The general counsel of poultry giant Perdue Incorporated learned a hard lesson this weekthat if the governor is an old law school chum, then watch out for those e-mails that can be subject to public information requests.
A Washington, D.C.-based environmental group called Food & Water Watch has accused Maryland Governor Martin OMalley and Perdue GC Herbert Frerichs Jr. of having a cozy relationship, after the group made a Public Information Act request for all correspondence between the governors office and the poultry company.
In some 70 pages of e-mails, dating from July 2010 through November 2011 and reproduced on the groups website, the GC and the governor discuss various issues relating to Perdue, such as proposals to generate energy from burning poultry manure.
OMalley also sought Frerichs help in overcoming opposition among poultry-industry officials to his plan for putting a commercial wind farm off Ocean City. And the governor wanted to know why Perdue, based in Salisbury, Maryland, didnt like the states agriculture secretary, Buddy Hance.
Frerichs responded, I just feel like Im trying to push a bunch of stuff and I dont see him around. Hes not as strong as his counterparts in DE and VA. I work w[ith] all three.
OMalley replied: Im guessing you dont have the personal e-mail of governors of DE or VA, so let me know when Buddy can/should be doing more to help you push stuff. Im serious. Ill have him call you Monday.
The governor also sought Frerichs advice on how to soothe company chairman Jim Perdue’s ruffled feathers over comments, made by the governor’s then-press secretary, that poultry companies need to help in cleaning up the pollution in Chesapeake Bay. Frerichs had e-mailed OMalley that his spokesman’s comments upset Perdue.
Frerichs, who is also a partner with the Venable law firm in Baltimore while serving as Perdues GC, declined comment through a spokesperson.
But Perdue spokesperson Julie DeYoung told CorpCounsel.com in a prepared statement, Its no secret that Governor OMalley and Herb Frerichs have known each other since attending law school together (at the University of Maryland) and have a personal and professional relationship. Government affairs are managed through the general counsel office at Perdue; the e-mails simply show him doing his job.
Food & Water Watch’s Wenonah Hauter wrote in her blog post that the e-mails paint a portrait of a head of state who walks on eggshells around the chicken industry.
And not to let any fowl pun go unused, Hauter claimed that the governor is henpecked by Perdue on poultry issues.
In one e-mail exchange, OMalley and Frerichs discussed the need for a law school clinic to provide legal assistance to farmers. But apparently not at their alma mater, the University of Maryland.
Perdue is a defendant in a lawsuit brought by the University of Marylands environmental law clinic, accusing the company of polluting a bay tributary. OMalley wrote a letter to the schools dean criticizing its involvement and saying it ought to be defending the farm family instead of suing it.
Frerichs then e-mailed OMalley a note that said, very nice on the day the governors letter appeared in news reports.
Meanwhile, the Baltimore Sun reported that around the time these e-mails began, Perdue shifted its political giving from the Republican Governors Association to the Democratic Governors Association, which OMalley chairs.
In addition, Frerichs law firm announced in March that Peter OMalley, the governors brother and then-chief of staff for the mayor of Baltimore, was joining Venable as of counsel in the firms Baltimore office. He focuses onyou guessed itgovernment relations.
OMalley, for his part, has favored Frerichs by appointing him last year to the board of directors of the Maryland Economic Development Corporation and to the appellate judicial nominating committee from 2007 to 2011, according to Frerichs Venable website bio.