Salisbury City Council Live Blog

Live Blog of Salisbury City Council Tonight

I've decided to live blog tonight's meeting of the Salisbury City Council. Sorry for the late notice, but tune in at 6PM.

Who Wants to Raise Taxes in Salisbury?

The short answer is nobody … until Salisbury Mayor Barrie Tilghman is re-elected in 2009. Then, the residents and business owners of Salisbury had better watch out.

Last year the taxpayers of Salisbury were hit with a double digit property tax increase and saved from a double digit water and sewer increase only through the persistence of Councilwomen Debbie Campbell and Terry Cohen. Given that Tilghman is up for re-election, the dire need for a water and sewer increase is no longer a priority. The need for a tax increase - last year, this year or next, is certainly unwarranted but was, and will be necessary, due to Tilghman’s spendthrift ways and the refusal of her three lackeys on the city council to rein her in.

This is evidenced by comments in this morning’s Daily Times:

"We did raise the property tax rate last year and, of course, as we are looking at the budget this year,, I have said from the beginning one of the key things I was waiting for was to find out if taxes were going to be raised," said Council President Louise Smith.

First of all Louise, the Mayor’s budget has been out almost a month. You’ve known for some time whether or not she would call for a tax increase. Second, and far more importantly, it is ultimately up to the city council whether or not there will be a tax increase. Not even in the deepest, darkest recesses of Barrie Tilghman’s mind would City Attorney Paul Wilber argue that any tax increase can be implemented without the approval of council.

Louise’s comments may put her in the lead for the annual Shanie Shields award for most foolish statement made by an elected official on Delmarva.

cross posted on Delmarva Dealiings

A Special Day For Law Enforcement

The Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office will recognize the Presidential Proclamation of former President John F. Kennedy that sets aside May 15as National Peace Officer’s Memorial Day Week and the week of May 15th as National Police Week. This year, National Police week will run from Sunday May 11, through Saturday May 17th.

The Presidential Proclamation was read on Monday May 12, 2008, 1:00 p.m., at the Wicomico County Historic Courthouse on Main Street and Division Street Salisbury, Maryland.

Cops attendees Connie and Dave Widman in sweat and t-shirt

Fred Wigglesworth Cops representative

Jim Fineren on behalf of Rick Pollitt]

Babe Wilson on behalf of Sheriff Lewis

Honor Guard Cpl. Eric Landing and DFC Matt Stein

Tonight's City Council Meeting At 6:00 PM

May 12, 2008 Council Meeting Agenda 6:00p.m. Room 301 Government Office Building
6:00 p.m. CONVENE – LORD’S PRAYER – PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
6:04 p.m. ADOPTION OF AGENDA
6:06 p.m. CERTIFICATES OF APPRECIATION/PROCLAMATIONS –
Mayor Barrie P. Tilghman
• Certificates of Appreciation – recognizing recipients of Fire Department’s Bronze Star Award
• Proclamation – proclaiming “EMS Week”
• Proclamation – proclaiming “Public Works Week”
6:20 p.m. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
• April 28, 2008 Minutes 1a
• May 7, 2008 Special Meeting Minutes 1b
6:25 p.m. PUBLIC HEARING – Director of Internal Services Pam Oland
• Constant Yield Tax Rate 2
6:40 p.m. AWARD OF BIDS – Director of Internal Services Pam Oland 3
6:55 p.m. MANUFACTURING EXEMPTION REQUEST – Director of Internal
Services Pam Oland
• Delmarva Printing, Inc. 4
7:05 p.m. ORDINANCES – City Attorney Paul Wilber
• Ordinance No. 2053 - 1st reading – FY09 Budget 5a
• Ordinance No. 2054 - 1st reading – FY08 budget amendment
appropriating funds for the General Fund 5b
7:50 p.m. RESOLUTIONS – City Administrator John Pick
• Resolution No. 1654 - authorizing CDBG 2008 Action Plan 6a
• Resolution No. 1655 - accepting donation of exterior paint to the
Salisbury Zoo from the Zoo Commission for the animal services
building 6b
• Resolution No. 1656 - extending Fire Service Agreement between
the City and Wicomico County for one year 6c
8:20 p.m. PUBLIC COMMENTS
8:30 p.m. ADJOURN

Ocean City An Hour And A Half Ago

The waves are smashing the coast line. Power is out in West Ocean City as well as Bishopville.

MISSING

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE.

Whitehaven, Maryland

These photos were taken less than an hour ago in Whitehaven, Maryland. The tide is high and it looks like there's going to be some serious damage out there.

Davis Ruark Trial Update

Mr. Ruark's case was the first on the docket this morning in Ocean City. He was very cool, calm and collective before and during the case. John Coolahan was the Judge presiding over the case.

