Below you will find a message from Rick Pollitt's Office which is correct. Although I try to be as accurate as possible, even though I spoke with several people referencing "what they heard as well" sometimes it's not what you hear, it's what you don't hear. The interview I mentioned early, (live) came off as if Mr. Pollitt stated "Sheriff Lewis does not believe Rai is involved either."
I made a trip to WICO and listened to the interview again and Mr. Pollitt's Office is correct. When you listen to the interview, it was Mr. Reddish who made that suggestion as a question to Mr. Pollitt and there was a long hesitation. I am wrong and I'll ask that Mr. Pollitt forgive me for that error? No bones about it, they're right and I am wrong.
Mr. Pollitt's Office said:
"…I transcribed the following from the interview:
RMP: “There’s nothing to make me believe that Mr. Sharma’s broken any laws.”
Reddish: “It’s also my understanding that Mike Lewis has said at this point that nothing points toward Rai…at least the preliminary reports.”
RMP: “There’s nothing official at this time . There’s all kinds of rumours and allegations and we’re going to follow up on every one of them.”
Those were the extent of the comments about Mr. Sharma. Please note that Mr. Pollitt did not state “Sheriff Lewis does not believe Rai is involved either.”
Also, “There’s nothing to make me believe that Mr. Sharma’s broken any laws,” is substantially different from “Rick is claiming Rai Sharma had nothing to do with what’s going on in Wicomico County.”
Mr. Pollitt believes a retraction is in order. Please advise.
Thank you."
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Thursday, February 28, 2008
COUNTY EXECUTIVE ANNOUNCES CHANGE IN CORRUPTION INVESTIGATION AUDIT STRATEGY
Following a February 26th meeting to discuss the scope of work involved in conducting an investigative audit into the alleged corruption at the Wicomico County Landfill and other operations; Wicomico County Executive Richard M. Pollitt, Jr. and the accounting firm of Twilley, Rommel & Stephens, P.A., have mutually agreed that the citizens of Wicomico County will be best served by the retaining of a Certified Fraud Examiner to conduct the investigation.
Mr. Pollitt praised Twilley, Rommel & Stephens, P.A. for their quick and honest response to this important step in restoring public confidence in Wicomico County government. Mr. Pollitt said he expects to announce the selection of the Examiner in the very near future.
Wicomico County Taxpayers Should Be Concerned
The following message was sent to me today and I thought I'd share an outside point of view with everyone.
"Unfortunately, Wicomico County Government is like the "Titanic", it has just struck an unseen tip of an iceberg (corruption). Sheriff Lewis and Company need all the help they can get to keep the "Titanic" from sinking due to the greed and corruption involved. It is time the public knew the REAL STORY surrounding both Wicomico County and the City of Salisbury governmental operations. A government employee friend of mine put it this way, "If the public only knew one-half the story ........"
What a shame this is not an election year for the County Council and County Executive positions."
My own personal thoughts to this statement is, I'm not so sure punishing those in this new form of government is correct. I can appreciate the anger of ALL County Taxpayers, that's a given as I am one of them. I can remember back 2 years ago when I contacted the MDE after they had investigated the Salisbury WWTP and were in deliberations over how much to fine the City of Salisbury. I said, the Taxpayers didn't do all of the illegal things that had found. Fining them heavily, (IMO) is not the answer. They firmly agreed and stated that their intent is a positive resolution with a swift punishment IF the City rejected their demands. "Why take from Peter to pay Paul?"
That being said, this is about getting to the bottom of ALL of the corruption involved, removing those people who had any part of it, fixing what is broken and moving forward without hurting the Taxpayers any further.
I honestly believe Sheriff Lewis and Executive Rick Pollitt are indeed making every step to do so. I'll add, before the Blogs came along, many of you probably would not have known the actual depth of just how bad things are. I believe you would have heard about it, yet you might not have had much follow up. In fact, (IMO) it may have ended with the Ray Lewis portion and other sources would have decided it just wasn't worth getting into the County end of it and it may have been swept under the rug.
Now let's look into the future. No Mr. Comegys, not with a crystal ball. The logistics that I have seen from the past, (Mayor & some of the Salisbury City Council) would regularly reflect back to other issues and problems coming from this particular situation in the County.
