In a new "community newsletter" published by her office, Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy excoriates the mayor in a three-page commentary, claiming he has pushed "failed" reforms and starved her overburdened office of funding.
She also accuses The Sun of inaccurate reporting and unfair editorials about her and her office.
Jessamy says the newsletter is meant to educate city residents about what her office is doing, but some people wonder whether Jessamy, who intends to run for re-election next year, is improperly using public money for political purposes.
The commentary is not new: She wrote it in September and has posted it on her office's Web site. She also submitted it as a letter to The Sun, which ran an edited version on its Web site in September.
But the recent newsletter marks the first time Jessamy has circulated the letter - and her side of the City Hall vs. state's attorney's office battle - in print. Jessamy said 28,000 issues were distributed as an insert in the most recent edition of the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper, and mailed to churches, community groups, libraries, hospitals, colleges and senior citizens centers.
She said the office spent $5,000 on the publication - using "forfeiture funds," money the city gets from criminals' property. "It's not tax dollars," she said.
Nevertheless, Jessamy may have stumbled into an area of state ethics law that prohibits candidates who hold office from using that office for their political ends.
State law allows government agencies and officials to publish newsletters and other informational material. To avoid breaching ethics laws, however, officials running for office must not use "state time, facilities, equipment" or "otherwise misuse their state position" to further their campaigns, according to a State Ethics Commission memorandum.
"It certainly raises a lot of questions about whether this government publication ... has purely informational, and not political, purposes," said James Browning, executive director of Common Cause/Maryland, a citizens watchdog group.
Although the political content in Jessamy's letter is a matter of interpretation, Browning said he was struck by the sections attacking the mayor. "If it sounds like campaign literature, it probably is," he said.
City Councilwoman Lisa J. Stancil, who plans to run for city state's attorney, said Jessamy has crossed an ethical line.
