The Deals Made For Catherine Pugh’s ‘Healthy Holly’ Books Are Under Investigation

Details about the nearly $700,000 in deals that Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh received for her ‘Healthy Holly’ book series are being looked into as more details surrounding the shady handling of these funds came to light. This comes around the time of Mayor Catherine Pugh taking a leave of absence due to pneumonia, further complicating the story.

While the children’s book series that teaches kids the benefits of healthy living sounds like a great idea. There have been clear signs of corruption in regards to where and how much money was being spent on the production, publication, and distribution of these books.

In total, the four books seem to have amassed around $690,000 in various deals from groups like the University of Maryland Medical System, of which Pugh was a sitting board member during the vote on the Healthy Holly funding deal, and Kaiser Permanente, a health care company that works with the city of Baltimore. After looking into the number of books published, the cost of selling and making the books, and the amount of distribution that occurred, officials are saying that the numbers don’t add up.

Maryland State officials and the people of Baltimore are wondering why so much money, over half a million dollars, was allocated to the LLC formed around the book series, and want the huge amounts of money to be accounted for. Many are asking the Mayor to resign over the scandal.

The state comptroller, various senators, and even the Governor of Maryland Larry Hogan have called for her resignation and investigations into the troubling allegations. This is the most recent scandal involving a Baltimore City mayor, in a city with a long list of corrupt officials making shady deals and personally benefitting from their positions of power.