What I see is accountability, such as, a HUGE break towards Taxpayers. Executive Pollitt stated that much of what has been stolen is covered by Insurance and the return of much of what was recently taken. OK, I'll buy that. However, I'm told this has been going on for 5 to 10 years now. Again, something you won't read in The Daily Times. I'm also told yesterday that it's not $400,000.00 worth of theft. It was announced it was up to $1,000,000.00 and guess what, I'm told that's not accurate either. I'm told it's more like $2,500,000.00 now.
With any hope and luck they'll get to the bottom of this and move forward without excuses. That would be what is called, professional results. Although the Governor may have reduced funds to Wicomico County, hopefully we can see light at the end of the tunnel with many expenses going WAY DOWN?
I'll close with this. I have been told that County Employees had been going to Lawn & Garden Companies and just buying them out of all sorts of things. Of course, each time they went in there they would purchase just under $1,000.00 worth of merchandise, keeping them from having to get a PO# from the County. This is yet another area the Sheriff's Department will have to look into. Mind you, the companies selling these products did nothing wrong, they simply sold products the County wanted to purchase. However, I'm also told you could find MANY of these products at County Employees homes. So just when you think it's over, it keeps getting bigger and bigger. Get to the bottom of it all without excuses in the future and give some relief to the Taxpayers.
"Unfortunately, Wicomico County Government is like the "Titanic", it has just struck an unseen tip of an iceberg (corruption). Sheriff Lewis and Company need all the help they can get to keep the "Titanic" from sinking due to the greed and corruption involved. It is time the public knew the REAL STORY surrounding both Wicomico County and the City of Salisbury governmental operations. A government employee friend of mine put it this way, "If the public only knew one-half the story ........"
What a shame this is not an election year for the County Council and County Executive positions."
My own personal thoughts to this statement is, I'm not so sure punishing those in this new form of government is correct. I can appreciate the anger of ALL County Taxpayers, that's a given as I am one of them. I can remember back 2 years ago when I contacted the MDE after they had investigated the Salisbury WWTP and were in deliberations over how much to fine the City of Salisbury. I said, the Taxpayers didn't do all of the illegal things that had found. Fining them heavily, (IMO) is not the answer. They firmly agreed and stated that their intent is a positive resolution with a swift punishment IF the City rejected their demands. "Why take from Peter to pay Paul?"
That being said, this is about getting to the bottom of ALL of the corruption involved, removing those people who had any part of it, fixing what is broken and moving forward without hurting the Taxpayers any further.
I honestly believe Sheriff Lewis and Executive Rick Pollitt are indeed making every step to do so. I'll add, before the Blogs came along, many of you probably would not have known the actual depth of just how bad things are. I believe you would have heard about it, yet you might not have had much follow up. In fact, (IMO) it may have ended with the Ray Lewis portion and other sources would have decided it just wasn't worth getting into the County end of it and it may have been swept under the rug.
Now let's look into the future. No Mr. Comegys, not with a crystal ball. The logistics that I have seen from the past, (Mayor & some of the Salisbury City Council) would regularly reflect back to other issues and problems coming from this particular situation in the County.
What I see is accountability, such as, a HUGE break towards Taxpayers. Executive Pollitt stated that much of what has been stolen is covered by Insurance and the return of much of what was recently taken. OK, I'll buy that. However, I'm told this has been going on for 5 to 10 years now. Again, something you won't read in The Daily Times. I'm also told yesterday that it's not $400,000.00 worth of theft. It was announced it was up to $1,000,000.00 and guess what, I'm told that's not accurate either. I'm told it's more like $2,500,000.00 now.
With any hope and luck they'll get to the bottom of this and move forward without excuses. That would be what is called, professional results. Although the Governor may have reduced funds to Wicomico County, hopefully we can see light at the end of the tunnel with many expenses going WAY DOWN?
