CULTURE OF CORRUPTION: Baltimore Mayor Pugh to take leave of absence in midst of ‘Healthy Holly’ book controversy. “Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, facing a call by Gov. Larry Hogan for a criminal investigation into the book deal that paid her hundreds of thousands of dollars, announced Monday that she will take an indefinite leave of absence because of her health. . . . Under the deal with the medical system, UMMS paid Pugh $500,000 for copies of the books while she served on its board. UMMS paid $100,000 in each of five transactions in 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2018 to purchase 20,000 copies of her self-published books at $5 per book. Pugh was among nine members of the 30-person UMMS board that had contracts or other business deals with the medical system. Pugh and two other board members have resigned. Several others were placed on leave. On Monday, The Sun reported that health insurer Kaiser Permanente also paid Pugh more than $100,000 to purchase copies of her books from 2015 to 2018. In September 2017, the city’s spending board, which Pugh sits on and controls, awarded Kaiser a $48 million contract to provide health insurance to city employees from 2018 through 2020, with options to renew.”