Public-private Entity’s Promotion of Baltimore Billboard District Raises Questions

Recent revelations should cause the board of directors of Baltimore’s Downtown Management Authority (DMA) to take a hard look at the conduct of Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, the private entity that administers the DMA, a public body established by city law.

The conduct was not unlawful but failed the smell test in a city where the odor of divided loyalties and self-dealing already has diminished public trust in government to an extraordinary degree.

No hard look by the DMA directors is likely, however, for reasons described below, including the little known fact that Mark Wasserman, an aide and architect of former Mayor William Donald Schaefer’s “shadow government,” serves as chair of both entities.

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE