Today's Comments

Today has been quite an active day for comments. While it's closing in on 6:00 PM I've had around 250 comments today already. Granted, many didn't make it to the Post because a few Idiots are on here ragging on every Post as we must have really struck a nerve on the Tilghman Administration today! Nonetheless, around 160 of them have gone up and that's pretty strong. That's more in comments than Duvall gets in hits for a week! It's also more comments than Michael gets in 9 months! Gee, I wonder what constitutes Influential?

Wicomico County Sheriff's Department Press Releases

Incident: Trespassing
Date of Incident: 9 June 2008
Location: 1000 Block of Lake Street, Salisbury, MD
Suspects: Occonel Boston, 61, Salisbury, MD

Narrative: On 9 June 2008 at 0930hrs, a deputy was on patrol when the deputy observed a subject the deputy recognized as Occonel Boston standing in a yard in the 1000 block of Lake Street. The deputy had already known that Boston had been evicted from the property where Boston was observed and had also been present when the property owner banned Boston from the property. Based on that information and the observation of Boston on the property, Boston was arrested for trespassing.

Boston was transported to the Central Booking Unit at the Wicomico County Detention Center where Boston was booked and charged with trespassing. After an initial appearance before a District Court Commissioner, Boston was released on Personal Recognizance.

Incident: Disorderly Conduct
Date of Incident: 5 June 2008
Location: 5500 Block of Ben Davis Road, Powellville, MD
Suspects: John J. Rico

Narrative: On 5 June 2008, a deputy was at a residence in the 5500 block of Ben Davis Road in Powellville, MD when the deputy was confronted by John J. Rico who acted disorderly in the presence of the deputy. The deputy was attempting to complete an investigation into an unrelated matter when Rico began yelling at the deputy and other people on the property. Rico continually refused the deputy’s requests to calm down. After repeatedly continued belligerent statements to the deputy, Rico was arrested for Disorderly Conduct.

Rico was transported to the Central Booking Unit at the Wicomico County Detention Center where Rico was processed and charged with Disorderly Conduct. After an initial appearance before a District Court Commissioner, Rico was held on $3,500.00 bond.

Incident: Assault
Date of Incident: 9 June 2008
Location: 200 Block of E. Ruark Drive, Salisbury, MD
Suspects: Roberto G. Raygoza

Narrative: On 9 June 2008 at 0300hrs, a deputy from the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office responded to a residence in the 200 Block of E. Ruark Drive to investigate a reported assault. Upon arrival, the deputy located a victim who was suffering from visible contusions and lacerations. After an investigation, the assailant was identified as Roberto G. Raygoza who was subsequently arrested for the assault.

Raygoza was transported to the Central Booking Unit at the Wicomico County Detention Center where Raygoza was processed and charged with second degree assault. After an initial appearance before a District Court Commissioner, Raygoza was held in the Detention Center on $5,000.00 bond.

Gas line trouble?

Police: Things get ugly at California gas pumps

CYPRESS, Calif. (AP) - Violence broke out at the gas pumps in Orange County. Police say a La Palma doctor waiting in line to buy gas at the Costco warehouse store in Cypress grabbed a tire iron and confronted a motorist who cut into the line.Sgt. Tom Bruce said the doctor was arrested and booked for investigation of brandishing a deadly weapon in a rude, angry or threatening manner, a misdemeanor.Witnesses told police the doctor was in line at the pumps Monday evening when another vehicle cut in front of him. When the doctor confronted the motorist with a tire iron, the other driver locked himself in his car and called police.

AP Posted: 2008-06-10 15:59:13

Does someone really want to get arrested over assaulting someone for "cutting in gas line?" People are really going crazy with the heat and the economy. At least the victim was smart enough to stay in his car.

Some Bikers Hate Helmet Laws

A 2007 Suzuki 600 motorcycle was northbound on Rose Valley School Road when it entered an "S" curve in the roadway and lost control.

The motorcycle, driven by Calvin P. Hershberger, 22, of Clayton, failed to negotiate the curve and exited the roadway. The driver, who was ejected and not wearing a helmet, was killed.

Speed was a factor in the crash and alcohol use is unknown at this time.

The Biker above, (in the photo) is one of the Local Bikers in Maryland fighting legislation to eliminate the Helmet Law. IMHO, you either wear one or you don't ride, period. Enough is enough of this crap thinking everyone is perfect and it will never happen to you! You either end up dead or you end up screwed for life at the taxpayers expense.