I'll close with this. I have been told that County Employees had been going to Lawn & Garden Companies and just buying them out of all sorts of things. Of course, each time they went in there they would purchase just under $1,000.00 worth of merchandise, keeping them from having to get a PO# from the County. This is yet another area the Sheriff's Department will have to look into. Mind you, the companies selling these products did nothing wrong, they simply sold products the County wanted to purchase. However, I'm also told you could find MANY of these products at County Employees homes. So just when you think it's over, it keeps getting bigger and bigger. Get to the bottom of it all without excuses in the future and give some relief to the Taxpayers.
Taxpayers Are Concerned Too
Dear Mr. Pollitt and Wicomico County Council Members:
Thank you for your attempts to resolve some of the current problems that Wicomico County currently faces.
Unfortunately, as a property owner and taxpayer in Wicomico County, I feel that again we are being led "down the Primrose Path" regarding the "hiring" of a local accounting firm for your audit purposes.
I would appreciate a response to the following questions regarding the audit:
1. Was a contract put out for public bid so other accounting firms could submit their proposals?
2. Was the firm that was hired the low bidder on the audit contract?
3. Why hire a local accounting firm (what is being "covered up" now?) instead of an out of the area firm?
4. If no other public bids were solicited, why?
Is this contract award another example of the Wicomico County government's "Good Old Boy System" at work, whereas you scratch my back, and I will scratch yours?
Unfortunately, I am sure that everyone is stressed by the events of the last two (2) weeks, but the auditing firm selection process leaves several unanswered questions.
Thank you for your time and the opportunity to express my concerns regarding this matter.
Mr. Pollitt Responds:
I alone am responsible for the speedy selection of the Salisbury accounting firm of Twilley, Rommel & Stephens PA to conduct the special audit of the public works department. Having met with Sheriff Lewis and members of the Wicomico Bureau of Investigation on Saturday it was my judgment that we needed immediate and competent assistance in determining how such a scheme of thievery could occur and how to best prevent future crimes. TR&S has no official relationship with the county government and they have an impeccable reputation for integrity and efficiency. We have asked them to conduct a forensic audit or, as some may call it, a programmatic audit. It will be divided into two phases. The first will uncover what happened, how it happened and why we didn’t catch it earlier. This will be conducted starting immediately and the results will be shared with the public as soon as we have them. The second stage will involve a systematic review of all of the county’s policies and procedures to help us develop better safeguards for future operations.
I realize and appreciate the skepticism you express. However, I have full confidence in the ability of local, independent auditors to guide us through these troubled times and I am even more confident that we will emerge stronger and better organized than before. Realizing that the public trust has been violated (as has our own trust in some members of our county system) I respectfully ask that you have patience and give us the opportunity of getting our house in order before passing judgment on us. I am as outraged as you are about what has happened and when we have identified those responsible, as I said to Channel 16, “there will be hell to pay.”
Thanks for your note and, hopefully, for your support.
Rick Pollitt
Wicomico County Executive
P. O. Box 870
125 North Division Street
Salisbury, Maryland, 21803
Phone: 410-548-4801
Fax: 410-548-4803
E-mail: rickpollitt@wicomicocounty.org
Thank you for your attempts to resolve some of the current problems that Wicomico County currently faces.
Unfortunately, as a property owner and taxpayer in Wicomico County, I feel that again we are being led "down the Primrose Path" regarding the "hiring" of a local accounting firm for your audit purposes.
I would appreciate a response to the following questions regarding the audit:
1. Was a contract put out for public bid so other accounting firms could submit their proposals?
2. Was the firm that was hired the low bidder on the audit contract?
3. Why hire a local accounting firm (what is being "covered up" now?) instead of an out of the area firm?
4. If no other public bids were solicited, why?
Is this contract award another example of the Wicomico County government's "Good Old Boy System" at work, whereas you scratch my back, and I will scratch yours?
Unfortunately, I am sure that everyone is stressed by the events of the last two (2) weeks, but the auditing firm selection process leaves several unanswered questions.
Thank you for your time and the opportunity to express my concerns regarding this matter.
