“The governor expressed his disappointment and directed the Secretary to continue reaching out to advocates, legislators, and the community as a whole to reassure them of his commitment to the safety and health of all Marylanders”, Mayer said.
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Rutherford spoke a day after Community and Development Secretary Kenneth Holt told an audience at a gathering of county leaders that a mother could put a lead fishing weight in a child’s mouth and then get the child tested.
“Governor Hogan met with Secretary Holt today and had a lengthy and very direct conversation about his unfortunate and inappropriate statement”, Mayer said.
Holt, speaking to the Maryland Association of Counties summer convention in Ocean City Friday, said he had been told stories about how landlords could be liable for lead poisoning cases resulting from mothers who use lead fishing weights to intentionally poison their children.
“Yes”, Rutherford said. “We have concerns about the way we received (the comments)”.
Holt apologized for the comments through a spokeswoman.
Pressed by a reporter, Holt said he had no evidence of that happening but that he had been told it was possible by a developer.
Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on Saturday tried to distance himself from his appointee’s remark, which caused outrage among advocates and lawmakers who have worked to strengthen the state’s laws on lead-paint poisoning. One of those initiatives would be a combined effort with the Maryland Department of Environment to limit liability for landlords as it relates to lead poisoning. Andrew Platt of Montgomery County rounded up the signatures of about a third of the Democrats in the House of Delegates to call for Holt’s resignation. “And if that child and mother live in a Maryland residence, that landlord is on the hook to provide housing for that child until the age of 18 with unlimited liability”.
Hogan’s response came as 30 Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to Holt today, asking for the Republican official to resign.
He offered no specific proposals, but said he hoped to limit the liability of landlords in lead paint cases. He said the administration remains committed to investing in Baltimore, but he added that it takes more than money to address problems in the city and the rest of the state.
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