WCBOE Public Information Officer to Receive 33% Pay Raise

How big a raise did you get this year?  That is the question that all Wicomico County taxpayers should be asking themselves as the Wicomico County Board of Education (WCBOE) prepares to award their “Public Information Liaison” a whopping pay increase of 33%!

While hardly a bargain for Wicomico taxpayers, we know that this is a steal for Supt. John Fredericksen.  As most of you probably know, the WCBOE’s “Public Information Liaison” happens to be the wife of Erick Sahler, managing editor of the Daily Times.  One of the perks of such an “arrangement” is that no unflattering coverage of the BOE appears within the pages of our local rag.

While we regularly read about the problems of the Somerset BOE, the fights between the Worcester County Commissioners and their BOE, and teacher pay issues in several Sussex County school districts (Delaware has independent school districts), coverage of the Wicomico County schools is primarily limited to puff pieces of children receiving awards.  Note that NO coverage was given to the WCBOE’s recent decision to increase retiree healthcare benefits.  Note that explanation of the WCBOE’s “dollar swap” as budget cut was afforded the same type of explanation as the Daily Times usually reserves for Barrie Tilghman’s transgressions; in other words, shine sunshine up people’s backsides.  As far as the WCBOE is concerned, increasing Mrs. Sahler’s salary from around $40,000 to over $54,000 is the sale of the century.  Most school districts couldn’t buy this kind of coverage (or lack thereof);  the Daily Times has sold it pretty cheap.

Wicomico Board of Ed and Daily Times Attempt to Scam the Taxpayers … AGAIN

Never fear.  The government is here to help you.  In today’s case, it is the good folk at the Wicomico Board of Education (WCBOE) who are colluding with our own local version of Pravda to pick the pocket of the average, hard working citizen of Wicomico County.

The folks over at the WCBOE are going to scrimp and save to help fix a problem of their own making – a $2 million shortfall in the county budget which the board and Supt. John Fredericksen exacerbated by fighting the county’s request of a waiver of the state momentum of effort (MOE) rules.  The Daily Times wants us to somehow believe that the WCBOE are the champions of our children.

It’s interesting.  Just last week the WCBOE voted to increase the taxpayer paid portion of retiree healthcare benefits from 55% to 70%.  Only board president Robin Holloway dissented.  Yet, the $357,000 of taxpayer money to be spent on yet another juicy benefit for government workers and retirees would amount to almost 18% of the $2 million budget hole.  The county’s budget will have been adopted before the public even gets a chance to find out whether Wicomico County teachers and staff will receive a pay increase next year, and how much.
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WICO – Has the Tilghman Times Been Handed a Monopoly on Local News?

Driving down Route 13 yesterday, I almost jumped for joy when I first heard that WICO was also broadcasting on 92.5 FM, as well as 1320 AM.  This was something that I had been hoping for for years since I usually can’t hear Bill Reddish south of the Rt. 13 by-pass or west of Mardela.  For the first time I was able to hear my favorite radio station all the way to Pocomoke.  I was genuinely thrilled, until I got back to my office and checked out Delmarva Broadcasting’s new web site for “Delmarva’s Talk Stations” (nice website BTW).

If you look at their new schedule, you’ll see something pretty shocking – all local programming has been stripped from the schedule.  No Reddish.  With the exception of 1 hour, twice a month on WSDL, there will no longer be any local news (except what gets read from the Tilghhman Times), no local interviews, nothing.

If this schedule holds, the Tilghman Times has just been handed a virtual monopoly on local news coverage.  You’ll get some local coverage from WBOC and WMDT at the dinner hour.  Don Rush will continue (hopefully) to give us those two hours a month on his Delmarva Today program.  That’s it!

With one week to go until Salisbury’s elections, we should all be demanding MORE, not less, local programming.  With the new, larger, footprint of WICO we should be hearing citizens and officials from Somerset and Worcester counties, as well as Wicomico.

Do you want to only receive local news sanctioned (and seemingly written) by Barrie Tilghman and her pals?  If not, call Joe Edwards at Delmarva Broadcasting and DEMAND the local content we not only need, but deserve.  You can reach Joe at (410) 219-3500 or email him at jedwards@dbc1.com.

Barrie Tilghman, PooGate, and Putting Lipstick On That $80+ Million Pig

We’ve Heard All This Before

“Ahead of schedule and under budget.”  How many times have we heard outgoing Salisbury Mayor Barrie Tilghman and her ace partner-in-crime Gary Comegys make that claim regarding the city’s new waste water treatment plant (WWTP)?  Unfortunately for the water and sewer ratepayers (and possibly the city’s property tax payers), the facts are starting to “leak” out.

I’m reminded when SbyNEWS’s Joe Albero revealed to the public that Salisbury was operating an illegal sludge lagoon at the WWTP.  First, the Queen of Barrieland denied it.  As pictures kept coming, she admitted that the lagoon was there, but everything was legal.  When the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) came forward and said that the city did not have a permit for it, Tilghman said that it was a minor technicality and that it wouldn’t cost the taxpayers a dime.  Finally, Salisbury citizens had to pony up for a nice fine.

It all started Monday morning with Councilwoman Debbie Campbell’s appearance on WICO’s Bill Reddish show.  Reddish asked about the problems with WWTP and gave Reddish some straight answers.  This was followed by Campbell posting correspondence from city administrator John Pick on her own website.  This was followed by a scathing story on SbyNEWS.