A New Car for VOLUNTEER Deputy Chief Gordy

I often ask questions when it comes to VOLUNTEERS and the CITY. I have a hard time understanding why a VOLUNTEER is approaching the city council asking for funding. VOLUNTEERS are funded through donations and various fundraising events. Not the case in Salisbury, or so it seems.

The budget sessions of late have me asking many questions that don't seem to have answers. I realize money is tight for everyone, every business, every municipality. Gary Comegys, who was a member of the volunteer fire department, stated emphatically, he would not support an increase for additional firefighters for the SFD, yet on the other hand he was equally emphatic when it came to the banquet. He would not entertain the notion of cutting the budget in half for this banquet. Like their toys, they need their party. Is it possible in his pea sized, ill functioning brain he thinks the volunteers won't contribute without an annual party? It's things like this that set people, much like myself, to asking questions. Yes, we dare to question those that consider themselves to be in authority, shame on us.

The questions are, WHY is the CITY purchasing a new car for a VOLUNTEER? WHY are funds raised by the volunteers NOT being used for this purchase? WHY, at the price of gasoline, paid for by the city, would the council majority even consider approving such an appropriation? Why does he need a take home car anyway? Doesn't he have his own car? Can't he put those blue lights in his front and rear windows like ALL the other VOLUNTEERS? Someone please, help me understand.

Calling ALL Property Owners & Developers

When you bought or built YOUR properties, didn't YOU have to have a Storm Water Management Plan? NOT THESE GUYS!

You see, when they put in all their paperwork, Planning & Zoning FORGOT to include the Storm Water Management, so they built and they built and they built until they were almost finished and then, uh oh! They forgot!

So tell me, how fair is it on everyone else that they get away without ANY Storm Water Management? Who's fault is it? Who's responsibility is it? This building covers almost the entire footprint of the property, so there's obviously no room for Storm Water Management. If you're not familiar with this building and it's location, it's right next to the RR Bridge on Main Street next to Rt. 13.

Letter From John Swanson on City Park Management

Bold is mine.

"The City Park Committee was founded in the late spring of 2004. Our mission is to advise the City on the park's needs and to consider proposed donations to the City for placement in the park. We have no executive or legislative authority, and no budget. We're a nine member(plus a City Council representative) committee that meets once each month, except in December. All of our meetings, held the third Tuesday evening of every month at 6:30 PM at the Zoo's ESBA education building, are open and announced to the public."

Those are the basic details, but what do we really do? Our first issue, believe it or not, was the high Canada Goose population in the Park. We were asked to carefully examine the situation, explore options for safely limiting the population of resident geese, and pass a recommendation on to the City. After consulting with quite a few groups, including experts from Zoo staff, Maryland Department of Agriculture or Fish and Wildlife, and I believe the USDA, we recommended a partial cull of the non-migratory flock, with the meat to be donated to homeless shelters. We recommended that this be combined with egg addling to prevent further increases in the flock. In the end, the council decided on addling only. As it turns out, we're currently being asked to re-examine the issue. That should give a picture of what we do in a nutshell.

Aside from larger issues like the geese and the biologs, which require lengthy study and often feature lively debate, we also consider a broad range of donations. While this might seem straightforward, there's a lot to consider in a donation. For instance, does the donated item fit the historical nature of the Park? Does it clash with any landmarks? Is it going to limit open space? Does it fill a need? Do we have a good place for it? Will it have any environmental impacts? Will we need Maryland Historical Trust approval? We consider the donation carefully and then pass a recommendation on to the City as to whether or not it should be accepted.

We also initiate projects on our own, primarily volunteer driven. For instance, we coordinated the repair of the Picnic Island grills with a Masonry teacher from Parkside High School and some of his students. We've also hosted our bi-annual cleanups I referred to in the first e-mail. We've held a Movies @ the Park night, and we're exploring the possibility of a Kickball Tournament

Further, we do keep an eye to the maintenance of the Park, though much of that is outside our direct influence. In fact, in our earliest meetings we identified a need for new benches and trash/recycling receptacles. Most of the sparse seating and all of the trash receptacles in the park are obsolete or otherwise in need of replacement. Regardless of that fact, we'd like to see more of these items in the first place. Unfortunately, it was made very clear to us when this need was identified that funding would not be available for benches and receptacles. We were encouraged to seek donations and other outside sources of these items. Not only is it somewhat difficult to solicit such donations, but the process of handling the donations once secure is extremely cumbersome. All hope is not lost however, we're currently working with a group of aspiring architects to see if they'd be interested in developing plans for trash/recycling receptacles and then building them. The only hangup would be materials, which we're still hoping someone would be willing to donate.

