Ambulance company owner Willie Runyon is a man who likes to pass money around to his political friends. Just ask state Sen. Larry Young.
Mr. Young, a Baltimore Democrat, calls Mr. Runyon the state's "best kept secret in terms of philanthropy."
For some Democrats, the secret is beginning to slip out. But to others, Mr. Runyon is well known for his generosity to political campaigns. Over the years, the campaign treasuries of presidential hopefuls, Maryland governors, Baltimore mayors, state legislators and lesser elected officials have gained from his largess.
And now, Gov. Parris N. Glendening is a beneficiary.
Mr. Glendening disclosed this weekend that Mr. Runyon, owner of American Ambulance and Oxygen Service of Baltimore, gave the governor's legal defense fund $85,000 and that his daughter, Marjorie Boyer, and his ambulance company each gave an additional $5,000.
That money accounts for $95,000 of the $173,200 the governor raised for the legal challenge to the November general election by Republican loser Ellen R. Sauerbrey.
In addition to the legal defense fund, Mr. Runyon, his family and company gave $16,000 to Mr. Glendening's election effort and $15,000 more -- in Mr. Young's name -- to finance the governor's inaugural festivities.
"I've only met him three or four times," Mr. Glendening said of Mr. Runyon yesterday. "He's been actively involved in national campaigns. He's been a good, strong Democrat who was outraged at the legal action [by Mrs. Sauerbrey] and offered to give for support."
Mr. Runyon, 71, a multimillionaire who lives in Lutherville, explained: "I came from nothing, was raised with different people, and I'm very fortunate to make it. I feel that you should give something back."
Mr. Glendening said he did not believe Mr. Runyon's large contribution represented a potential conflict of interest because, the best of my knowledge, he has no business or relations with the state or anything."
The ambulance industry is licensed by the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems, an independent state agency.
Mr. Young, chairman of a new health subcommittee of the Senate Finance Committee and of a joint House-Senate committee that oversees departmental regulations, is an employee of Mr. Runyon as well as a beneficiary of his campaign giving.
Since 1991, the senator has been on Mr. Runyon's payroll as executive assistant handling marketing, public relations and community relations, Mr. Young said in an interview this month. Mr. Young said Mr. Runyon also was extremely helpful in raising money for the senator's re-election campaign last year. Campaign finance reports on file with the state elections board show that the senator was not overstating the help.
An Aug. 16 report of the Committee to Re-elect Larry Young '94 lists at least 20 contributions from Mr. Runyon, his companies, family members or companies they run, for at least $47,600. By comparison, a legislator is paid $28,840 a year.
Mr. Young recalled that when he was trying to raise money for a revival at Camden Yards, Mr. Runyon agreed to chip in $30,000.
"He's awesome," Mr. Young said.
Because of Mr. Runyon's financial backing, he said, "I don't have to look or ask or seek. I have a good job and an understanding boss."
That, Mr. Runyon said, is why he is so generous with the senator.
"I don't want Larry obligated to any damned lobbyists down there," in Annapolis, Mr. Runyon said. "I don't want him obligated to anybody, and damn it, I tell him, he pays for his own lunch. That way, he don't have to do anything."
Mr. Runyon seems to understand the power of money when it comes to getting the attention of politicians. He has long been a heavy-hitter among big campaign contributors.
Among his political beneficiaries have been former U.S. Sen. Daniel B. Brewster, former Gov. Marvin Mandel and William Donald Schaefer, both as Baltimore's mayor and Maryland's governor.
Mr. Glendening noted yesterday that Mr. Runyon has contributed to the campaigns of Al Gore and John D. "Jay" Rockefeller IV. In July 1991, Mr. Runyon held a fund-raiser at his Baltimore County home that netted $40,000 for Mr. Rockefeller's presidential bid.
Mr. Runyon, a West Virginia native, describes himself as "just a poor country boy, trying to make a living," though acknowledging his wealth.
He came to Baltimore before World War II, worked at the Glenn L.Martin aircraft plant and, after a stint in the Army, joined the city police department. He was a patrolman in Northern District and a vice investigator before purchasing American Ambulance in 1955. From there, "I bought up every damn ambulance company around," he said.
He holds a near monopoly on the private ambulance business in the Baltimore metropolitan area.
His businesses had a brush with the law in 1989, after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's Baltimore office revealed that two of his ambulance companies "routinely" transported wheelchair patients who could have been moved in vans or cars.
In February 1990, admitting no wrong-doing, the two companies settled with the federal government, agreeing to pay $400,000 in restitution and civil penalties for allegedly filing false Medicare claims involving transportation of those patients.