In Salisbury, Working People Need Not Apply

As Salisbury councilwoman noted on the radio this morning, today’s Salisbury City Council work session is “relatively meaty”.    While I haven’t talked to councilwoman Debbie Campbell today, it’s a decent bet that she won’t be there.  Why?  Campbell has to work for a living.  So does Cohen, but fortunately she is self-employed.

The “council majority” of Louise Smith, Gary Comegys, and Shanie Shields don’t work for a living.  They live off of the teat of the taxpayer.  Therefore, why not move work sessions to the morning.  The meetings aren’t televised.  Working citizens can’t attend.  Campbell can’t attend many.  Cohen will undoubtedly miss a few because she has to earn a living.

By this action alone Smith, et al provide an excellent argument for not allowing anyone on a PUBLIC pension to hold elected office.  No – I’m not advocating that action.  I’m just noting that there is an argument to be made when people like Smith, Comegys, and Shields behave as they do.

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Jim Ireton’s Answer to Salisbury’s Crime Problem

  When Jim Ireton was running to be Salisbury’s mayor there was no question that crime was a TOP concern of voters.  Things don’t seem to have gotten much better since his election.  At Tuesday’s meeting of the Salisbury Crime Taskforce Ireton provided some hint as to his solution for the crime problems – GRANTS.

While Jim’s FRIENDS – Frank Kratovil, Barbara Mikulski, Ben Cardin, and Barack Obama – may be doling out taxpayer dollars by the bucket full, at some point in time Ireton is going to have to DO SOMETHING about fixing the problems facing Salisbury.  That means Ireton needs to understand that crime is one of, if not THE BIGGEST problem facing his once fair city.

At Tuesday’s meeting a member of the taskforce asked Ireton what was the status of a grant Salisbury applied for to replicate a highly successful crime initiative in Annapolis.  Ireton’s reply was a song an dance about how “competitive” the application process was and how applicants were being “scored”.

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The Joke That Is Salisbury’s Tapegate

On days like this I am reminded of a comment made by my friend and Red Maryland colleague Brian Griffiths.  It was something to the effect that more things appear to be written about Salisbury town government than most cities 10 times its size.  He’s right.  I’m one of many culprits; but at least I can be thankful that I’m not in the idiot pen with the Tilghman Times and the Barrie Comegys crowd.  Case in point – TAPEGATE.

The Story -

It all began in early July.  Salisbury police chief Allan Webster thought that the town’s new mayor, Jim Ireton, might send him packing.  Fair assumption given Webster’s record and the city’s less than stellar crime statistics.  Ireton had made both an issue during the recent mayoral campaign and Webster attacked Ireton in the Tilghman Times on multiple occasions.

To save his job, and reportedly to pad his pension, Webster went on the offensive by publicly attacking Ireton’s two allies on council – Debbie Campbell and Terry Cohen.  Unfortunately, Ireton’s bungling of the matter appeared to make Webster and his cronies even more brazen.

To date, Webster has asserted (on several occasions in collusion with the Tilghman Times) that his rights were violated, that city personnel policy was circumvented, that the Salisbury taxpayers should foot all of his potential legal bills, … and that he was was somehow being persecuted as a “whistleblower”.  What makes this so amusing is that it was either Webster or someone acting on his behalf that provided copies of the documents (which Webster claims are damaging to his reputation) to both the Tilghman Times and to the house blog of the Barrie Comegys party.

Webster’s claim of “whistleblower” status is based (if one can call it that) on a purported investigation of Councilwoman Campbell.  Webster claims that Campbell has possession of police surveillance footage supposedly taped about 12 years ago when Mrs. Campbell was the founding Executive Director of Salisbury Neighborhood Housing Service.  TAPEGATE!

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Barrie Comegys Party Wants to Waste More Tax Dollars

When will they ever learn?  The Barrie Comegys bloc on Salisbury’s city council wants to throw more tax dollars (potentially millions more) down the drain.  Since Mayor Jim Ireton vetoed their attempt to take a notorious property owner off of the hook for cleanup, their response was tried and true (at least in Democrat circles) – they played the race card.

