DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Attention
Friday, February 08, 2008
Bad Accident on Rt. 50 In The Pittsville Area
A View From The West: Incomptence On Both Shores
First, allow me to thank you all for the welcome to this forum. It's only natural based on the partnership I have had with Joe over the past year that I would contribute to Salisbury News. Whether my credibility will be shot...that's up in the air, especially since blogs are completely disrespected in some aspects...however, that is a conversation to be had on a different day.
I am writing to you Salisbury with good cheer, believe it or not. Take heart, my friends. You are not the only jurisdiction with incompetence in the executive branch of government. I live in Prince George’s County, the richest black suburban jurisdiction in the country. I am proud of that fact. I am not proud of the fact that our county executive is…”special.”
If you had heard my latest podcast, you would have heard Johnson on WTOP Radio in Washington, DC said that rape is not a crime. Somehow, he got re-elected in 2006. Lately, he has been getting closer to a deal in bringing in new management of our hospital system. Actually, he has been getting closer to a deal since last year.
But that as they say are for starters. Let’s do a little something you probably learned in elementary school called “Compare and Contrast.” Believe it or not, Johnson has some things in common with Salisbury Mayor Barrie Tilghman.
Let’s start with elections. This time last year, Tilghman held a candidates forum with three of the six candidates running for City Council last year…or should I say the three that she wanted to win…at the time. Remember, Louise Smith was not part of the new dream team until recently.
In 2006, Johnson avoided debating his challenger for the County Executive chair, Rushern Baker. Because the two did not debate, Johnson was able to win, all but barely.
Both areas have a problem with a particular crime. In Salisbury, it was graffiti. In Prince George’s County it’s triple digit homicides. Yes, that is a problem and it looks bad. Prince George’s County is right next to DC, where the homicide rate is actually lower. When compared with Baltimore City and Baltimore County, the city was close to cracking 300 homicides last year. The county, which literally hugs the city, is no way near triple digits.
Both officials have a tendency to avoid the media, especially if it’s critical. Johnson, in his blaze of glory, avoided questions in regards to an incident involving county police injuring a reporter. I have remarked that I heard from the county spokesman so much, I thought our County Executive’s name was John Erzen.
Finally, both mayor and county executive, despite being on opposites sides of the bay, have the tendency to show incompetence. I have already told you the situation in regards to our hospital. That’s right up there with the misplacement of $10 million that happened under Tilghman’s watch.
I’m lucky…and I am putting that VERY loosely. You guys will have a mayoral election next year. Please do not make the same mistake that 52 percent of Prince George’s County residents made by re-electing the incumbent. Tilghman has shown her disdain for people who are trying to keep a check in balance. The audit was late for two years in a row. It should be noted that this audit contained a management letter that criticized the city accountants for not doing even the basic of accounting rules.
The police chief and Tilghman herself are suing a resident of Delaware over a free speech issue that they don’t even have a case for. I would love to see them try to do that in the Washington, or even Baltimore media market.
I am not about the personal attacks, but I am about calling it as I see it, a mismanagement of the city that needs to be rectified quickly. If Tilghman is not as incompetent as evidence shows, she would at least have some dignity and clean up some of her mess before she is either voted out in 2009 or declines to run for another term.
If she does however run in 2009, I would suggest city voters NOT re-elect her to another four years. There is a saying that goes “people deserve the government that they elect.” I am sure that no one in the Crossroads feels they deserve another four years of mismanagement.
P. Kenneth Burns is the editor/writer of Maryland Politics Today and is a contributor to Red Maryland and Salisbury News. He Lives in Laurel, Maryland. His email address is kennyburns@marylandpolitics.us.WWTP Update
I don't just smell a rat, I smell sh!t to boot! Why are all different sources of the Media telling different stories?
WMDT has a reputation of getting to the bottom of a story and from what I read, they spoke with more people to get more details.
So the spill did start last night, just like my sources/commenter stated.
Breaking News Sewage Spill Update
SPD Press Releases
Andre Hampton, 30 yoa, of Salisbury was arrested for Possession of Cocaine, Possession with intent to Distribute, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and was served with an outstanding warrant from Dorchester County, Maryland for Failure to Appear. Officers of the Salisbury Police Department stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation in the area Lake Street and U.S. Route 50. Hampton was identified as a passenger in the vehicle. During the course of the officers’ investigation, Hampton provided a false name and date of birth. Officers were able to identify Hampton who also consented to a search of his person. During this search, a quantity of suspected cocaine to indicate distribution was recovered. Hampton was released to the custody of Central Booking.