Finally, we're looking into the development of a Masterplan for the Park. It's very difficult to do things piecemeal in such a large Park. Doing so runs the risk of inconsistency and of compromising historical value and open space. Further, we need better parking facilities, and we need to maintain accessibility. To that end, we're working on developing a Masterplan to lay out a framework by which the Committee and the City operate with regard to projects and donations in the Park. This is a long and involved process that will involve a lot of brainstorming among the committee, and will eventually involve the public, as we'll be hosting public input meetings. Unfortunately, funding is again an issue. A professionally constructed planning document is a fairly expensive item. We're currently looking at grant options to help fund the effort, but it's possible we may pursue a limited, Committee-created document until funding is available for a full planning process.

I hope the above provides some insight into what we do. It's certainly not a full inventory of the issues we've considered, but only a snapshot. If you have any questions about the Park or the Committee and its events, please feel free to contact me at any time.

Thanks,John Swanson

City Park

I've been keeping a continuing conversation with John Swanson of the City Park Committee on the status and the future of our beloved City Park. I cannot state enough that I appreciate him voluntarily coming forth to discuss this issue with all of Salisbury.

John has provided us with some good insights into the management of the City Park area. He is also absolutely right that, in a previous email to myself, that we have a unique park which is quite expansive. City park has a perimeter of right over a 5k, so about 3.2 to 3.3 miles stretching from Snow Hill Road all the way to Schumaker Pond. Couple this large area with a Zoo, great fishing, tennis courts, softball fields, and picnic areas it is a recipe for a great day out. We're lucky to have all this space for the community to enjoy.

Still the improvement and advancement of the quality of the experience needs to be there. It would have been prudent for the city to maintain a lot of the barren areas which were torn up from the improvements of the banks at the beginning of Spring that by the bloom the area would look nicer.

There are still few basic park standards that are not present; benches and trash recepticles. We have proposals for a new dog park yet the standards of any park are not there at City Park? John's letter shows the need for this! Makes you scratch your head when the funding for benches and trash recepticles is not present!

In the end we both want the best park for everyone to enjoy. We both love the area and that's why we have taken active steps to improve the area and to bring you the information on the area. I ask all of you to take that walk around the park and give feedback of what you think!

Note: John Swanson's opinions are not expressed within these posts or within this blog. He is giving open information in a neutral way. His opinions are not necessarily mine or any one's within this blog.

Louise - What Would Uncle John Say?

The following are comments I gave during the debate over the FY2009 Salisbury city budget at Monday night's City Council meeting:

I had not planned on coming to speak this evening. However, I had a job in Lewes this morning and on my way home I found myself driving on the John J. Williams Highway. It’s quite possible that no one here except for Louise and I know who John J. Williams was.

Sen. John Williams served the people of Delaware in the United States Senate from 1949 until his voluntary retirement from elected office in 1970. He was also, if I am not mistaken, Louise’s uncle.

Sen. Williams was truly a giant. He was a true conservative of the old school. He believed in free markets, rather than government subsidy; a man who TRULY believed in limited government and the separation of powers. He fought waste, corruption and bureaucracy wherever he found it. Sen. John Williams was one of the greatest fiscal watchdogs of the 20th century.

Upon passage of this budget tonight, I wonder what the Senator would say? I am quite confident that he would be ashamed, both of his kin and her cohorts.

Why? For two reasons.

First, this budget is rank with rotten food to nourish the bureaucracy of this administration. When more money is spent on the Mayor’s office than on street repair one can only conclude EITHER that there are no potholes in the city of Salisbury OR that the administration AND a majority of this council care more about some sick sense of power than on serving the citizens who elected them.

When this council CHOOSES to spend $100,000 more on legal expenses than the much larger county government does, this is a symptom of a disease that will wreck this city. When this administration CANNOT even balance its own checkbook, and a majority of this council refuses to address the problem, this city sits on a precipice from which the fall is most likely fatal.

Second, and most importantly, this council takes the final step tonight in ceding ALL meaningful power to the Executive. Legislation, which should be more accurately called Mayoral Dictate, is done by RUBBER STAMP. There is no oversight because a majority of this council falsely claims that such oversight would be MICROMANAGING the city. And tonight, a majority of this council will approve what they claim to be a “PROGRAM BUDGET”. This budget provides for no authority of this council to stop the mayor from spending TAXPAYER funds in almost any way she sees fit.