BARRIE COMEGYS WANTS YOUR MONEY

I understand the argument for acquiring the Lake Street property.  It could serve as a means to jump start the proposed North Prong redevelopment project.  As someone who supports redevelopment of the North Prong (just not the ham fisted Barrie Comegys approach), acquiring the property could have some merit.

However, to call this property a “brown field” is probably being generous.  Given that no one has any idea what kind of clean-up problems will be encountered if the city took possession of the property, it makes good sense to find out BEFORE the city is on the hook.  In fact, Councilwoman Terry Cohen made such a specific motion to amend the agreement before council last Monday.  Councilman Gary Comegys stated that he would support such an amendment ONLY IF it did not stop the city from acquiring the land.  Councilwomen Louise Smith and Shanie Shields (the other two legs of the Barrie Comegys Party stool on the Salisbury council) also voted down the amendment.

Let’s try this again.  NO ONE knows what the clean-up will cost.  It may me $10,000.  It could be $1 MILLION!  For all anyone knows, it could be more.  YET, Comegys stated that it was more important to acquire this piece of land.  Basically, the Barrie Comegys position is that this land is worth ANY PRICE.

Why not?  The taxpayers are footing the bill.

RACE PIMPING IN THE ‘BURY

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Webster, Whining, and the Wannabe Journalists

The drama emanating from Salisbury city government is something to behold.  It’s a cross of the “Worst of Barrie Tilghman” and a bad comic opera.  We now have Salisbury police chief Allan Webster, with the blatant collusion of the Tilghman Times, attempting to save his job by building a giant straw man on the front page.  Unbeknownst to Webster, he may be providing all the ammunition Salisbury mayor Jim Ireton needs to clean a large portion of his house before Labor Day.  Tuesday’s article in the Tilghman Times also shows the absurd lengths that reporter Laura D’Alessandro is willing to go in order to please her bosses.

According to D’Alessandro, Webster has “responded” to “complaints” filed by councilwomen Debbie Campbell and Terry Cohen.  It’s fairly obvious to all but the most obtuse reader that the “response” was leaked by Webster himself.  If not, it was leaked by a surrogate.

Webster seems to believe that he is saving his job by this little ballet with D’Alessandro.  Unfortunately, he has made several errors that not only could cost him his post, but also cause several other Tilghman appointees to “take a BIG hit for the team”.

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Daily Times – Shoddy Reporting or Political Intimidation?

It’s doubtful that Salisbury’s Daily Times will win a Pulitzer anytime soon.  That said, they seem to be sinking to lows that may exceed their own dismal record.  The question is whether the staff of the Daily Times is lazy, incompetent, or attempting to influence local government through intimidation.

This morning’s article about a mysterious “report” on Salisbury police chief Allan Webster not only fails to meet any standard of truth, it doesn’t even meet a standard of accuracy.  The article even admits that it is based on “rumor”.  Given that the reporter, Laura D’Alessandro, was unable to confirm any of these rumors, I am shocked that any newspaper would run such a story anywhere, much less on the front page above the fold.

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Salisbury Ethics Commission Show Trial

Displaying the cowardice to be expected of someone who attacks children, Barrie Comegys stooge Jonathan Taylor failed to show up for the Salisbury Ethics Commission show trial precipitated by his own actions.  While thousands of taxpayer dollars were wasted in this spiteful and ridiculous action, Taylor (who already lives on the generosity of taxpayers) hid from view while Barrie Comegys stalwart Lynn Cathcart was on hand to take notes for the wannbe “Powers That Be”.

To be fair, the Ethics Commission ran a fairly clean meeting.  The attending members:  Donna Forgash, Norman Lyster, Bob Gladden, and Fran Kane all asked valid, thoughtful, and polite questions.

