Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith faces numerous accusations he delivered a favor to a top aide by appointing his brother to a new $96,000 county post. He should.
But maybe it?s not the aide who received a favor.
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Smith appointed Mike Mohler, brother of top communications adviser Don Mohler, to a newly created position as deputy director in the Department of Permits and Development Management overseeing code enforcement. The county did not advertise for the position and chose to pay him $20,000 more than James Thompson, who previously oversaw code enforcement.
Nepotism does not always lead to bad results. Business leaders regularly appoint family members ? and relatives of senior aides ? to top positions, and President John F. Kennedy appointed his brother, Robert F. Kennedy, to Attorney General, but even he had to get Congress to sign off. However, public officials must ensure that those in positions of power deserve to be there.
A county spokeswoman, Marjorie Hampson, touted Mike Mohler?s previous experience as alcohol sales manager in a five-state region for Diageo-Guinness USA as qualifications for the job. But it looks like no one in the administration has discussed Mike Mohler?s work as a consultant for Whalen Properties, a Catonsville developer proposing a $250 million mixed-use project, The Promenade, in Catonsville.
Various divisions of Whalen Properties have donated $19,250 to Smith?s political campaign committee since 2001, $15,000 during the most recent election cycle, according to State Board of Elections data compiled by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. The company also donated $3,000 from December 2001 to July 2005 to Democratic County Councilman Stephen “Sam” Moxley, who appointed Mike Mohler to the county Board of Appeals, which hears appeals about zoning decisions, disability retirement cases, building permits and code violations. Mohler has served in that position since 2005.
According to Hampson, “Mr. Mohler will have no involvement on the development side and will focus all of his energy on code enforcement.”
That is how it should be. But who will benefit most from this deal ? Whalen or the taxpayers?
To avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest, Smith must open job searches for top positions to a range of candidates. That is the only way the public can trust he chooses candidates for all the right reasons.
