

As City Council president, Dixon requested or distributed donations for needy families, frequently in the form of gift cards, courtroom testimony and grand jury records show. Others who have held that office say they did not handle or seek donations in the same way.

Dixon, a Democrat, is accused by state prosecutor Robert A. Rohrbaugh of stealing some of the gift cards intended for needy families and using them for personal items. She has denied the charges, and jurors will begin their sixth day of deliberations Monday.

The trial has raised questions, however, about how the charity that flowed through her office has been handled. It has also raised concerns about a separate holiday season give-away program known as the Holly Trolley -- revived when Dixon became mayor -- which "had no accounting system," one person involved with the operations of the event testified in court.

In another instance, gift cards requested for charity appeared with no notice on the desks of staffers inside City Hall, for their own use. Some organizations receiving gifts from Dixon, listed in a document that has become a much-discussed exhibit in the case, did not ask for the donations, interviews show.

The prevalence of gift cards became apparent when Dixon was indicted in January. Under the allegations, Dixon requested charitable donations from prominent developers who were constructing projects in the city.

In one instance, prosecutors have discussed how Dixon spent 19 of 20 Best Buy gift cards within days after developer Patrick Turner delivered them to her office in 2005. Dixon's attorneys have said that she thought the cards, which arrived in a plain envelope, were a gift from a boyfriend, another developer, and that she had the right to spend them.

Since the indictment, the city's independent ethics panel has intensified efforts to craft clearer guidelines about when city employees can solicit gifts. The new rules are expected to be completed in early January.

The loose accounting for the charity work, which Dixon directed from 2003 to 2006 as City Council president, mirrors the management problems uncovered recently in a nearly 30-year-old nonprofit entity known as the Baltimore City Foundation used by city officials to collect donations from benefactors for causes such as summer jobs programs.

A Baltimore Sun investigation this year found that foundation funds paid for expenses related to Dixon's inauguration, including an ice sculpture and ice skating rink.

Some defended Dixon's program, saying there's no need for city officials to crack down on gift-giving programs. "We don't do enough giving," said Sen. Lisa A. Gladden, a Baltimore Democrat. "Let's say I'm a wealthy developer -- it's nice that people are willing to give and say, 'Here, use this as you see fit.' "

-- Baltimore Sun