When Mr. Comegys tells the public, through the Daily Times, that specific cuts were made in the budget he is being false. The simple fact is that you have only reduced the gross amount of money that the Mayor can spend. She can still hand out the raises you claimed were cut. She can still have her “Citizen Attitude Survey”. She can still have her T-Shirts and fancy bottles of water. She just has to give up spending $40,000 somewhere else.

The charter calls for a Mayor and a City Council for a reason. The council is to provide checks and balances to the power of a strong mayor. Unfortunately for the citizens of this once fine city, they have three of you to thank for waking up tomorrow living under an authoritarian regime.

Legislative bodies have taken up arms to prevent the usurpation of the people’s branch of government (and that is what you are supposed to be) which you three have handed over gladly. I wonder Louise. What would Sen. Williams say?

cross posted at Delmarva Dealings

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Bubba Lies Again

Yes, that's a cell phone in his hand Text Messaging during a meeting.

Last night during the City Council Meeting I was at the podium speaking when I looked over and saw Gary Comegys Text Messaging again on his Cell Phone.

I immediately stopped what I was doing and I asked Gary, Mr. Comegys, are you Text Messaging on your cell phone right now? NO, he replied. I then said, you sure do seem to be pushing a lot of buttons there Gary, that is a cell phone in your hand, isn't it?

I went on to state he was lying, no different from your claiming you didn't park in a Handicap Spot the last time I was here and confronted you then. You lied then and you're lying now. I'm paraphrasing, of course, I was in the moment at the time.

Nevertheless, Gary just can't seem to control himself when it comes to lying. Gary, YOU'VE BEEN BLOGGED!

Straight From The USA Today

In Anne Arundel County, Md., the sheriff's department has recalled 13 of the agency's 38 cruisers designated as take-home patrol vehicles. Officers assigned to those cars now must drive from their homes to headquarters to pick them up, Maj. Rick Tabor says.

Maybe it is time that our county take a look at how the price of gas is impacting us...

GO HERE to see the official article.

Ocean City Air Show

Don't forget about the Ocean City Air show today and tomorrow starting at noon and ending around 3pm. Free. Kids will love it if you can take the afternoon off and get them out of school if they aren't all ready out for summer break.

I watched them practice yesterday...... wonderful, loud, exciting.

Less A/C for Delaware Prisoners

DELAWARE: Prison's air conditioner not working
The News Journal • June 10, 2008

WILMINGTON -- The heat wave is making it tough to keep some prisoners cool.

The Delaware Department of Correction says one of the two air conditioning units for the west side of the Young Correctional Institution in Wilmington is out of order.Authorities say both units stopped working last week. One has been repaired, but it is insufficient to cool the building on its own.Spokesman John Painter says staff members are closely monitoring cells and moving inmates to other areas when the air gets too hot. The facility is also using fans and delivering ice and water to inmates.


OH, THOSE POOR LAW-BREAKERS!!!!

Help Us "Beat The Peak"

Delaware Electric Cooperative

“Peak Alert”

Again Today

Tuesday, June 10th

Be Energy Aware Between 3 PM & 7 PM

Your Co-op cannot do this alone. We need your Help.

Together we can “Beat The Peak” by using our electricity resources wisely.

Thanks.

Another Letter To The Editor

"I'm a very new reader of the Salisbury news blog, so I'm not sure if this is an irrelevant topic or not. It seems the blog is very politically minded, so perhaps you don't have any interest in pursuing this. Regardless, I was hoping you could help me with something. A close family friend's cars were stolen I believe early morning yesterday in a gang initiation. Then, those cars were used to box in a young woman's car. She was pulled from the car and raped. This got no news coverage, which got me thinking........ The rumor is that Salisbury is home to an unusually high amount of gang violence, and yet the majority of us are completely oblivious that gangs exist here at all. What gives? Is the local media trying to create a bubble that things are okay? Is there some sort of coverup so that no attention can be brought to the ineffectiveness of local law enforcement?

Do you have any insight that you can share?"

Oh no, this is nothing new. As a matter of fact, I spoke with an Officer last night trying to confirm some numbers I recently received referencing car break ins within the City and County. The first set of numbers I received was 30 break ins in the County just recently and 70 in the City.