Mr. Pollitt Responds:
I alone am responsible for the speedy selection of the Salisbury accounting firm of Twilley, Rommel & Stephens PA to conduct the special audit of the public works department. Having met with Sheriff Lewis and members of the Wicomico Bureau of Investigation on Saturday it was my judgment that we needed immediate and competent assistance in determining how such a scheme of thievery could occur and how to best prevent future crimes. TR&S has no official relationship with the county government and they have an impeccable reputation for integrity and efficiency. We have asked them to conduct a forensic audit or, as some may call it, a programmatic audit. It will be divided into two phases. The first will uncover what happened, how it happened and why we didn’t catch it earlier. This will be conducted starting immediately and the results will be shared with the public as soon as we have them. The second stage will involve a systematic review of all of the county’s policies and procedures to help us develop better safeguards for future operations.
I realize and appreciate the skepticism you express. However, I have full confidence in the ability of local, independent auditors to guide us through these troubled times and I am even more confident that we will emerge stronger and better organized than before. Realizing that the public trust has been violated (as has our own trust in some members of our county system) I respectfully ask that you have patience and give us the opportunity of getting our house in order before passing judgment on us. I am as outraged as you are about what has happened and when we have identified those responsible, as I said to Channel 16, “there will be hell to pay.”
Thanks for your note and, hopefully, for your support.
Rick Pollitt
Wicomico County Executive
P. O. Box 870
125 North Division Street
Salisbury, Maryland, 21803
Phone: 410-548-4801
Fax: 410-548-4803
E-mail: rickpollitt@wicomicocounty.org
DOH! As Homer Simpson Would Say
This just in,
"I don't know whether this is the truth or not. Rumor has it that Ken Townsend has jumped ship. Disappeared."
"I don't know whether this is the truth or not. Rumor has it that Ken Townsend has jumped ship. Disappeared."
Today's Wildlife Photo
Once again our friend buryvoter delivers yet another spectacular photo. This was taken this morning at the foot of the Rt. 50 Bridge in Ocean City.
Let's Talk About The County Finance Department
Do you remember Stevie Prettyman throwing a fit last year when 6 Employees got a 6% pay increase while everyone else got 4%?
This is important Folks because look at who was getting those pay increases! Pat Peterson, head of the Finance Department. Ted Shea, accused of allegedly having a deck built on his home from Public Works. The list goes on and on.
Look, Pat Peterson buried these increases in a voodoo accounting fashion in a deficit column and if someone had not tipped off the Council, they would have NEVER known about the increases.
Then there's the question, how did ALL of this theft go on without the Finance Director knowing about it? I'm not pointing fingers at a position that hasn't been considered this whole time. 50% increases in fuel & oil in some departments would have sent up the red flag to me anyway.
The bottom line is, some serious digging needs to happen here and a swift hand must be in place. I'm confident the audit will bring some of this to light.
This is important Folks because look at who was getting those pay increases! Pat Peterson, head of the Finance Department. Ted Shea, accused of allegedly having a deck built on his home from Public Works. The list goes on and on.
Look, Pat Peterson buried these increases in a voodoo accounting fashion in a deficit column and if someone had not tipped off the Council, they would have NEVER known about the increases.
Then there's the question, how did ALL of this theft go on without the Finance Director knowing about it? I'm not pointing fingers at a position that hasn't been considered this whole time. 50% increases in fuel & oil in some departments would have sent up the red flag to me anyway.
The bottom line is, some serious digging needs to happen here and a swift hand must be in place. I'm confident the audit will bring some of this to light.
Major Breaking Story
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Ladies & Gentlemen, what you are about to read is yet another major cause as to who and how the Wicomico River is being polluted. I was told, "Your friend Rai Sharma had a big hand in the whole thing. All the run off from the Landfill goes right into the Wicomico River and I can tell you how he did it and where to find it."
I listened to Mr. Rick Pollitt this morning on Bill Reddish and once again Rick is claiming Rai Sharma had nothing to do with what's going on in Wicomico County. At the risk of being wrong, I'm telling you he allegedly does have his hands in it and this seriously concerns me for Mr. Pollitt's sake. Mr. Pollitt included Sheriff Mike Lewis into that equasion stating Sheriff Lewis does not believe Rai is involved either. I think Mr. Pollitt should let Sheriff Lewis speak for himself, respectfully. You mark my words right here and now Ladies & Gentlemen, I said it here first and weeks from now you're all going to say, Albero was right.
