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Wednesday, January 02, 2008

What Do You Call ...

... someone who allows themself to be made a fool of and keeps on coming back for more? If you live in Salisbury, MD that type of individual is personified by Salisbury councilwoman Louise Smith.

I have to give Mayor Barrie Tilghman credit. From the moment Louise was elected, the Godmother has played Louise like a maestra. She played to Louise's vanity and got her to back out on her committment to support Debbie Campbell for Council President. If it wasn't for Councilman Gary Comegys' desire to be Mayor, Louise would have gone along with the Godmother's double-digit water and sewer increase. (Remember, Louise NEVER votes in the minority. Once Gary ducked for cover, Louise had to switch her vote.)

Now we are winding up on the Great Confetti Papers Scandal of 2008. Is this really a scandal? Only if your name is Louise Smith. Remember, this is the issue that Louise ran on. She promised the voters that this would never happen under her watch.

OK. Let's give the old gal the benefit of the doubt for the audit not being completed on time this year. There's just one problem. Louise told us all that she would be on this from day one in office. Every time the question of the audit came up and the Tilghman Family told us that it would be on time Louise just kept nodding and grinning.

Come December, Louise bored us all with a little speech about how she had "taken the Mayor to the woodshed". Louise assured the public that the audit would be completed by December 17th. Guess what Louise? Barrie made a fool of you again. Promised by Christmas. Fool again. Promised by New Year's. Fool again.

But don't worry Louise. Just keep banging that gavel. Keep backing out on your word. Keep supporting those tax increases. Keep bloating the bureaucracy. You need Barrie as a friend because I understand that your old friends are getting almost as tired of you as the rest of us.


Crossposted in Delmarva Dealings

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Salisbury’s Audit – Complete? … NOT!

Yesterday’s post stated that I didn’t know if the audit of Salisbury’s finances was complete. We now know that it isn’t. IF your definition of complete is a bound document, with an opinion / management letter signed by the auditor then the audit is NOT COMPLETE.

Why, then, did Mayor Barrie Tilghman, Council President Louise Smith, Finance Chief Pam Olan, and the city's auditor Herb Geary put the public through that ridiculous charade last month?

The document released on New Year's Eve (the Confetti Papers?) did not include an auditor's opinion. Sources state that the opinion letter / management letter will not be ready until mid-month. In addition, multiple problems have already been found in the Confetti Papers. This also forces us to ask what was sent to Annapolis last week. Perhaps the O'Malley administration won't be concerned with little things like the absence of an opinion letter with a city's audit?

Of course, the party line from the Tilghman Family is that this is much ado about nothing. Really? Get a copy of an annual report from any publicly held corporation. Is their an opinion letter? Of course there is. If the city of Salisbury was held to the same standards (Sarbanes - Oxley), certain members of the city administration would be facing indictment.

The law is the law. If Mayor Tilghman doesn't feel the necessity to obey, much less enforce, the law then why should the common citizenry? Financial statements sans an opinioin letter are not the same thing as audited financial statements; unless you're the type of politician who wants to "define what is means".

Last month Ms. Oland and Mr. Geary kept trying to gloss over the sheer incompetence of the city administration by claiming that the audit was being done on time and that it would be ready that month. Well folks, it's now 2008 and it's still not complete. This will at least the third year in row that the audit has been carried over into the next calendar year. Perhaps the Mayor will give every city taxpayer 3+ months lee-way in paying their taxes this year as well.


Crossposted in Delmarva Dealings

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Blog Arundel Shows They're Own Fire Boat Drama!

GO HERE to read their article. It's well worth the read.

At least in Anne Arundel County they actually have multi million dollar homes for miles and miles along rivers running throughout the County. Still, it's a JOKE to even consider it by screwing every single Taxpayer in America for such selfish WANTS and not NEEDS!

WCSO Press Releases



The Salisbury Zoo Is Just A Mess



Click on images to enlarge.
The above letter was drafted by Art Goetz asking fair questions to the Zoo Commission. Art took the time out to attend the Zoo Commission Meeting and the doors were locked, no one was there.