I'm told the numbers are not that high but there have been more than usual break ins and the Press is unaware of it. Graffiti is back on the rise again, yet no one is covering that either. There's a perfect sample of their work this past week in the photo above.

Salisbury isn't rated the 10th Most Dangerous City in America for nothing. Yes, Gang related crimes are on the rise and if you want true and honest answers, call Sheriff Mike Lewis and or States Attorney Davis Ruark. They can and will give you accurate answers.

To complete this post I need to mention to ALL of you, LOCK YOUR CAR DOORS! The reason there have been so many B&E's is because people are leaving their doors unlocked. Also, many of the break In's are in small communities. Locking your home up tight would be a smart move as well because it's only going to go to the next level. The economy sucks and criminals have to make their living too. It's up to you to stop them from making their job so easy.

Today's Wildlife Photos

Are we there yet, are we there yet?

Show Me The Money!

Last evening Councilwoman Terry Cohen went to her Bank and took out the cash needed to personally pay Paul Wilber what it cost to have him sit in the Council Meeting to assure what law they were making was proper. Because they Mayor was aware of Mrs. Cohen doing so, she chose to permit Mr. Wilber to attend and use funds from an "other attorney account" found lying around not being used for legal fees.

The $165.00 Mrs. Cohen held in her hands in "good faith" to offer to Mr. Wilber is about 20% of her monthly pay for serving on the City Council. Because Mrs. Cohen chose to make such a stand, the Mayor chose to consent and allow Wilber to arrive at 6:30 PM. Cohen & Campbell found $7,000.00 floating around in this "other attorney account."

Sure makes me wonder who's paying the legal fees for my cases with the Mayor and Police Chief?

Help Wanted Ad

It should be known that the Ad I ran yesterday for Help Wanted brought in 7 solid calls to the company and I came to learn that 3 of them were VERY solid prospects. The response I received was as follows:

"Joe,
Thank You SO Much, I actually got about 7 calls today, and at least 3 GREAT candidates. Want you to know that some of the callers were from out of State, area code 717 & 240."

I wanted to see how well a Want Ad Section would be and obviously it's something we need to look deeper into. READ MY LIPS DAILY TIMES, WE'RE COMING!

Clean Out Your Closet For The Westside Community Center Indoor Yard Sale

(Salisbury, MD) Bring your wares to sell or shop for yard sale treasures at the Westside Community Center’s indoor yard sale on Saturday, June 21 from 7:00am-1:00pm. Admission is free. Spaces are available for $10, please call 410-873-2993 to reserve a table or for more information.

Proceeds benefit youth programs at the Westside Community Center. Operated by a local advisory council, the Westside Community Center provides recreational and educational programs to the Nanticoke, Bivalve, Tyaskin, Whitehaven and Quantico communities.

The Westside Community Center is located at 21109 Bivalve Lodge Road in Bivalve, Maryland. For more information, call Joy Klauder at 410-873-2993.

If you would like to learn about other upcoming programs offered by Wicomico County Recreation, Parks and Tourism sign up for Recreation email alerts at www.wicomicorecandparks.org

Slow Start

Good Morning Everyone:

I'm getting off to a slow start this morning. Last night just wore me out, how about you? Was that Council Meeting something, or what?

No, Terry Cohen didn't quit. She was simply offering a way to personally fund Mr. Wilber's attorney fees to attend the meeting but at the last second the Mayor agreed to foot the bill through funds Debbie & Terry found that the Mayor had hidden in some way.

Anyhow, sit tight, I'll be back very soon to get you up to speed. Did any of you catch Insley's late speech last night?

080609 Salisbury Council Live Blog A Smashing Success

Monday night Salisbury News and Delmarva Dealings again hosted a Live Blog Event of the Salisbury City Council. This event marked the first Live Blog produced by Salisbury News' own Joe Albero.

Contrary to the hopes of the Barrie Bloc, who insist on deluding themselves that no one watches or listens to their shenanigans, 815 unique viewers participated in the event with almost 400 comments posted.

I'm sure that I also speak for Joe when I say THANK YOU to those who participated in the Event and therefore stay abreast of local events which affect their lives and pocketbooks. I also want to again thank CoverItLive for providing the technology which makes these events possible.

cross posted at Delmarva Dealings

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Question of the Day, 6/10

Today is Ball Point Pen Day. What's your favorite writing instrument?

Mine is the Pilot G-2 in black.