Dixon Admits ‘Personal Relationship’ With Developer
A week after Baltimore City Sheila Dixon’s house was raided by state prosecutors, Dixon has admitted in a statement to the Sun that she had a personal relationship with a developer, Ronald H. Lipscomb, and exchanged gifts.
“Our brief relationship was personal, and it did not influence my decisions related to matters of city government,” Dixon told the Sun.
Dixon issued the statement after documents presented by prosecutors to the Baltimore County District Court gave a more detailed account of the two-year investigation, which includes scrutinizing thousands of dollars in gifts including fur coats and trips. 
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The city ethics law requires elected officials to report gifts from people who benefit from city business. Dixon has not reported any gifts from Lipscomb in the past seven years, according to the Sun.
Lipcomb’s company, Doracon Contracting, has been involved in several upscale developments in Baltimore. Some of them received financial incentives from the city. According to the Sun, court records show that Dixon went on expensive trips to Boston, the Bahamas, Chicago and Colorado with the developer. On one trip, the two left Baltimore for New York by train just hours after Dixon had voted to approve a tax break for one of his company’s largest projects.
Crossposted at UnfreeState.com
