BALTIMORE (AP) - At least one Baltimore City Council member is calling for Mayor Catherine Pugh to resign as a scandal intensifies over allegations of "self-dealing" arrangements to sell her children's book series.
Councilman Zeke Cohen says Pugh has "lost the moral mandate to govern and the public's trust." Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot has also urged her to resign. Cohen, Franchot and Pugh are Democrats.
Cohen notes that Pugh accepted over $100,000 from Kaiser Permanente for her "Healthy Holly" children's books while the company was seeking a contract to provide health benefits to city employees.
Cohen says that instead of recusing herself from a Board of Estimates vote when the contract came up "she voted in favor of it."
Pugh announced Monday she is taking an indefinite leave of absence due to deteriorating health. Her spokespeople say she was recently diagnosed with pneumonia.
