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Thursday, September 18, 2008
Ed Baker......What Happened?
For the past several months I have been working on a couple of things that effect the Wicomico County citizens and, at the direction of Rick Pollitt, I contacted Ed Baker of the new Legal Department. Rick advised me to get specific information from Ed. I have contacted the office of the Legal Department several times and have NEVER gotten a return call from Ed. Finally I was able to speak with Ed two weeks ago and he advised me that he would have the information I needed no later than 9/17. I still don't have that information. Anytime I have ever requested any information from Rick, I got it. No problem. Rick has always returned my calls. I have no reason to doubt that Rick tries to stand by his committment to open govt. I have expressed my concerns about not getting the return calls and information with Rick and he told me that he would talk to Ed about it. I am left with this opinion. Perhaps Ed Baker doesn't value the same "open govt." concept that Rick values. Maybe Ed doesn't care about the opinion of the public because he isn't an elected official. His behavior appears to be that of the "short timer". Rick I'm beginning to think that your choice to hire Ed Baker as the head of the "Legal Department" has resulted in the retention of one facet of the "good ole boy" system the citizens of Wicomico County voted to remove when they decided to implement the County Executive form of govt. Don't forget that the actions of your administration reflect directly on you. Perhaps it's time for a "Come to Jesus" meeting with your folks - you know - just a friendly reminder to them that the citizens are the reason the govt. exists and that they are all public servants.
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22 comments:
I couldn't agree more. Many, many times I have placed calls to Ed Baker before and after his new position and he never returned a call to me. Before he became an employee of the county I gave him the benefit of the doubt that his plate was too full, however, he now works totally for us and his obvious lack of respect of the taxpayer is unacceptable.
Speaking of County Executives, Joe I know how much you dislike Ron Alessi. Everyday I go to work I pass a car parked along the Elks Lodge Golf course that has a Ron Alessi sticker on it still. Wonder who that sucker is?
Anyone should have seen this coming. I posted comments on this. It was so blantent and the retirement package is what sealed the corupt part of this Good Ole Boy system. Rick needs to start being an individual and think for hisself. The Democrat agenda is destroying a good man.
Maybe he is busy doing work for the taxpayers. Rick is just passing the buck by telling you to contact the county attorney directly.
More proof of a well known fact:
It doesn't take long to become a true bureaucrat once someone goes on the payroll as an employee rather than as an independent contractor.
Don't expect your request in the next few weeks. Mr. Baker is on his first vacation since coming on board. When did he come on board anyway?
Dear Joe,it saddens my heart to hear you say that rick pollitt has an "open gov't".that is just not true.Mr.pollitt seems to have been totally corrupted by ed baker and ted shea.he is just as guilty as them when it comes to cover ups and underhanded actions.I'm sorry you don't realize that.think about it for a minute,how can some of the issues this county is facing continue without the approval of Mr.pollitt by way of Ed Baker and Ted Shea and his listening to them. Mr.pollitt needs to be his own person and ask more questions from his staff and department heads.hopefully you will post this,as I have noticed you seem to skip some of " pollitt postings" don't be deceived Joe.
Simple, We need to hire a second attorney.
Dear Anonymous 9:58:
I didn't write the article, Granddad did.
Rick Pollitt-Ted Shea-Ed Baker" and these three are one" - downtown needs to be cleaned out.
Hey, why not hire 10 more attorneys! We're Wicomico County and we should act like Montgomery County, right?
Ed Baker is a very busy man. Prior to going internal with the County, he had all the attorneys in his firm (4 of them) available to do legal work and respond to questions from the public. Now he's one attorney, with a newly hired attorney with very little experience (because of the low budget for this position) trying to do it all. You have to expect if the County plans to save money and not pay as much or pay for as many positions, when you go from 5 attorneys available to do the work to 1 experienced and 1 inexperienced one, it's going to take longer to get a call back. Follow Ed around one day and see the amount of work he does, the meetings he attends, how much the phone rings off the hook, then tell me if he's avoiding calling you back.
Sorry Joe,Granddad did write that one,"whew,I feel better now". O.K. readers, Where you see the name Joe, insert the name Granddad.
Anon:10:10am -soooo what- we are all busy.baker got a very sweet customized package for his new "county Legal Department" position.you follow him around (if you don't already).The citizens expect results,not excuses.We know where you stand.
10:28 - they're not excuses, they're valid reasons why Baker is not at the beck and call of every citizen with a question. I just thought the comments against Baker were unfair and from a standpoint of someone who obviously didn't know the differences between the new legal department and the old firm.
anon 11:11,
Ed Baker has had MONTHS to get with me on this. He was instructed by his boss, Rick Pollitt, to get this info for me. Is he too busy to do what his boss instructs him to do? Incidentally, he was the one who told me that he would have the info to me by the 17th - two weeks prior. He set the date. I made no demands. As a matter of fact, when I first spoke to Rick about this information and Rick told me to see Ed, Ed WAS at his private practice. Ed advised me that he was having his employee research the info. After not hearing from Ed for a while I was able to contact him at which time he advised that his assistant had in fact done all of the research and he only needed to review it. The last time I spoke with Ed he stated that he doesn't work at that firm anymore and now has to research the info all over again and that he would have it to me by the 17th.
granddad, I apologize for not understanding the lengths you've gone to and the time you've waited. That said, the County files and any work done on them should have gone with Baker as County attorney. The research done and paid for by the County, is County property, and should still be in Baker's possession. I don't understand why he would have to do the research all over again, unless it got lost in the move. I would question that.
Sounds like a real bureaucratic run-around to me, Granddad.
Ed Baker is a good and honest man--as is Rick Pollitt. Give them a break; we could have a lot worse serving the citizens of Wicomico County than these two.
Grand Dad,
Another fine example of why you are part of the problem instead of part of the solution. What exactly is your post supposed to accomplish by complaining on here instead of taking this up directly with Mr. Baker (the manly thing to do) or with his boss (the bureaucratic thing to do)? He may not be the fastest to respond but he works around the clock and has lots to do for the county besides answering another one of your DFQs! Maybe he is doing the real work that he is getting paid for. And yes, he is on vacation. His first vacation of any length in more than 10 years. And it was scheduled before he was hired by the county. Just ask all the other local folks that are on the same trip.
Open Government!! Ha Ha!
He was city attorney for Pocomoke...they don't know the definition of open government
anon 11:31...
IMHO People like you are the problem. The fact that Ed hasn't called me back isn't a problem but is rather a symptom of the problem. The real problem arises when people like yourself cotinue to let members of the govt. do as they please without regard to the public, the govt. feels comforatable with the fact that there is no repercussion. Bringing things like this to light in a public forum is the ONLY way to hold your govt. officials accountable for their actions (or inactions). It's making changes. Look around you. How many things have been brought to light on these blogs which would have otherwise gone unnoticed? Many of us on these blogs want to make changes for the better simply because we are not happy with the Status quo. If you are happy with the way our govt. is running, it would be my opinion that YOU are the one that is part of the problem rather than part of the solution.
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