Mayor Sheila Dixon Wednesday recused herself from a vote affecting a city development firm owned by her former boyfriend.
Baltimore’s Board of Estimates voted to pre-qualify 13 contractors, including Doracon Contracting Inc., to bid on city projects. The company is owned by Ronald Lipscomb, who, along with Dixon, publicly acknowledged in June they had a brief personal relationship and exchanged gifts.
The board Wednesday approved Lipscomb’s firm to bid on city projects totaling $36.5 million.
“The mayor is playing it safe,” said Dixon’s spokesman, Ian Brennan. “She wants to avoid even the suspicion of a conflict of interest.”
Dixon voted in favor of tax breaks and zoning changes that benefited Lipscomb’s projects during her tenure as city council president, in late 2003 and early 2004. State prosecutors are investigating whether the gifts, including a fur coat and airplane tickets, constitutes bribery.
The mayor did not include the gifts on required financial disclosure forms. Both have denied their relationship affected Lipscomb’s dealings with City Hall.
