Sheila Dixon - Baltimore mayor, ardent Sex and the City fan - found something the fictional fashionistas could only dream of: a combination boyfriend-shopping companion.
Talk about Mr. Big. Or shall we say, "Ms. No Name," the feminine code name Ronald Lipscomb's vice president used to buy Dixon a $2,000 gift certificate at Lutherville furrier Mano Swartz, according to a search warrant affidavit obtained by The Sun's John Fritze.
Plenty of boyfriends and husbands out there give pricey presents, especially the gift-certificate variety. But developer Lipscomb and then-Council President Dixon, who supported tax breaks and zoning changes benefiting his company, actually engaged in hot-and-heavy retail congress. Together. In public.
At least they took it out of town.
In Chicago four years ago, in the space of one day and three Michigan Avenue blocks, Dixon and Lipscomb dropped more than $7,000 at Armani, Saks Fifth Avenue, Coach and Niketown.
Sometimes Lipscomb paid. Sometimes Dixon did. He bought the plane tickets, at $1,518 apiece. She picked up the hotel bill, $1,695.
When Lipscomb was paying, it wasn't always clear if the merchandise was for himself, Madame Council Prez or the little woman back home. The $499.71 in toners, brushes, facial cleansers and moisturizers from Saks? Maybe Lipscomb is a metrosexual with his own product needs.
Dixon was the bigger spender, whipping out her own AmEx for $570 Jimmy Choo sandals from Saks. She also spent $600 at Coach and $4,410 at Giorgio Armani. Along with the Saks beauty aids, Lipscomb spent $150 at Coach, $636 at Armani and $237 at Niketown.
The next day, Dixon shelled out $2,273 on clothes and accessories at St. John Boutique. No mention of Lipscomb shopping that day. Even a metrosexual has his limits.
Those Choo shoes were, well, a little pedestrian
Again with the shoes!
Dixon, who brandished a high heel in City Council chambers way back in 1991, seems to have achieved fresh footwear infamy in the form of $570 Jimmy Choo sandals.
Yes, a mayor is entitled to shop. A mayor is entitled to have a boyfriend, assuming that's OK with their respective spouses. But if the boyfriend is a developer getting benefits from City Hall, maybe the public-servant/paramour needs to recuse herself from voting on his projects - and buy her own plane ticket to the shopping spree.
