Baltimore's ethics board asked a city councilwoman to stop contacting city agencies on behalf of the Inner Harbor luxury condominium outside her district where she lives with her boyfriend.
The five-member board concluded that Councilwoman Rochelle "Rikki" Spector did not pressure officials to drop mold citations against the tenants' association of the Harborview condominium complex, but that her actions caused "uneasiness" among city employees.
"Some City employees who were not directly contacted by Councilwoman Spector felt that her interest in the citations was potentially inappropriate when they found out that she lived at Harborview and that a different City Councilmember represented the District where that building is located," the board chair wrote in a letter to a tenant last month.
The tenant, James W. Ancel Sr., asked the ethics board to review Spector's actions after citations against the Harborview tenants association for mold infestation in Ancel's penthouse condominium and another residence were dismissed by a city panel.
The environmental control board ruled that the tenants' association should not be held responsible for the mold.
Spector, who has represented Northwest Baltimore for more than three decades but resides in Harborview with her longtime boyfriend, had called city housing and environmental control board officials on behalf of the building manager.
Spector said that she did not attempt to influence officials on the citations, but to get answers to basic procedural questions for the manager.
The ethics board concluded that while city officials found Spector's involvement to be "odd," her calls did not influence their decisions.
The board cautioned that Spector should not intercede on behalf of Harborview in the future because "there is serious potential for… the appearance of impropriety."
Spector said she would comply with the ethics board's request.
"I will never be involved in any kind of business with Harborview again," she said.
Ethics board Chairwoman Linda Pierson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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