Is Rai Connected? Follow the bouncing ball............
"Google a map for 28672 Old Quantico RD.
Go out Nanticoke Road, take the first right Old Quantico Rd Rt 815 , walk down the lane that goes between the third and fourth house on the right. Beauchamp owns this property which used to belong to me. There is a huge metal covered spillway there. All the water from the dump eventually goes through there, under Nanticoke Rd. into Parsons Lake under Fitzwaters Street by the City pumping station and out to the river.
When I moved back to Salisbury in 69 there were chicken parts and grease floating on top of this lake coming from Mardel By Products. Are you familiar with them? They were located where I think the county now uses the building for recycling paper etc at the end of Brickiln Rd before the road crosses the railroad tracks. I fought Mardel By Products using the Environmental groups in Annapolis and we caught them red handed pumping chicken mess till it started to flow downhill and into a drain that goes under the road and back into the lake.I took jars of the mess to the County Council Meetings and threatened to uncap and let them smell what was in the jars. I didn't have to....They knew what it was. The health department claimed it was oyster quality water :) Yeah, right. They were supposed to be treating the water but they weren't because they always knew when the inspectors were coming and they treated it then. When they got my complaints they would come down unannounced and they finally caught them. Old history but at least you know the back ground because it gave the County an idea .
Drive up Brickiln Rd. to the first house on the left.There is an old barn in the back yard if it hasn't fallen down and a dip in the road. That is where the water went under Brickiln Rd and into the lake.That is where the old spring that fed the lake was located near the barn. Our lake was all private property... we owned the bottom of the lake. They fouled the lake by pumping the polluted mess on top of the spring. Long story and short story is I made their life a living hell calling Annapolis until they sold the plant .I thought my worries were over. Not so because the County bought the old Mardel Property. In six months the lake cleared up and was almost normal but not for long..
Sometime later I noticed on one of my many trips to the dump a group of men digging a ditch from the right side (dump side) to the left side under Brickiln Rd. It was kind of an odd thing to watch because you could barely see the men's heads because the ditch they were digging was so deep and there were so many men... at least a dozen or more. I called Rai Sharma and he said what they were doing was cleaning out and existing ditch.
A few months later we had a big 5 inch rain.... and the road between the two ponds was under water with fish flopping on top of the road. We could not use the road with the car...My father who built the lakes all the way to Fitzwater St. always told me not to worry about flooding because there was no way they would ever flood and we had many 5 inch rains before. I spent three weeks of my vacation poking in all the pipes trying to find out what was stopping up to no avail. Because we owned the pond we called the State's Road commission and asked them to lower the pond . At one time we had our own wheel and could do it our self. When they lowered the pond so we could work on the spillway we got the answer very quickly. The pipe was not stopped up at all... It was full of water coming through and was taking all the water it could handle. From that point on I was lied to and made to feel like I was stupid by Mr.Sharma. Eventually after numerous run ins with Sharma the County asked for an easement, installed the metal spillway and an 18 inch pipe to replace the 8 inch pipe that was there.
In the end it allowed Sharma to drain the land his Public Works Bldg. is on and ultimately the dump.
The ditch that takes the water from the dump is just before where the road makes a sharp right , It is in between the railroad tracks and Brickiln Rd."
The photos above, (provided by an outside source) show the different ponds, lakes and even pump station that in fact forces the water from a lake far below the ponds, into the ponds and then they run off from there, ultimately to the Wicomico River.
As I'm sure you'll be hearing lots more about this in the near future, I contacted the MDE and they have yet to return my call. How much do you want to bet they'll be calling in about an hour or so? Nevertheless, between the Salisbury WWTP and the Wicomico County Landfill, it's time everyone crack down on the MDE and get them working. dpushkar@mde.state.md.us is one of the main contacts.
Stories like this come along and must be taken seriously. Obviously this person is in the know, just like my source two years ago referencing the Sludge Pit at the WWTP. It doesn't mater WHO they are. It simply matters that something is done about it. I chose to publish this letter for accountability purposes. I want to make sure everyone is aware of the problem and locations so nothing can all of a sudden change.
