For the past few months the news of political and financial corruption has been full of, well, let’s be honest: greedy white men. But lest you think that other demographics cannot be just as boldly (stupidly?) greedy, along comes the Mayor of Baltimore City, Sheila Dixon. Dixon has been indicted on 12 counts that simply reek of an audacious greed. From the Baltimore Sun:
The case stems in part from at least $15,348 in gifts Dixon allegedly received from her former boyfriend, prominent city developer Ronald H. Lipscomb, while she was City Council president. She also is accused of using as much as $3,400 in gift cards, some donated to her office for distribution to “needy families,” to purchase Best Buy electronics and other items for herself and her staff….
One theft charge involves misconduct in December 2007, when Dixon was mayor. According to the indictment, a Baltimore housing employee purchased Toys R Us gift cards to be distributed to underprivileged children during a holiday event. Dixon allegedly gave one of those gift cards to a member of her staff, and five others were discovered at her West Baltimore house when investigators raided it in June.
Among other accusations: In 2004, 2005 and 2006, Dixon solicited gift cards – to Target, Best Buy, Old Navy and Circuit City — from two developers. She then used some of the cards to purchase a PlayStation2 controller, a PlayStation Portable, a Samsung digital camcorder and other items she either kept or gave to staff members as Christmas presents, the indictment said.
Among the charges:
3 separate counts of theft, which if true, just boggle the mind. If you believe in hell, there is a special level for people who do this:
Stealing gift cards worth more than $500 donated to Office of City Council President that she had solicited from Developer B for needy and underprivileged families in Baltimore, and using them for her own benefit, between Dec. 13, 2005, and Jan. 29, 2006.
Or this:
Stealing gift cards worth more than $500 donated to Office of City Council President that she had solicited from Developer A for needy and underprivileged families in Baltimore, and using them for her own benefit, between Dec. 18, 2006, and Dec. 6, 2007.
Or this:
During December 2007, stealing gift cards provided to her from Baltimore City Housing Department to distribute to needy families, and converting them to personal use.
Then there are 3 counts of “Fraudulent misappropriation by a fiduciary” related to those gift cards, and 2 counts of “Misconduct in office,” again related to those gift cards. Baltimore is a complicated city, and Shelia Dixon oversaw a reduction in violent crime since coming into office (which unfortunately has not continued into 2009). But her business dealings with contractors in the city have been questionable all along, and they should not be some kind of balance in people’s minds against what she has done, if these charges are in fact true.
Consumate politician that she is, Dixon released the following statement. Perhaps I am parsing her words too finely, but to me, she seems to neatly avoid saying the phrase “I am innocent,” or even a simple “I didn’t do anything wrong”:
“I am being unfairly accused. Time will prove that I have done nothing wrong, and I am confident that I will be found innocent of these charges.”
“Time will prove I have done nothing wrong”? Why not just, “I have done nothing wrong”? And “I will be found innocent of these charges” is not really the same thing as saying “I am innocent of these charges.”
Lucky for Dixon, the Baltimore Ravens have pushed her story down the front page a few notches. But that’s only temporary. At some point, she will have to face these charges, and we will have to face this reality of human nature: What makes some people think they are entitled to more than other people?