CC#200800004358 and 200800004361
Kevin Archie Taylor, 29 yoa, with no fixed address was arrested for impersonating a Police Officer. An officer responded to the 1000 block of Tower Drive for a report of a white male impersonating a police officer. During the course of the investigation it was learned that Taylor had approached employees of a private ambulance company and identified himself as a police officer. Taylor was located a short distance away and was arrested. Taylor was released to the custody of Central Booking.
CC#200800004461
Mervyn Wilmer Bivens, 39yoa, of Salisbury was arrested for Possession of Cocaine, Possession of Marihuana, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. An officer was conducting foot patrol at the Thrift Travel Inn on North Salisbury Boulevard and was approached by the manager concerning a disturbance in one of the rooms. The manager advised that he wanted all the subjects out of the room and for them not to return. The officer made contact with Bivens. During the initial investigation Bivens admitted to having illegal narcotics on his person. A search of Bivens revealed that he had a quantity of cocaine and marihuana on his person. Bivens was arrested and released to the custody of Central Booking. CC#200800004472
Any Endorsement Would Do For Gilchrest
Well, he got one, from Mr. democrat turned republican, then turned libertarian, then turned republican, Ron Paul. Paul can’t even muster more than 4% in his own race, so I don’t see how this will have any effect on Wayne’s chances. But hey, these are desperate times for Wayne, and he’ll take anything he can get.
It's like my Father always told me, "desperate people do desperate things."
MAJOR BREAKING NEWS!
UPDATE! There is a pipe that is spouting out untreated and partially treated sewage into the Wicomico River. Officials say they're not sure just how long the pipe has been leaking but they believe it happened today? HELLO! Watch 47 News tonight at 6:00 PM for more updates. The City is guestimating it being 100,000 gallons so far. Yeah, right!
OPEN SEASON ON SINGLE FAMILY NEIGHBORHOODS
The four to two law was supposed to be written to protect the single family neighborhoods of Salisbury from the ever encroaching rentals that were degrading the property values and quality of life there. Landlords who had lawfully existing rentals prior to the enactment of the four to two laws (the 12 months prior to December 16, 2002) could be granted exceptions to continue renting to either 3 or 4 unrelated people and continue operating as a non-conforming use.
Neighbors of these rentals had the right to file affidavits to object to these exceptions prior to them being granted. Many neighbors filed affidavits, many attended hearings before the City Board and a few appealed further to the Circuit Court for redress of their grievances.
One such case was decided today that should put every homeowner in the City in fear for their properties. It has been common knowledge that the City has turned a blind eye to enforcing the zoning codes against certain rentals, but today’s decision declares an open season on all these single family residential neighborhoods.
The Court heard a case and ruled today on a rental that the neighbors believed was unlawful from day one and even continues to this day to be over-occupied by 6 students. The landlord in question lived in this house and rented three rooms to fellow students during the first 5-7 months of 2002. It was not legal in the R-10 zone where this property is located, to be owner occupied and rent to 3 others. So this landlord and his property were unlawful. Further, once the landlord was forced to move out because of his unlawful existence, he used the property to store and park his vehicles while renting the house to at least 4 students. It is not lawful to subdivide the use of the property in this zone. If you rent a house to someone in the R-10 zone, they get to use the entire property, you cannot reserve part of it for your own private use. So throughout 2002 the landlord did not have a lawfully existing property, the key requirement to obtain an exception to the four to two law. The Board gave him the exception anyway.
The Court, when it reviewed the Board’s decision and the laws, could not do anything about it. The Court found that the laws, meant to protect the single family residential neighborhoods, were actually written in favor of the landlords. The burden of proof was on the neighbors to prove today that the landlord’s property was not lawfully existing in 2002. All that proof was in the hands of the landlord. There was no subpoena power for the neighbors to obtain that evidence. So there was an impossible burden for the neighbors to produce what they had no legal authority to obtain. This is a Due Process violation. That issue was not before the court.
The neighbors are free to file ethics complaints with the City, whose boards are stacked with people looking out for the interests of the landlords, and they are free to file lawsuits against the City for Due Process violations, but that is costly and time consuming.