Tilghman couldn’t run.  She couldn’t hide.  So what did Barrie do?  She blamed someone else.

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Support Real Fairness, Oppose the Fairness Doctrine

Maryland Senators Andy Harris (R-7) and Alex Mooney (R-3) have introduced SJ11 – a resolution in opposition to any reintroduction of the “Fairness Doctrine”. For those of you too young to remember this oxymoron, the “Fairness Doctrine” required all broadcasters to provide equal time to opposing points of view. Of course, this led to the liberal domination of ALL media.  Conservatives somehow weren’t worthy of equal time.

Since the abolition of this ridiculous rule, Americans have been afforded access to more points of view than ever before. Unfortunately for the left, liberal media like Air America and MSNBC have struggled because they can’t grab an audience in the free marketplace of ideas. This is why the left wants to re-introduce the rule in some form.  For liberal media to survive, they need government subsidy.

Why?  Too many of us support outmoded and simplistic ideas such as limited government and fiscal responsibility.  We can’t have any of that.  Can we?

To show your support for the free market of ideas, show your support for SJ11 at:

Comegys and Ireton to Debate on WSDL-FM

Salisbury mayoral candidates Gary Comegys and Jim Ireton will face off this Friday on WSDL’s Delmarva Today.  The program will air live at 9 AM.

You have multiple options for listening to this program.  Tune into 90.7 on your FM dial.  You can listen online by visiting WSDL’s website.  If you miss the live broadcast, you can listen to it at your leisure by visiting Delmarva Today’s podcast page.

Delmarva Today host Don Rush always does a great job interviewing his guests.  This should be a broadcast worth listening to.

Media Monday – March 16, 2009

Comegys and Ireton Answer the Hard Questions?

I wasn’t going to bother with the looong pieces in Sunday’s Daily Times about Salisbury Mayoral candidates Gary Comegys and Jim Ireton.  I think the objective reader would have to admit that Comegys came off a bit better than Ireton; while the objective vote would admit that Ireton remains the better candidate.  While the two pieces weren’t quite fair, they pass for great journalism at the Daily Times.

Like I said, I wasn’t even going to comment on the pieces until I ran across this little ditty on the unofficial blog of the Barrie Comegys campaign:

Wow Joey all the fun you have had at Gary’s expense the last few years on not paying child support, bankruptcy, sassafrass meadows all shot full of holes by a real journalist.

Let’s forget the poor grammar and total cluelessness when it comes to basics like capitalization.  Let’s examine the meat of the statement – “shot full of holes by a REAL JOURNALIST” (my emphasis).
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WICO and Barrie Comegys

Much has been made over WICO-AM’s decision to allow Salisbury Mayor Barrie Tilghman to use her half hour show as a literal campaign commercial for her chosen candidate, Salisbury Councilman Gary Comegys.  Much should be made of it.  Delmarva Broadcasting either showed poor judgment or …

Sorry to disappoint.  Given my past, positive experience with WICO, doing a little research, and after an extensive conversation with Operations Manager Joe Edwards, I am forced to conclude that there is no grand conspiracy.  Edwards, et al, (in my opinion) showed poor judgment.

A little background.  Barrie Tilghman doesn’t handle opposition very well.  Initially refusing to be interviewed by WICO News Director Bill Reddish (perhaps because he wasn’t kissing the right part of her anatomy), the Queen of Barrieland eventually resorted to banning ALL city personnel from appearing on Reddish’s show.  We now come to WICO mistake No. 1.
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Media Monday – March 2, 2009

Can You Believe What You Read? – Part III

Over the past few weeks we’ve examined this question from several angles.  In Part I we looked at print media, with a special examination of Salisbury’s Daily Times.  If there was ever a poster child for the need to read critically (and sceptically), the Daily Times is it.  In Part II we examined the blogosphere.  As expected, there are problems.  However, as we have demonstrated, the print media have a tough time claiming the “moral high ground” (with the exception of a relatively few instances in the blogosphere).

Today we are scheduled to discuss the rest of the electronic media – radio and television.  However, this should be relatively short and sweet.  The lessons learned over the past two weeks apply to radio and television as well.  We all owe it to ourselves to be more critical in our consumption of information – regardless of the means of delivery.  As the Dan Rather scandal and pretty much everything on MSNBC demonstrates, there is plenty of bias and sloppy reporting to go around.  Liberals have been screaming about FoxNEWS since the day Roger Ailes flipped the switch on.  While I have been a fan of FoxNEWS over the years, even I have to admit that their coverage has been getting a tad skewed lately (both left and right depending on the reporter).
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The Vulnerable Frank Kratovil

How vulnerable is freshman Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-MD)?  Not half as vulnerable as he, and his pals in the media would have you believe.

Sure, common sense dictates that Kratovil will have some tough sledding in 2010.  The First District has historically gone Republican since the early 1960’s.  However, less than two months into his term, Kratovil and the DCCC are doing all they can to make sure that Flip-Flop Frank will get over the hump in 2010 so that his Democrat pals in the Maryland legislature can gerrymander a nice safe seat for 2012 (and beyond).

If you follow congressional seats around the country you will quickly find that this disingenuous stab at fooling the voters isn’t limited to Maryland’s 1st congressional district.  The DCCC, along with their pals in the media, are playing this game all over the country.  Merely insert name of Congressman X here.
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