Ron Alessi Inserts Foot In Mouth
Wicomico Councilwoman Stevie Prettyman (R-2) seems to have raised the ire of certain members of the Wicomico County Liquor Control Board. Mrs. Prettyman had the audacity to question a board member, Ronald G. Alessi, performing over $50,000 of work for the board. Good for her, and shame on Mr. Alessi and any other member of the LCB that supports his position.
Mr. Alessi refused to answer questions posed by Daily Times reporter Joe Gidjunis yet doesn’t hesitate to engage in a written monologue riddled with factual errors. If Alessi’s little op-ed piece in Tuesday’s Daily Times is any indication of the board’s performance then the public would be best served by more scrutiny, rather than the “leave us alone” attitude of Alessi.
It is true that the liquor control board is appointed by the Governor and does not answer directly to the county government. As an agency operating under a state mandate they are held accountable to state ethics guidelines which hold that behavior such as Mr. Alessi’s is highly questionable (at a minimum). Even an appearance of conflict is to be shunned. The very fact that Alessi serves on the board and is then paid to perform work for that same agency is certainly an “appearance” of impropriety. That assumes that everything else which Alessi states is true.
This is a big assumption. Alessi states, “we went to the market at a time when construction was booming and received bids for work to be done that were outrageous”. The logical inference from Alessi’s own statements is that he reviewed the bids from other contractors and then underbid to get the work. I wonder if the other contractors who bid on this business would have enjoyed having the same benefits as Mr. Alessi?
Not only is such a practice unethical, it may be criminal. IF the other members of the board, Stewart Haemel and Cecilia Dennis, were aware that Alessi was accessing bid / estimate information prior to submitting his own bid they, along with Mr. Alessi, should be forced to resign in disgrace rather than wait for Gov. O’Malley’s new appointees to take their seats. At a minimum, the Governor should ask for Alessi’s immediate resignation based solely upon Alessi’s own statements.
Alessi claims in his piece that ALL profits from the Liquor Control Board are given over to the Wicomico Country treasury. This is simply not true. As Councilwoman Prettyman pointed out at the last meeting of the Wicomico County Council, the profits are split between the LCB and the County based on a formula that must be approved by the County Council. Perhaps Mr. Alessi misspoke, but the factual error remains.
Mr. Alessi makes multiple references to his belief that the Wicomico Liquor Control Board should be run like a business. He and I would both agree on the words, but evidently not on the meaning of those words. I believe that a business should be run to maximize the benefit to its shareholders. In the case of the LCB, those shareholders are the citizens of Wicomico County. Alessi seems to believe that a business is to be run to provide some benefit to its shareholders while also helping to line the pockets of the “good old boy network” of which Mr. Alessi is a member. The benefit to shareholders (citizens) is merely a means of keeping the “great unwashed” at bay.
I was amused at Alessi’s claim that LCB Chairman Stewart Haemel was “ambushed” at the last County Council meeting. Again misstating facts, Alessi argues that this matter occurred in past years. This is only partially true. When the Council received the audit for FY 2007, it was noted that Mr. Alessi had performed work for the LCB in FY 2007. Mrs. Prettyman also noted that Mr. Alessi had done work in the previous year as well. This is hardly an ambush. If Mr. Haemel wasn’t prepared to answer questions about the FY 2007 audit he should never have asked to be appointed in the first place.
Alessi also serves as a member of the Salisbury Zoo Commission. I would hope that the Salisbury Council begins to ask if Mr. Alessi, or any business which he is associated with, has done any work for the Zoo. If it turns out that Alessi benefited from this relationship as well, we will truly know his definition of “public service”.
Mr. Alessi’s parting comments may tell the greatest tale of all:
Maybe the best way for these council members to serve the citizens of Wicomico County would be to better monitor the assets of Wicomico County, instead of meddling in a business that is so very beneficial to all of the citizens of Wicomico County.
I’ve got news for you Ron. Real public servants like Stevie Prettyman are doing their job. Since a portion of the LCB’s profits go to the County the Wicomico County Council has a responsibility to see that profit maximized. While their “meddling” may not be good for your business, it should prove beneficial to the citizens of Wicomico County.
cross posted at Salisbury News
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