The “Healthy Holly” children’s book scandal involving Democratic Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh added another chapter this week that is raising even more ethics questions.
Pugh revealed Monday evening that she has decided to take an indefinite leave of absence, citing her “deteriorating” health. (Despite the leave, Pugh reportedly plans to continue to collect her $185,000 salary.) The decision comes amid mounting pressure stemming from a $500,000 no-bid deal with the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), for which Pugh was a board member, for the purchase of thousands of copies of a children’s book Pugh wrote and independently published. Pugh also failed to report the hundreds of thousands in income on her annual General Assembly financial disclosure forms.
“In addition to her sweetheart deal with the UMMS, Pugh was also paid more than $100,000 by the health insurer Kaiser Permanente for copies of her books between 2015 and 2018,” The Daily Wire’s Ashe Schow reported Monday. “Conveniently, in 2017, Kaiser was awarded a $48 million contract with Baltimore to provide city employees health insurance. At the time of the deal, Pugh controlled the city’s spending board, according to the Sun.”
In a new wrinkle reported by The Baltimore Sun Tuesday, another insurer, which benefited from Pugh’s sponsorship of legislation, also directed money to Pugh’s Healthy Holly book company.
“The quasi-public company created by the Maryland General Assembly for hard-to-insure drivers gave a $7,500 donation in 2012 to then state-Sen. Catherine Pugh’s Healthy Holly book company, shortly before she successfully sponsored legislation supported by the company,” the Baltimore Sun reported Tuesday. “The money was for Healthy Holly’s ‘outreach program with the Associated Black Charities,’ Mark McCurdy, executive director of the Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund, said Tuesday.”
The insurer donated another $5,000 to the charity for the purchase of the mayor’s book the next year. The executive director of MAIF at the time of the donations went on to become a paid staffer on Pugh’s campaign, president of her inauguration committee, and then a city official with a salary of $107,000.
McCurdy, who took over the insurance company in 2015 condemned the donations as “inconsistent with my philosophy” and said no such donations have been made under his leadership.
The Baltimore Sun highlights Pugh’s role in promoting legislation that benefited MAIF. “I am excited for this great opportunity for all of those in Maryland who find themselves in need of MAIF and can now get a policy at a reasonable rate,” she said in a 2013 press release from the group. “It makes our seven years of fighting worthwhile for the citizens of Maryland.”
Amid the growing scandal, some city officials are now calling for Pugh to step down.
Soon after the scandal erupted, Pugh resigned from the UMMS board. In a press conference last week, the mayor apologized for “upset[ting]” Baltimore residents. “I sincerely want to say that I apologize that I have done something to upset the people of Baltimore. I never intended to do anything that could not stand up to scrutiny,” she said.
Related: Baltimore Mayor Will Take Leave Of Absence For ‘Deteriorating Health’ Amid Book Scandal