Mr. Rich Parolski was the Attorney representing Davis Ruark and in my opinion did a very fine job presenting his case. He introduced three letters to the Judge in support of Davis Ruark in the community/County. One was from County Executive Rick Pollitt, another from Sandy OcConner who is a former States Attorney in Baltimore County and another from retires Lt. Col. Steve Moyer of the State Police. All of which showed great support of States Attorney Davis Ruark.

The entered a Guilty Plea of DUI/Probation. Mr. Ruark is to surrender his hand gun and registration. The sentence could have been 1 year in jail and a $1,000.00 Fine. They dropped the charges right away on the hand gun but Davis, (at this point and time) would have to register again for a hand gun permit in one year. There have been threats to his personal life as well as Family Members, so this may be changed down the road.

Ruark waived a Jury Trial and blew a .15 when he was pulled over and tested. Mr. Ruark was found guilty of a DUI and was fined $500.00 and a one year unsupervised probation while carrying the 12 points on his license. Mr. Ruark also took the 90 day suspension on his licence and will deal with all of this when he goes in front of the DMV.

Mr. Parolski entered a 4th letter from the Center Mr. Ruark voluntarily admitted himself into for 14 days of intense treatment but asked the Judge to not enter any of these letters into the record as they were of a personal nature. His attorney also showed "3 inches of letters of support" as well from Police officers, friends, business associates and concerned citizens.

Mr. Ruark did speak at one point in which he apologized to the Judge, he apologized to the Citizens of Worcester and Wicomico County, I've been humbled by the support of everyone and it will not ever happen again. He also stated that he was going through some personal tough times which brought that day on and he sincerely apologized for his actions.

The Judge asked the Officer if Mr. Ruark was cooperative and he replied, yes you honer, he was. I had no problems or trouble with him whatsoever. The Judge stated that Mr. Ruark would be on probation for years with the Citizens as he is in fact a Public Figure. The handgun charges were NOLLE PROSEQUI.

In a Press Conference after the case Mr. Ruark stated he acknowledged his guilt and a conviction will show on his record as well as the 12 points on his license.

Now, it's time to move forward.

One Of Your Developer Reimbursements

Here's a million dollar plus lift station the developer was reimbursed for that is well past due and when the Mayor, Dunn, Comegys & Cathcart sold the taxpayers on it, there was supposed to be several developments expected to use it and only one, (the one who received the reimbursement will take advantage of it. Your tax dollars still hard at work. How's that re-election plan working for you Mayor Tilghman? I can't wait to see the comments on this one!

Gordy Mart Turns Customers Away Last Week

While the bays were empty last week, this employee was telling people they weren't serving gas for some reason? So cars were pulling in and immediately driving away. Could they have run out of gasoline? Maybe someone has the answer and can inform us as to why so many were driven away?

Hal Chernoff & Fernando Guerrero Host The Main Street Gym Benefit Golf Tournament

The setting and tournament was held at the Green Hill Country Club with more than 120 players. The event was a huge success even though the weather threatened large amounts of rain. Believe it or not, no sooner did they start teeing off, the sun broke out and mainly stayed that way till the very end and it started raining soon after. I was able to hang out with Fernando and his close friend and fellow Boxer, Shawn and give them some tips at the driving range. Yes, I'm a pretty darned good golfer. The fun part was, Fernando is left handed and Shawn is right handed. Fernando had never played a full round of golf so when I got up there and grabbed his left handed driver, tee's a ball up and smacked it into the fairway on the driving range, he was quite pleased. Shawn then said, but can you do that right handed. I took his driver and teed up a ball and drove it over the net 300' away. It could have been shorter, I wasn't really looking but it went well over the net.

I'm told Fernando will have another big fight at the end of this month and perhaps another ESPN Fight within the next two months.

Is It The New Public Workd Director Or The Mayor>

While the trash cans continue to overflow on the Downtown Plaza, (in fact, there's 80 less trash cans down there now) and trash is all over the place, the infrastructure the City is responsible for continues to fall apart and no one is doing anything about it. Maybe a 50% tax increase would make things better?

One Year Ago Today

Oh, the memories! The Diner is gone but the memories still live on.

Are They Back?

It seems the graffiti artists can do anything they want behind Lowe's in Salisbury. They no sooner bring in a trailer and the next thing you know someone has sprayed graffiti on it. HINT, HINT!

Question of the Day, Mon 5/12

Could you ever work with/for your spouse?

