BALTIMORE COUNTY COUNCIL AND BEREANO, THE SEQUEL ...
Wednesday July 28th 2010 6:14 AM
By Bryan P. Sears
Posted: July 27, 2010
Bruce Bereano will be back in Towson Tuesday to testify against a bill that would ban lobbyists and contractors with felony criminal convictions from doing business.
This is the second time in two months that the issue has come before the council. The new version would bar contractors convicted under state procurement laws from doing business with the county. Lobbyists convicted of crimes related to lobbying would similarly be banned.
The council is scheduled to hold a hearing on the bill Tuesday at 2 p.m.
Bereano said that while the bill, sponsored by Councilman Vince Gardina, is broader than the one that was pulled in June, it still goes too far.
“The bill is both prospective and retroactive,” Bereano said. “I don’t have a problem with empowering local government with suspending or revoking a license to lobby. It’s their prerogative and that’s fair, but I think it’s grossly wrong for it to be applied retroactively — to change the rules or add punishments for a previous or past act.”
Bereano called the bill “a scarlet letter” on people who have rehabilitated themselves.
“You’re coming along years later and adding punishment,” Bereano said. “Hopefully, people would be offended by that.”
In June, Gardina pulled a bill would have banned lobbyists with felony criminal convictions from plying their trade in the halls of the Old Courthouse.
The bill was seen by many, especially Bereano, as being directed at one person — Bereano, who had earlier lobbied against and defeated a tanning salon bill sponsored by Gardina.
Gardina denied his lobbying bill was retribution and said he would reintroduce the bill with broader language that also covered contractors and others who do business with the county.
Bereano was convicted in 1994 of federal mail fraud charges involving the billing of four clients for entertainment expenses in order to illegally funnel campaign contributions to elected officials. He served five months living in an East Baltimore halfway house while on work release, then another five months on home detention work release. He also paid a $30,000 fine.
The conviction was not related to lobbying activities and Bereano was never charged with elections law violations because the the statute of limitations had run out.
Bereano did not lose his license and continued to work as a lobbyist while serving his sentence.
Bereano said he plans to seek to have that 15-year-old conviction set aside in light of a decision earlier this month by the Supreme Court that limits prosecutions under the federal mail fraud statute to bribery or kick-back schemes.
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... Once a felon, always a felon. You cannot un-ring that bell. ...
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/lrs