For Md. Governor, Gifts No Secret
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- The gifts Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley gets for Christmas and throughout the year are no secret.
As governor, O'Malley has to disclose the hundreds of gifts he gets each year. The items are logged into a spreadsheet that documents the item, the date it was received and whether the governor, a Democrat, kept the gift or passed it onto the state.
According to records from the governor's office, in 2009 O'Malley got 196 gifts and kept 39 for himself. Spokesman Shaun Adamec says the governor tends to keep personalized items like hats and shirts with his name on them. Last year the gifts he kept included cookies, two bottles of Jameson Irish Whiskey and a nail kit from the Maryland Society of Accountants.
No gift totals are yet available for 2010.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