My husband and I run a business in West Ocean City. He ran it himself (for 4 years) until 5 years ago. I was a purchasing agent at Tyson Foods in Berlin until they closed. Instead of finding another job, I helped out over the summer at his shop. Summer turned into fall, winter, spring, summer again....this is my 6th summer working for him. It can be very trying at times, but it works for us. Most customers know we are married because they see our dynamics and say we compliment each other. After 13 years with this man, I'm not tired of him yet....even better---he's not sick of me, so it must be a good sign.

So many friends, family & customers have said they could NEVER work for their spouses....COULD YOU?

The Zoo

Friday Night was quite a busy night at Salisbury University. I'm told around 200 Students were partying pretty hard at what many call, "the Zoo." I have so many conflicting stories about what happened that night. One person tells me the students were burning furniture outside and there were so many people there that the Fire Department was delayed 15 minutes getting to the fire. Another person tells me it was another dumpster fire.

Then I was told SU called in the Wicomico County Sheriff's Department, the Salisbury Police, the State Police and even the Worcester County Sheriff's Department. If this is all true, it sounds like the students were having a bit too much fun.

This is graduation week, so they're expecting things to be busier than usual. Hopefully some of you have more information to share and we can get a better idea as to what was going on. I don't know if there were any arrests, it didn't sound like it. If you're wondering why they would call in the Berlin Sheriff's Department, they have K-9 Dogs for crowd control. They may not listen to an Officer but one bite in the a$$ straightens them out pretty quick.

The New McDonald's On Tilghman Road Is Just About Finished

Just a few weeks ago I put up pictures of the old McDonald's at this location being torn down for a larger one. I'm told their grand opening is just around the corner.

Today's Wildlife Photo

My friend Brandon took this photo over the weekend and wanted to share it with everyone.

Another Borrowed Post By "On Your Side"

First of Two Public Hearings on Budget to Be Held Monday
By Terry E. Cohen, Council Member

Monday, May 12 is the first opportunity for the public to let its voice be heard on the upcoming fiscal year’s budget. At 6 p.m., in council chambers on the third floor of the Government Office Building, the first reading of the budget ordinance takes place FY09 Budget Ordinance, along with the public hearing on the Fiscal Year 2009 Budget’s Constant Yield Tax Rate. Maryland law requires a public hearing to be held on this tax rate.

Please come express your concerns, ideas and questions to the mayor and city council about the state of the city’s finances. Are you concerned about the increase in city debt, now up to $2,888 for every man, woman and child residing in Salisbury? Do you have thoughts about the recent news about the water and sewer fund’s troubled outlook? Do you think the city is prioritizing its use of taxpayer money well? What would you change? What have been worthwhile expenditures to be continued?

Look at the Mayor’s Proposed FY09 Budget via the download links Councilwoman Campbell and I have provided at right on this website. Read other information about the budget that we have already posted. Check back here often for additional budget information.

at 9:01 PM
Revised Budget Meeting Schedule
More information will be forthcoming on this website about the Fiscal Year 2009 (FY09) Budget, so we hope you will check back often and encourage others to do so. In the meantime, the revised schedule of meetings appears below. All meetings take place in the Government Office Building downtown.

The first public hearing, which concerns the Budget’s Tax Rate (to be explained in more depth on this website later today), remains on its originally scheduled date, this Monday, May 12.

The second public hearing on the FY09 Budget has been rescheduled for May 21. Because this second hearing is on a Wednesday night, it will not be televised live on PAC14 due to schedule conflicts with other programming commitments. However, PAC14 has graciously consented to tape it for later broadcast.

It is possible that the council may schedule additional work sessions the week of June 2, but no dates have been scheduled yet. Here is the revised schedule as it stands today:

Mon., May 12, 6 p.m., Council Chambers
Regular Council Meeting
Public Hearing on Budget’s Constant Yield Tax Rate
1st Reading of FY09 Budget Ordinance

Tues., May 13, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., Room 305
GASB 45 Other Post-employment Benefits
Personnel Requests
Tax Rate
Follow-up on Outstanding Issues

Tues., May 20, 4 p.m. – 6 p.m., Room 305
Water and Sewer Fund
(This is an added-emphasis session due to the
presentation of the forecast to the council on
May 8 indicating possible severe rate increases.)

Wed., May 21, 6 p.m., Council Chambers
Public Hearing on FY09 Budget

Thurs., May 29, 1 p.m. – 4 p.m., Room 305
General Discussion
Follow-up on Outstanding Issues

Mon., June 9, 6 p.m., Council Chambers
Regular Council Meeting
2nd Reading and Adoption of FY09 Budget Ordinance

We hope this information assists you in planning your needed participation in the development of the city’s budget for FY09.

Disclaimer
The views expressed in this newsletter are those of Councilwomen Campbell and Cohen solely and do not necessarily represent those of other council members.

GO HERE to see their Official "On Your Side" Website.