Mayor Defends Deal With Medical System She Helps Govern
BALTIMORE (AP) -- Baltimore's mayor is defending a deal to sell her self-published books for $100,000 to the University of Maryland Medical System, on whose board of directors she sits.
Board positions are unpaid, but The Baltimore Sun reported Wednesday that around a third of the board receives compensation through the hospital network's contracts with their businesses. The Maryland Senate's Finance Committee is considering a bill to bar the practice.
Pugh's early Thursday statement says UMMS wanted to provide free "Health Holly: Exercising is Fun" books to 20,000 Baltimore students. The network purchased the books from Pugh's company "at a modest cost of $5 each." She says her company's net profit was $20,000 in each year the network purchased the books, after production and shipping costs.
Pugh says she's conformed with disclosure requirements.
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