Parris N. Glendening delivered to the state Senate yesterday his first package of patronage appointments, fulfilling the time-honored political tradition of a governor rewarding his friends and his friends' friends.
Like almost every governor before him, Mr. Glendening's list of 208 appointees is chock full of political supporters, many whom gave large sums of money to his political campaigns.
It includes new nominees for the University of Maryland Board of Regents, the Maryland Higher Education Commission, the State Board of Education, the Maryland Racing Commission, and dozens of other boards and commissions, large and small.
Among the nominees that may prove controversial was the appointment to the Maryland Port Commission of Westley B. Johnson.
Mr. Johnson is a Baltimore contractor whose firm was cited last September by auditors for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for inflating costs and submitting bills for work never performed as part of a no-bid repair program run by Baltimore's Housing Authority. The federal government demanded a refund of nearly $50,000 for the work.
Mr. Johnson's company, J&J; Management, also known as Westley Construction, received more than $1 million in no-bid contracts under an emergency $25.6 million program to renovate public housing in Baltimore.
The program was set up by city housing Commissioner Daniel P. Henson III, a childhood friend of Mr. Johnson's and a political operative of Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke, a Glendening ally.
As an ex-Navy man and son of a longshoreman, Mr. Johnson said he understood the port and "how important it is."
Members of the Port Commission oversee operations at the port of Baltimore, including important personnel and procurement matters.
Dianna Rosborough, Mr. Glendening's press secretary, would not comment last night, saying, "I'm not aware of the specifics surrounding this particular appointment."
In addition to Mr. Johnson, who would replace Thomas T. Koch, Mr. Glendening named Piper & Marbury lawyer George Stamas to the Port Commission. Mr. Stamas is general counsel to Orioles' owner Peter G. Angelos and handled Mr. Angelos' unsuccessful bids to buy the National Football League Rams and Buccaneers.
The appointments were part of an annual list of names that require Senate confirmation and are known collectively in Annapolis as the "greenbag" appointments, a name derived from the green bag in which the list is traditionally delivered.
Mr. Glendening used his initial "greenbag" opportunity to reward one of his oldest and closest political friends and one one of his biggest financial backers, both from Prince George's County.
He named developer Irving L. Kidwell, 69, to the Maryland Economic Development Corporation, a position he gave up previously for health reasons. Mr. Kidwell and his businesses contributed $18,700 to Mr. Glendening's campaign.
The governor also appointed Riverdale lawyer Lance K. Billingsley, 54, a seat on the University of Maryland Board of Regents.
A University of Maryland graduate who once roomed at College Park with his fellow Prince George's County Democrat, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., Mr. Billingsley has long been active in university affairs. He contributed $3,200 to Mr. Glendening's campaign for governor, and his law firm, Meyers, Billingsley, Shipley, gave an additional $5,000.
Also named to the Board of Regents was Nathan A. Chapman Jr. of Columbia and Edwin S. Crawford of Towson.
Mr. Chapman is a stockbroker who has mixed politics with business in the nine years he has run The Chapman Co., a Baltimore-based brokerage.
He served as campaign treasurer for Clarence H. Du Burns' mayoral campaign in 1987 and was the single biggest fund-raiser for Jacqueline F. McLean's campaign for city comptroller in 1990.
His firm ran into financial trouble last year after the city, under pressure from the Securities and Exchange Commission, withdrew its support from a controversial plan to invest $10 million of city pension money in his business.
Mr. Chapman and his wife to gether gave $3,000 to the Glendening campaign.
Mr. Crawford is an investment banker and senior vice president at Ferris Baker Watts in Baltimore and a longtime Glendening confidant. He gave $1,825 to the Glendening campaign, and Ferris Baker Watts in Washington contributed $3,000 more.
Mr. Glendening appointed three new members to the State Board of Education: Baltimore business executive Walter Sondheim Jr.; former Allegany County Commissioner Adrienne L. Ottaviani; and Morris C. Jones of Stevensville, a retired executive director of the Maryland State Teachers Association and executive director of the Kent Narrows Development Foundation.
The three appointees replace Marvin E. Jones, Elmer B. Kaelin and board President Robert C. Embry Jr., a key appointee of former Gov. William Donald Schaefer.