Misappropriation in Salisbury
Misplacing over $10 million certainly doesn’t seem to have bothered Salisbury Mayor Barrie Tilghman, or her cohorts on the city council - Louise Smith, Gary Comegys and Shanie Shields. Last night we learned that the Tilghman administration had again misappropriated funds and her “council leadership” only wanted to cover it up.
Misappropriation, defined as the illegal use of property or funds for one’s own use or other unauthorized purpose, is not only a violation of the city’s charter, it is a violation of state law. Yet, Tilghman never hesitates to spend taxpayer money without proper appropriation by council. Why should she, when she carries a three person “rubber stamp” in her hip pocket that will approve almost any transgression?
Monday night the public learned that the Tilghman administration has again spent money that wasn’t appropriated. Councilwoman Debbie Campbell asked the council to add an emergency item to the agenda to address this matter. If there was any legitimate reason for the misappropriation, why was the Mayor so testy? More importantly, why did Smith, Comegys and Shields refuse to even discuss the matter?
Perhaps there was a legitimate reason for the expenditure. If so, Tilghman merely needed to ask for a supplemental appropriation. It certainly isn’t a a major undertaking. Yet, for some reason the administration and Tilghman’s rubber stamp want another two weeks to put together a better sounding story.
Was there any mention in this morning’s Daily Times? Of course not. It seems that misappropriation of funds is only front page news if it happens on the Wicomico County side of the GOB.
cross posted at Salisbury News
Technorati Tags: Maryland, Salisbury, politics, Salisbury politics, fiscal policy, misappropriation, Barrie Tilghman, Louise Smith, Gary Comegys, Shanie Shields, Debbie Campbell, Daily Times, Gannett, mediaSphere: Related Content
//END Quantcast Code
Maybe you should contact Doug Gensler at the State Attorney General’s Office and inform him of the misappropriation of funds. A mass calling, e-mailing and letter writing campaign ought to get the State’s attention. Contact the Criminal Investigations Division. They prosecute criminal activity within State government (Salisbury is included). They deal with fraudulent misappropriation by public officials, misconduct in office by public officials, and falsifications of public records.
Contact them here:
Main telephone number:
1 (410) 576-6300 or
1 (888) 743-0023 toll-free in Maryland
TDD: (410) 576-6372
Mailing address:
Office of the Attorney General
Criminal Investigations Division
200 St. Paul Place
Baltimore, MD 21202
E-mail: oag@oag.state.md.us
Doesn’t this outrage anyone else??? I can’t for the life of me understand why these half-wits are still in office. It’s a shame that our city can’t afford to pay qualified professionals for these elected positions. The caliber of many concerned citizens I speak with is certainly adequate, however the compensation for services rendered is not.
Perhaps we could get Barrie to misappropriate enough funds to afford to pay for competent individuals to replace her and her cronies.