So, we are stuck with laws that favor the landlords and leave no protection or enforcement for single family homeowners. Once again, the City can do as it pleases at the cost of the taxpaying homeowners, and because most people cannot afford to sue the City, they continue to get away with what they are doing.
You must remember this come election time: that our City drafts laws that do not protect us; that they spend our tax dollars preventing citizens from protecting their property rights; that citizens without the knowledge of legal violations and without the money to sue are helpless before them. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Vote NO to any more of this administration’s shenanigans at the expense of taxpayers.
If You Can't Beat City Hall, BUY IT!
Taking Responsibility, Barrie Tilghman Style
While leaving city finance chief Pam Oland and City Administrator John Pick to take the heat before a large crowd of city residents, Tilghman was out of town attending a conference. As I have stated earlier, any excuse short of a child being on their death bed is not adequate for failing to attend these meetings. Of course, this is Barrieland and past experience provides mounds of evidence that Tilghman can get by with mouthing words like "responsibility" while thumbing her nose at the people who elected her.
Council President Louise Smith appears to be giving Tilghman a free ride. Originally claiming to be holding three (3) work sessions regarding the audit, Smith arbitrarily shut down Monday's meeting without any meaningful questions asked. Thursday's meeting appeared to yield much, however Smith stated Thursday night that the next (and last) work session on the audit would not be for more questions. This lends credence to the theory expressed by some I have talked to that Monday was a pure charade designed to allow Tilghman to whitewash her part in this fiasco.
While I haven't subscribed to this theory, there is some evidence to back it up. We need to note that on Monday the public sat quietly and respectfully through a tasteless lecture by Smith, the standard "I take responsibility, but it's not my fault" by Barrie Tilghman and a presentation by the auditors that primarily served to paint lipstick on a pig (the financial management of Salisbury). It was only when Louise contradicted her opening lecture by doing some political grandstanding of her own that the public became restless. This was Smith's excuse to shut down the meeting.
On Thursday, the public (I was pleasantly shocked to see the numbers that came out for a second meeting) sat through the meeting quietly. Of course there was no lecture by Smith and she kept her snide remarks to a minimum (only getting in a chide at the beginning that she has the right to control the meeting however she wants).
Back to Barrie. Not only has she shown her true colors in this charade, for the first time the Daily Times has actually covered it:
While Mayor Barrie Parsons Tilghman has said she takes "full responsibility" for errors in the audit and its tardy reporting, that explanation isn't enough for some council members.
"I don't need any more 'I take full responsibilities,' without the accountability," said Councilwoman Terry Cohen, in reference to Tilghman making the same statement last year.
Cohen criticized the mayor for not attending the night's meeting and instead leaving
Oland and her supervisor City Administrator John Pick alone to "face the music."
When Barrie gets back from her "conference" she may find that the public is no longer fooled by her false piety and claims of responsibility.
cross posted at Delmarva Dealings
Technorati Tags: Maryland, Salisbury, politics, Salisbury politics, Barrie Tilghman, Terry Cohen, Louise Smith, Daily Times, media, Pam Oland, John Pick
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The Monster Was Created 2 Years Ago TODAY!
You Do The Math
Three Cheers to the Daily Times
Has the Daily Times published every negative bit of evidence recently uncovered about the Tilghman administration's financial management of the city? Of course not. Given the record of Mayor Barrie Tilghman's stewardship of Salisbury, space constraints alone would prohibit such a thing. After all, the Daily Times only has Mr. Latshaw covering city government and it would be unfair of any of us to demand that every single page of the paper be devoted to the transgressions of the Tilghman administration.
Is it possible, even probable, that the only reason our local paper has finally decided to actually report on the Salisbury city government is because of immense public furor over the Tilghman administration's gross financial mismanagement (including $10.2 million that was misplaced)? Sure. Given their past record of whitewashing every fault of the Tilghman administration the public should be forgiven reverting to our baser instincts when it comes to the Daily Times. However, since neither you nor I can read the minds of the paper's management, nor are we privy to their motives, we should give them the benefit of the doubt while continuing to read each new piece critically.
Neither a day, nor a week, truly reveals a trend. However, we call them as we see them. What we're seeing right now from the Daily Times is the best coverage of Salisbury government that I can recall since Barrie Tilghman assumed the reigns of power.
cross posted at Delmarva Dealings
Technorati Tags: Maryland, politics, Salisbury, Salisbury politics, media, Gannett, Tilghman Times, Daily Times, Barrie Tilghman
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