Ron Alessi not only avoided answering any of his questions, he actually typed his reply on Art's original letter and sent it back to him. I'm sorry Folks but I've been in business for 25+ years and I have never seen something so unprofessional. The letter below shows Alessi's reply on Art's letter. To this date Art has not received a reply to his questions and the death of the Jaguar is still a mystery. I personally believe they just hope it will all just go away.



Aren't you just a little curious as to why or how an animals like this could just die from a ruptured spleen out of nowhere?

Harris Launches Second Television Ad


View Commercial Link Below.
Ad Contrasts Andy Harris as the only conservative in the race and Gilchrest and Pipkin as two tax-and-spend peas in a giant liberal pod

Annapolis -State Senator Andy Harris today launched his second television ad of the campaign. The ad factually contrasts Andy's conservative record with the liberal records of his two tax-and-spend opponents.

"Being a fiscal conservative means opposing both higher taxes and wasteful government spending," said Andy Harris. "Republicans in Maryland want conservative representation and I am the only conservative in this race."

The ad shows Gilchrest and Pipkin's records as two tax-and-spend peas in a giant liberal pod. E.J. Pipkin voted for Governor O'Malley's budget (HB 50, 2007). Gilchrest voted for over 20 billion dollars in new taxes in one month alone.

The script of the ad is below:

Announcer: E.J. Pipkin is called a "Hero to Democrats" and even supported Governor O'Malley's Budget costing taxpayers billions of dollars. That's Liberal. So is Wayne Gilchrest. Gilchrest raised taxes 20 billion dollars in just one month. That's Liberal. Pipkin and Gilchrest are two tax-and-spend peas in a giant liberal pod. Too Liberal for us. Fortunately conservatives have Andy Harris. Andy Harris for Congress.

Andy: I'm Andy Harris and I approved this message.

A copy of the ad can be viewed at www.andyharris.com. View Commercial HERE.

You can also view it on Youtube HERE.

Can You Hear The Peace?


A friend of mine was in Upstate New York last week and took this shot while taking a stroll. Not only is the scene beautiful, it reminds me of the peace, the silence, like everything has come to a complete stop. Ahhhhhh!

The Daily Times 2008 Headlines


In yesterdays DT they stated one of their headline wishes as being; "Sheriff runs last drug dealer out of Wicomico County."

Well, the problem I see here is there's NO mention of Chief Webster and the Salisbury Police Department participating. After all, most of the Drug Dealers are within the City Limits.

Sadly, what the Daily Times doesn't realize is the actual performance the SPD Special Task Force Team has been doing. There's a particular name for this group but I'm drawing a blank at the moment. Nevertheless, these guys are kicking ass and getting no credit whatsoever.

Now you might ask why they're not being recognized. One of the reasons for such is the fact that in many cases they are trying to get their suspect to cut a deal and lead them to bigger and better things. This could mean they're working them all the way up until the court door swings and they're actually going to face a Judge for their crime.

Exposing ANY information about who's involved, when, where and so forth would jeopardise their case and negotiations. That being said, I can just tell you these guys are doing some VERY impressive work and quite frankly my hat is tipped to Chief Webster and the entire Team.

Perhaps the Chief should have a conversation with the DT, (not that he cares) and let them know they too are involved in fighting crime?

G.A. Harrison Is Back!


One of the pleasant surprises SBYNEWS.COM will be offering this year is a partnership with G.A. Harrison from Delmarva Dealings. G.A. has chosen to join forces with Salisbury News creating a larger network on one location. The convenience will be, he won't be pressured into creating articles every day and he won't be tied down to a particular time.

So welcome back G.A. and to all the readers who visit this Site, enjoy what 2008 will deliver.

CHRISTMAS TREE RECYCLING

CHRISTMAS TREE PICK UP FOR THE ENTIRE CITY WILL BE THE WEEK OF JANUARY 7 THRU
11, 2008. PLEASE PLACE YOUR TREE BESIDE YOUR GARBABE CAN AT THE CURB.

TREE PICK UP WILL BE ON YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED GARBAGE COLLECTION DAY.

AFTER THAT WEEK YOU MAY TAKE YOUR TREE TO THE COUNTY LANDFILL ON BRICK KILN ROAD.