The City is proposing a new records retention program that will destroy records older than one year involving zoning and neighborhood services. These records would include the history of non-conforming records that may allow us to determine the status of and fight properties that have been illegally converted into multi-unit rentals and where the multi-unit rentals have been renovated to add units without property zoning permits, etc. This plan would also destroy records related to rental registrations, and property inspections that could be used to fight blight and slumlords.
Davis Ruark recently used 22 year old records in a conviction. Community Associations are also using these records to fight blight and the continual illegal expansion of rentals.
The Crime Task Force unanimously voted against the current proposal and sought a resolution to stop this record destruction - posted on the Crime Task Force Website at http://salisburycrime.blogspot.com/
At the last council meeting, Terry Cohen made the following motion: "To be responsive to the concerns of the Mayor’s Crime Task Force, Ms. Cohen moved that a temporary moratorium be placed on the destruction of any City records related to the history of property use and compliance of properties until the Mayor’s Crime Task Force completes its work and the City Council further discusses and adopts the Records Retention Policy and its accompanying departmental schedules. Mrs. Campbell seconded, but the motion failed to pass." Mrs. Campbell and Ms. Cohen voted aye. Mrs. Shields, Mrs. Smith and Mr. Comegys voted nay. (Note: Mayor Tilghman acknowledged that she would instruct the department heads to not destroy the records until the retention issue had been resolved.)
If you or anyone you know is interested and able to go to tonight's council meeting, it would be good to make your concerns known for the record. It would also be good to attend the December lst Working Session where this item is on the agenda. If enough people show up and echo concern for preserving records from all departments until we can determine where the duplicates are, where the ones that can be achieved electronically are, and develop a policy that will allow for permanent, easy access without overwhelming demands on space, the records can be saved. The mayor has indicated that regardless of the policy change the records will not be destroyed. Passing the resolution would ensure that.
Thank you.
Concerned Citizen
Carol Smith
The record retention schedules for each department can be viewed at
www.onyoursideSBY.blogspot.com by going to the right margin and selecting the Nov. 3rd work session briefing book starting with page 35 of the document (be patient...it is a large file). In addition to the concerns raised by the task force, there are also issues related to
records in many other departments.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
13 comments:
This is serious stuff. I couldn't find the list of schedules by departments on the city's site, but it is on www.onyoursidesby.blogspot.com under the briefing book materials from November 3rd (page 35). We should let it be known that destroying city records isn't going to fly. Think of all of the times that old contracts, old inspections and other documents have been needed to prove what really happened in our city.
If it's more storage space we need to keep the paper records, then we need to get it.
As the appeal in this post states, this information is crucial to the finalization of legislation dealing with housing and zoning in this troubled city, and historical perspective that would undoubtedly prove important to later research and community development.
The only persons who would benefit by the destruction of these records are of a small group. The larger perspective needs to be appreciated here.
This is such a phony and transparent scam on the part of the mayor's office, and I am not one of those folks who constantly slams the mayor. It would be a simple matter to scan all city documents and stick tens of thousands of pages on a single thumb drive that takes the space of a pen. Get a friggin' intern to do it, or assign the job to city employees who have some down time. This is not hard to figure out, folks.
When the word retention and Barrie are used in the same sentence what do you see.
I am not one of those folks either. I agree with 3:02 ...do us all a favor...your friends and foes and don't destroy city records.
Destroying city records is very close to destroying the economics of the city. Barry is afraid that the Feds will come in and find that she and her cohorts have rigged the zoning just like she had rigged every other set of records for the city.
Get a restraining order (or whatever the motion is to stop an illegal act by a public official is called) go to court and have her stopped. Do it legally becaue her bobble heads will vote for her motion, and the records will be gone, gone...gone, no one will have a clue what happened in the past years, much less last week, she will accidentially destroy "all" records, not just the old ones. There are companies that archive records for public and private retention.
I agree this is serious stuff. Very serious. Be very wary of public officials who want to destoy records.
All that having been said, if there are certifiable copies then hey, duplication is not necessary and it is cumbersome to store duplicate records. But I would not belive that there were duplicates anywhere unless I saw them personally.
This is a true Heads Up; thanks Joe.
Sounds to me like someone is trying to BURY THE BODIES!!!!
This is criminal and only a criminal would try to hide the evidence.
This is nothing more than Barrie and her cronies covering their asses and getting rid of evidence. THIS MUST BE STOPPED.
THIS is why Gary and Shanie must be defeated. Gary must not be made mayor, and Shanie must be replaced with someone who is intelligent and willing to do the work necessary to serve his/her constituents properly. Campbell and Cohen will always try to fo the right thing and lose to the "rubber stamp."
Does anyone know why Mare Barrie wasn't at the annual Salisbury Fire Department Banquet at the Civic Center this past Saturday night?
Anonymous said...
Does anyone know why Mare Barrie wasn't at the annual Salisbury Fire Department Banquet at the Civic Center this past Saturday night?
9:59 PM
Joe you weren't there either. I heard they needed a good photographer. Weren't you invited?
I can't believe the city isn't required to keep several years of records for audit purposes. I know state agencies are required to keep records a minimum of 3 years, and even longer if it involves financial information. This just must be stopped, period.
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