That Harris Jones and Malone decided to marry in Las Vegas is not the public’s business, and merely news only for the society pages. Besides, as a frequent visitor to America’s Playground, I can certainly endorse the choice.
However, what did make these nuptials newsworthy was the presence of numerous and prominent Maryland politicians who were in Las Vegas on the taxpayer’s dime. That would seem to warrant more coverage by The Baltimore Sun than just a Saturday, page 2 article.
But The Sun did not even break the story. Initially, the wedding really was relegated to the society pages. It was first reported on May 22 by Afro.com, the web site of the Afro-American Newspapers chain, which publishes in Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
Afro.com reported none other than Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake presided over the ceremony, while Maryland State Senator Joan Carter Conway was a maid of honor.
Could anything better illustrate the unseemly intimate relationship between politicians and lobbyists?
Other prominent politicians reportedly present include: Lt. Governor Anthony Brown; Maryland Senate President Thomas V. “Mike” Miller, Jr.; State Senator and former Baltimore mayoral candidate Catherine Pugh; State Delegate Dereck Davis; and Acting Deputy Secretary of Transportation Leif Dormsjo.
All of them just happened to be on a taxpayer-funded trip to Sin City. They were visiting RECon 2013, the Global Retail Real Estate convention that boasted 40,000 attendees and was held at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
According to Sun political reporter Jean Marbella, the happy couple timed their wedding to coincide with the trade show so Maryland politicians could attend their special day.
Of course that merely raises questions about the nature of this particular junket. After all, on any given weekend there are multiple trade shows and business meetings in Las Vegas that would perhaps be more appropriate for politicians and more benefit to their constituents. For example, just the week before was the Hospitality Design Expo at Mandalay Bay with 19,000 attendees. Perhaps that would have been a better conference for taxpayers to spring for given that the Baltimore City-owned Hilton hotel adjoining the Convention Center lost $11 million last year.
But even if sending city and state politicians to RECon is the proper way to spend public money, is double dipping to attend the wedding of powerful lobbyists also appropriate?
These politicians considered it a legitimate off-hours activity at a business meeting. Brown, the state lieutenant governor and an announced gubernatorial candidate said: “It’s no different than when county officials go to Ocean City for [the Maryland Association of Counties conference], and go to the beach in the afternoon between the conference meetings and seminars.”
But is attending, participating in, and even presiding over the wedding of two high powered lobbyists akin to catching some rays at the beach? Brown defended it, saying, “I think that friendships are not mutually exclusive from your professional purs
uits. You see that in so many different professions.”
Except Harris Jones and Malone are not in just any profession. They’re lobbyists. It’s their job to influence politicians on behalf of their clients. Their company slogan is: Effecting the Politics that Affect Your Business. And their connections to state and local government are profound. For example, one of their associates, Caitlin McDonough, used to be the legislative director for Maryland Senate President Mike Miller.
Even if nothing untoward grows directly out of this, it’s important to remember that the appearance of unethical behavior is often as important as the reality. Appearances are important. Politicians should strive to avoid even speculation about unethical behavior. And that’s why these politicians’ should have been astute enough to avoid attending this wedding.
It also should have been a concern of The Baltimore Sun as it belatedly covered this story
First The Sun got scooped by Afro.com. Then they follow up with nothing more than a Saturday page 2 article. And while the article talked about the coziness between lobbyists and politicians and raised the question of politicians traveling on taxpayer money, it dismissed those concerns with a simple quote from Melanie Sloan, executive director of the watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Sloan seemed to shrug it off. “It doesn’t seem like anyone was wasting taxpayer dollars” she said, because the politicians were in Las Vegas already for the convention.
But did anyone think to ask in which prior years this particular convention was important enough for Maryland politicians to attended? Did anyone think to ask what business the acting deputy director of transportation has at a retail real estate convention? Did anyone think to ask about the choice of venue for the wedding?
Or better yet, did anyone think to ask if there’s a connection between The Baltimore Sun and the lobbying firm of Harris Jones & Malone?
Because there is.
The Baltimore Sun is a member of The Maryland-D.C. Press Association. In fact, The Sun is currently the “spotlight” member at the MDDC Press website. And MDDC Press just happens to be represented by, you guessed it, Harris Jones & Malone.
We mean no slight to the article’s author Jean Marbella, an excellent and experienced reporter. But when The Sun publishes an article about powerful lobbyists, it should most certainly disclose tha
Weddings should be intimate. Our best to Harris Jones and Malone on that count. But the relationships between lobbyists and politicians (not to mention newspapers) should not be. And on that count we hope for a speedy divorce.
Harris Jones (center) and Mayor Rawlings Blake (far right) [photo courtesy of Afro.com]