While several people at the hearing asked the same question, “What the hell are we doing here?”, the Ethics Commission serves a theoretically important role.  It has been suggested that the board should have examined the complaint prior to today’s hearing and ruled that it was frivolous.  However, if a complaint had been filed against Barrie Tilghman, Mike Dunn, Gary Comegys, or Louise Smith and the Commission had done so (ruled it frivolous in a private meeting) I would be one of the first to scream fraud and cover-up;  so would many of the same people asking that question today.

Was the complaint frivolous?  It turns out that it was.  Councilwoman Terry Cohen made a presentation that not only proved the claim specious, but shamed City Solicitor Paul Wilber for his complete incompetence on these matters.  While not named specifically today, Cohen also proved Councilman Gary Comegys to be a liar, a fool, or both.  You’ll have to decide.
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Gary Comegys’ New Found Respect for the Rule of Law

After six years in office, Salisbury councilman Gary Comegys seems to have found some respect for the Salisbury city charter and the rule of law.  At Tuesday’s council meeting Comegys correctly argued that Mayor Jim Ireton’s last minute budget amendments were contrary to the city’s charter.  I would have stood up and applauded Comegys if not for the fact that he is one of the parties responsible for making the Salisbury city council an irrelevant body.

To date, Comegys has been one of those who disagreed with my stance that rules are to be followed.  When his mistress, the Queen of Barrieland, was in power Comegys argued time and again that Salisbury’s form of government dictated that the mayor was to be given the widest latitude (if not absolute power).  If the recent mayoral election had swung Comegys’ way I am confident that he would still be arguing his bizarre interpretation of the city’s charter.

However, just because the guy I supported is in power does not negate the fact that the city’s budget belongs to council until approved.  Any amendments must emanate from, if not originate in, the city council.  Yes, Ireton was correct regarding the city’s health insurance plan and the inclusion of city council members.  However, any amendment still needed to be adopted by council prior to its inclusion in the final budget ordinance.

While councilwoman Terry Cohen made a persuasive argument that Ireton’s actions were correct, she was wrong.  Simply because there is a precedent for the mayor acting unilaterally does not make it legal or right.  If a majority of council were truly interested in being a relevant body they would simply require all but emergency legislation to come before at least one work session prior to consideration in a legislative session.  Cohen would probably agree with this.  However, the Comegys-led majority simply could not entertain such a notion.  If they adopted this under a Mayor Ireton they would be hard pressed to go back to the old ways if Ireton failed to win re-election.

Perhaps Comegys can learn a lesson from this.  You reap what you sow.

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Barrie Comegys Blog Gets Even Scummier Post-Election

Jonathan Taylor, the “mind” behind the unofficial blog of the Barrie Comegys ticket of Gary Comegys, Muir Boda, and Shanie Shields is on a tear.  While I didn’t think it was possible to sink lower than they did during the recent Salisbury mayoral and council races, I was wrong.  From calling the spouse of one individual a “Bitch” to posting derogatory comments about the spouse and child of Councilwoman Debbie Campbell, it is obvious that the Barrie Comegys team will continue to be practicing the politics of LIES, HATE, and FEAR for some time to come.

While we should expect this from individuals like Mr. Taylor, going after someone’s kid is low even for the likes of Jonathan and his sleazy pals.  This is particularly so AFTER Taylor promised to stop attacks on Mayor-elect Jim Ireton and re-elected councilwoman Campbell.

I have been thinking today about what direction I want to go in now that the
election is over. I have finally made my decision. I will no longer make any
more personal attacks on Jim Ireton or Debbie Campbell, I will reserve those
for Joey only.

That was on Wednesday.  I can only conclude that in the sub-70 IQ world of Jonathan Taylor “I will no longer” means “I won’t do it NOW”.  On Thursday, the chief scribe of the Comegys, Boda, and Shields ticket was going after Campbell’s husband Bill and their son Billy.  Bad move Jonathan.  Billy Campbell may just be the smartest person you’ve ever been in a room with.
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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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