This information is in the hands of the County Executive and the Sheriff. So why are people coming to Salisbury News first, rather then the Daily Times? Because we not only report it, we get something done about it as well.
Should The Red Flags From Last Year Been Recognized?
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Although we had a new County Council come in last year with no experience of the County's Budget, some numbers should have sent up a red flag.
The Solid Waste Department, (GET THIS) went from $250,000.00 a year to $500,000.00 a year for oil & gas!!!!
The Roads Division went from $1,000,000.00 a year to $1,300,000.00 a year for oil and gas.
It was a difficult and confusing time for the Council because you not only had several newcomers on the Council, you also had oil and gas on the rise, (not really) and several people not knowing what the history was.
Looks like we're going to have to do some more serious digging and find out just how bad things were.
Breaking News
I received a message from County Executive Rick Pollitt last night referencing the Auditing Firm and some possible changes some time today. I received a call around 7:30 AM this morning asking me to listen to the Bill Reddish Show and I caught the very end of Rick's interview. He again mentioned something would be happening today referencing the accounting issue.
If I were to guess I'd say they are making the right move and hiring a Firm well outside the Salisbury area simply to protect their own hides. In one of mt conversations yesterday with someone who would make decisions on this matter I said, Rick's crooked, he's on the take, he's known about these problems for years and he hired this Firm knowing they would do what he says. They replied, COME ON JOE, you know that's not true. I replied, yes, I do know that's 100% not true. However, to people like Billy Duvall and other Rick Pollitt haters, that's what they're going to fire back and put into the minds of other taxpayers. Do you want to answer to that once the Accounting Firm is finished?
So you see, this thing can become more complicated than you think. My hope, (for Rick's sake) that he's seen the light and has made some changes? Time will tell. More to come later.........
If I were to guess I'd say they are making the right move and hiring a Firm well outside the Salisbury area simply to protect their own hides. In one of mt conversations yesterday with someone who would make decisions on this matter I said, Rick's crooked, he's on the take, he's known about these problems for years and he hired this Firm knowing they would do what he says. They replied, COME ON JOE, you know that's not true. I replied, yes, I do know that's 100% not true. However, to people like Billy Duvall and other Rick Pollitt haters, that's what they're going to fire back and put into the minds of other taxpayers. Do you want to answer to that once the Accounting Firm is finished?
So you see, this thing can become more complicated than you think. My hope, (for Rick's sake) that he's seen the light and has made some changes? Time will tell. More to come later.........
Prince Georges County Reports 2 Foreclosures For Every 1 Home Sale
In the fourth quarter of 2007, Prince George’s County reported 2,732 foreclosures, the highest in Maryland. However, during the 4th quarter in Prince George’s County only 1279 sold according to the MRIS. Basically, the number of foreclosures was double the number of houses that sold.
You don't hear the National Association of Realtors talking about figures that while they run ads on TV saying real estate ALWAYS goes up in value.
The housing bust in the Washington, DC area is far from over. This year a rising inventory of foreclosures will put significant downward pressure on prices.
People on the Eastern Shore think that they are ’special’ and while property values are dropping everywhere else things are still going up here. The reality of the situation is the bubble on the shore peaked November 2005 and property values have dropped 40% to 60% across the board.
C’mon who is going to pay $80,000.00 for a Pocomoke City lot in White Oaks next to a stinky clam processor and the train tracks? $485,000.00 for a rancher outside Salisbury or Berlin in what was a soybean field two years ago? People who are selling homes just need to get real and stop sucking on the crack pipe of phantom equity.
Two foreclosures for every one ‘regular sale’ is a sad statistic and could very easily take root right here on the Eastern Shore if people don’t get a grip on reality with prices or simply sell for auction values. The list, price, hold & defend that price method is broken, it can't be fixed and will soon be dead and gone the way of the Dodo bird.
The public wants open transparent real estate transactions, just like they want open government.
There are alternatives to foreclosure and Maryland is leading the nation with legislation to require lenders to report on their loss mitigation programs, but for many homeowners its simply too little, too late.
If you are one of the many who cannot make their payments you do have options, call your lender or visit the Maryland HOPE website