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I understand the Daily Times has a deadline to meet but IF Greg Latshaw would have been able to stick around longer last night he would have come out of there with the best of the best.
You see, not only did Shanie Shields come in 20 minutes late, Shanie flat out said the Citizens DO NOT CARE about open Government. She then went on to talk about Sharee Sample Hughes holding meetings in her District and 140 people showed up. It was at that moment I just had to chime in. I said, Shanie, how can you make the claim that Citizens don't care when 140 people showed up, for starters? I then mentioned how I have been attending these meetings and they were first class meetings where Sheriff Mike Lewis, Chief Gary Baker, Rick Pollitt, Mr. Sharma and others from Public Works attended and answered any and all questions openly and if they couldn't answer it, they took down names and assured everyone they would provide the answer the following day.
Lynn Cathcart showed up right in the beginning and stuck around taking notes. Actually, she was more interested in the dates the establishment would be open for special events than she was in what was being said in the meeting, seriously.
There was actually more than 20 people who attended but they were up against the biggest event of the year, The Rock & Roll Review at the High School. The viewing of Dick Hazel was yet another reason many did not make it. I'm NOT making excuses for the smaller crowd. It's a good start and hopefully people do see how this attempt to further open the doors towards a more open form of government is appealing.
Many suggestions were made and in the near future those suggestions will be posted HERE for all to view. Billy Burke attended the meeting all the way from Pocomoke and was AMAZED at how open things were and expressed how closed things are in Pocomoke. He stated Salisbury was light years ahead of Pocomoke but I'm sure he'll be posting his views later on what he experienced from the meeting.
Nevertheless, my hat is tipped to Debbie & Terry for taking the time and risk to get the ball rolling. Brenda Colegrove was called into the meeting once Shanie Shields arrived. The meeting was then digitally recorded and will hopefully be available to the public soon.
I'll give Shanie credit for taking responsibility for bringing the idea of a merger of the purchasing and finance depts to the mayor. Her idea is a good one and could have possibly worked IF the city had the staff to accomplish this feat from the beginning. We all know this plan failed due to lack of staffing or for whatever reasons so now lets just fix it. Put purchasing where it belongs, separate from finance. Restore the checks and balances to the system and take some of the load off Pam Oland. Obviously, she can't handle all of it.
ReplyDeleteWait a second . . . are you telling me that this meeting took place, and the world didn't end? What? I'm shocked! Sorry I couldn't be there last night, but I intend to attend future meetings if I can. I'm sure Shanie was told to show up as a way of trying to muck up the process, but maybe this would be a good time to reach out to her, to explain that C&C really are about trying to help the people, even if they differ from the mayor. From the other comment here, it sounds like Shanie is willing to talk about ideas when the mayor isn't present, which puts her above Bubba. Maybe there's an opening there, not that you all will agree on everything, but that everyone will at least listen to each other. Keep plugging away, citizens of Salisbury!
ReplyDeleteFF
It was good of C & C to hold such an open meeting where ideas on how to let the Sunshine into government were surely covered. I couldn't attend due to my injured back, but they sure have my support in what they're doing for our city and its citizens!
ReplyDeleteA. Goetz
Has Shanie moved Yet?
ReplyDeleteFF you would have been surprised with how much Shanie had to say. She has some good ideas and she likes to talk to people. Wouldn't surprise me a bit had Tim Spies not been railroaded that Shanie might be a whole different person. Who knows what Barrie and her friends hold over Shanie. It's not beneath them, ya know.
ReplyDeleteShanie's comment about citizens not caring is a slap in the face to the citizens that did show last night- and the one's who wanted to, but could not.
ReplyDeleteShanie contradicted herself when she said no one cares about openness then went on to tout the success of Sheree Sample-Hughes open forums. Its as if she was saying it was good for the county but not good for the city. Honestly, I think Shanie came in a bit defensive, expecting the event to be a Barrie & her council bashfest. SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE. Truth is no one cares about Barries form of government.
ReplyDeleteHere's a comment that ended up on the Salisbury Mall post. I'm sure Shields and Cathcart were expecting it to be a bash fest because it's what they would have done to Campbell and Cohen. Fortunately for us, "C&C" are true representatives and know something about setting a good example.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
Shanie slinked in--she and Cathcart were clearly on a mission.
Noteworthy, though, that if their intent was to disrupt, they did not. The Dynamic Duo continued to take public comments and as always handled the overt attempt with class and poise.
Shanie and Cathcart could learn a lot from these two--actually, we can hope that is why they showed up. They are realizing that Cohen and Campbell are the true leaders and they want to emulate them. Thanks, Shanie and Lynn, for finally realizing the truth; we welcome you from the Dark Side.
Maybe they'll come to the next one too.
10:57 AM