"Alessi is on the Liquor board. I worked there for six years and found many "Questionable events." Managers were treated to lunches at Brew River, we also had breakfast buffets at the Ramada at the publics expense. When in Rome, you know, I ate well from you being over charged, while we employees enjoyed liquor at cost. That has been now changed to 25% off discount for employees unless that has changed since my departure.
When I first started working there I was made aware that just prior to my hire in 1997, there were two whole days deposits missing and never found, the police were not called and it was all swept under the rug. I called the Sheriff's department at the time to report it and they told me in was in the city jurisdiction and to call the city police, in turn the city police told me to call the Sheriff's department, nobody wanted to touch that "Hot Potato." After those two incidents we did start using tamper proof deposit bags and when I made deposits I always had another eyeball, by taking another manager with me to the bank to verify.
There was one sales person in particular that might have well just filled out his own purchase orders and that salesmen went to lunch at least once a month with the general manager at that time. The salesman making all of their quota's of course got a nice bonus check from his employers at the end of the month.
Was this bonus shared with the general manager? That was never proven but most employees took it as the writing on the wall. People that had worked there for thirty years just got used to it being, that's the way it's always been done!
Ask any bar or restaurant owner how they feel about it. Ask Tom Ruark, he has a liquor store in the Pecan Square shopping center. They all pay 15% more than they would if they were allowed to purchase their product directly from the supplier. I think it's about time they were dissolved. However, you see this also goes up to the supplier level, do you know how much more it would cost them to stop at all the private liquor stores, bars and restaurants? They don't want to see that happen."
Tim Chaney
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
15 comments:
Occasionally treating administrative employees to breakfast and lunch at local restaurants is inappropriate? What ...?
This perspective is nutsy-cuckoo enough that it makes me question the overall judgement of the writer.
You're kidding me, RIGHT? NOT at taxpeyers expense! Get off this Blog Alessi.
So a municipal/state administrative upper management type etc. should never be able to bill occasional lunch or breakfast meetings with their workers, which are taken away from the office at local eateries, as a departmental expense?
Interesting notion. Crazy, but interesting.
And when $8 to $10,000 goes missing and the police isn't called is "Normal? ROFLMFAO
Business was never spoken during the business lunch. Let's not talk shop OK?
I think you might be on to something Joe. Nutzy-cuckoo does sound like something an old coot would say.
We also purchased from four big liquor distributors in Maryland. It's a monopoly all of the way up. Only one company can sell Jack Daniel's, one company can sell Absolute and on and on.
There is also no competition within the state at the wholesale level. An open door for corruption. In DC a bar or restaurant has several wholesalers to choose from, Maryland not the case.
We did receive 4 really nice Sunday dinners a year, one from each liquor company. We went to Suicide Bridge a lot. I did think that was OK because the wholesalers were paying the bill and it wasn't wasting money that could have gone to the general fund.
One of the reasons that Montgomery county does so much better than the other three counties is that they do sell beer as well.
A lot of the drinks you see in the local liquor stores are just beer with lipstick on it. Jack Daniel's coolers, Mikes Hard lemonade and many of those drinks are made from malt, barley and hops just like beer with artificial flavors.
Before making statements like this, or an "Editorial" as such on this subject. You should do your homework. Which is not done on here many times....
Much of what has been stated here, are flat out lies.
Ronnie,
I thought I told you to stay off this Blog. LOL
Oh, PROVE US WRONG!
The burden of proof is on you inspector!
Here's another funny thing. I was the first person in the history of the system since prohibition that ever used a spread sheet for re-ordering purposes. Tracking sales and trends.
I had to teach people there how to use a computer ROFLMAO
The board meets every two weeks to sign paychecks, they meet 26 times a year to discuss a $4 million a year business?
Don't believe me? Just ask any bar or restaurant owner in this county before you call people a liar.
There is a question of ethics... A Manufacture, Wholesaler, retailer (where alcohol is concern) can not have any interest in each other. If a retailer (a local restaurant) is buying breakfast / lunch / dinner for the dispesary, which is in fact a wholesaler to the retailer ... that would be excepting a gift, which must be disclosed, and wholesaler are only allowed to give things of certian value as mandated by the state. Now if the dispesary was treating the employees to an occasional meal then thats a different story. I got the impression the retailer was treating the dispensary to various meals on a regular basis.
They are an entity that doesn't have to report taxes because they don't have to file taxes, what's there to report?
Meals were provided for employees by both the county dispensaries monies that could have gone into the counties general fund and from their wholesale providers. Of course they were called business lunches or breakfasts. Another state law that was blowing in the wind was salesman giving away bottles of liquor to the employees. Keep digging, you'll get there.
Myself and two other employees were called to go talk to county attorney Ed Baker about the thefts. I'm sure he can't talk about it, see if he will deny it? If you don't believe me.
I wish these blogs were around when I worked there.
Also purchase yourself a Maryland Beverage Journal, and you will see that the monopoly is state wide. Only one company can sell a particular individual product in this state. There is no competition state wide. The whosalers bid on exclusives.
Any of this feedabck coming from Pittsville? LoL I can tell you who that would be!
Is there anybody out there that knows what we {the average reader} can do to help stop the abuse of our tax money. Isnt there some department heads phone we should call? Where do we send a letter or an email to try and force their attention to this corruption? Somebody give me a petition to sign FFS! It's not just this topic, there's a ton of stuff in here that could use some positive recoarse to go with it. Somebody posting or reading knows how to help correct some of this mess we're in! We all know the corruption and abuse is wide spread and looked at as normal practice. Most of us readers can only take so much daily exposure to these monsters before we become depressed and feeling helpless. Keep your readers, give us some direction on how to correct some of this mess!
The easiest way to put an end to this entity is a referendum. Citizens wouldn't even have to go door to door to get people to sign a petition.
If every bar, restaurant and the one private liquor store that must purchase their liquor there would put a petition in their places of business, the patrons would make up enough signatures than needed I bet to force a referendum and kiss them good-bye......
If the owners would tell their patrons that would lower their costs and there would be no need to raise prices for a very long time, I doubt people would balk at signing it.
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