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Sunday, February 01, 2009

From Today's Daily Times




Examine candidates' records, views, then vote
February 1, 2009


Salisbury's election season is fast approaching and there will soon be a handful of forums and debates, all designed to inform and educate voters on their choices when electing their next mayor. I look forward to the campaign season.

Clearly, as we move forward, I'm hopeful the citizens of Salisbury will take a good look at my record -- and that of all four candidates. On close examination, I think you'll see my time as a twice-elected City Council member and current council vice president will show a solid record of accomplishment.

In my five years on the council, I've helped lead this city forward by securing a cleaner Wicomico River through the construction of the city's upgraded wastewater treatment plant; pushing for higher salaries for the men and women of the Salisbury Police Department; and getting the long-awaited new Salisbury Fire Department headquarters built to provide a safer environment for our firefighters and EMTs.

As mayor, I look forward to leading the city as together we tackle the challenges ahead.

I want you to know that I will continue to strive to make this city the best place it can be. I've lived in this city for 30 years. I've never abandoned it and I've never moved away to pursue other interests. This is my home. This is your home. Together, we can make great things happen. I invite you to visit my Web site, http://www.garycomegys.com/, and examine my record and my vision for this city.

Gary A. Comegys

Salisbury

Comegys is the Salisbury City Council vice president and a candidate for mayor. -- Editor


And, to be fair, this:

Style of city's leadership needs to change
By Bob Caldwell • February 1, 2009


I'm writing to discuss why I am running for the office of mayor of Salisbury and asking city voters to support me in the upcoming election. My specific goals for restoring Salisbury are discussed on my Web site -- http://www.electbobcaldwell.com/ -- so I will mention them but briefly.

A primary reason for my candidacy is to reverse a disturbing trend in the city's government that has made it notorious. Some officials have used character assassination of opposition and secrecy in administration to govern. If that style of leadership is not removed by its roots, the result will be inevitable and tragic.

Sir Edmund Burke warned us: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

In short, the system can't cure itself. Thus, my goals for the next four years are:

Budgetary discipline is essential.
Crime must really be reduced.
City government must become open to all.
Everyone must be heard and respected.
The City Council must be an independent body.
I have a strong belief in the viability of Salisbury and a great respect for its citizens. If enough good men (and women) do something, we can restore the city, both its public image and our quality of life.

I do not suggest that campaigns can't be hard-fought. Good ideas often emerge from rough-and-tumble debate. There is nothing wrong with strong disagreement and/or aggressive presentation of an idea. It is the American way to speak forcefully, but honorably, in support of your point of view.

All citizens are urged to be involved and even challenge the candidates. Ask questions. Demand answers. Then support the candidate who most closely represents your views. And vote in both the elections -- March 3 is the primary election and April 7, the general.

Bob Caldwell is a candidate for mayor of Salisbury.

A Commenter went on to say..........

"Gary's "accomplishments" also include so, so many things that the list is long, long, long. Too bad (for the taxpayers) that most of them were accomplishments that benefited few and lined the pockets of even fewer.

Pushed to purchase the land the new firehouse sits on for over $600,000 when it was sold by longtime owners a month before to FOBs protected under an LLC for $175,000, for a net FOB profit of $425,000 (get a kickback for that one, Gary, or will that come later?).

Voted (and continues to vote) to spend, spend, spend on unnecessary fire equipment and fire equipment accessories (the most expensive light bars available, no more safe than ones half or less the cost, just "cooler and shinier", a shiny new ladder truck in black paint, costing $1.2 million dollars, when an identical model with less than 1000 miles on it, still at the factory, would have cost $800,000.

Voted to spend over $10 million borrowed dollars (eventually costing over $30 million after the interest is paid) on a firehouse the likes of which are not seen in an affluent city of five times the population of Salisbury, when a very accommodating, attractive and completely safe structure, according to reputable professional firehouse design sources, could have been built for far less than $5 million.

Voted for the Old Mall TIF, costing the citizens over $52 million in principal and interest and over $22 million in lost tax revenue over the next thirty years. (That's over $74 million, folks). Yes, Gary, the Old Mall is gone, but if the owners had been held to the condemnation order from the City (which you could have supported), so too would it have been, but at no cost to the taxpayers. Voted for the TIF even after dozens testified in council, some of them city planning professionals, that the TIF for this project was a bad fit and an even worse investment. Both have proved to be true and the taxpayers run the risk of losing millions.

Voted to substantially increase the hourly rate of the city attorney, who last year billed the City for more than $350,000, a great deal of which was to write legislation as dictated by the mayor, defend in court that legislation when it was contested and found faulty by the courts, then rewrite the legislation to actually make it comply with the law. And remember, that every Xerox copy made by a secretary, every fax sent by an office boy, every two minute phone call billed at the "hour or part thereof", every moment the city attorney sits at a council meeting or work session is billed at the attorney's hourly rate, which is now close to what many people in the City make in a week. And this doesn't count the time the city attorney bills for when he's just thinking about a city issue.

Responsible for pushing the opening the Main Street drawbridge after its return from repair in Baltimore, but BEFORE all the safety mechanisms were installed, against the advice of contractors and bridge maintenance officials (for weeks on end, the drawbridge could have failed, been irreparably damaged, and lives and property put in jeopardy, but Comegys weighed putting the public at risk against pleasing the mayor and the mayor won out.)

Voted again and again to create the ridiculous mess on Isabella Street to please a few of Barrie's close personal friends, one of which was her campaign manager.

Vigorously supported and voted to allow the building of the "luxury" condominiums on the banks of the Wicomico River, despite great public outcry and sage advice based on traffic, environmental, zoning and other issues not to proceed. The only completed building (forty units) has a bare handful of occupants, although, through refundable deposits of perhaps $1000 from friends of the owner of the building let him say that over fifty percent of the building is sold. The other three buildings are either barely begun and have gone into receivership or have been cancelled.

Voted each and every time with Mike Dunn when he was president of the Council, NEVER ONCE even questioning what the vote was about.

Voted for each and every time for each and every issue put forth by the mayor, regardless of cost, public comment, public outcry. The one time in memory that he didn't was to make a big to-do and propose to drop the mayor's request from a 17% tax increase to a 13% increase. This without actually reading the budget request from cover to cover, as some responsible Council members did.

Voted for a double digit tax increase just after being reelected, despite his promises of better fiscal responsibility.

Supported the suppression of public information access to select members of Council. This after campaigning with the promise of government transparency.

Voted to destroy historical records and documents dating back to the beginning of the Tilghman administration. This after campaigning with the promise of government transparency.

Voted for a pension for fire volunteers, he being one of the first to reap the rewards, despite the fact that his "28 years of firefighting service" amounted to scarcely ever actually participating in a fire call or putting on turnout gear.

Defied a court order to pay child support of $120 per week for his one child after divorce from his first wife, while working at a job paying well over $50,000 per year. Found guilty of contempt of court and forced to pay arrears.

Filed for bankruptcy while a sitting member of the Council. Bought a new house in an upscale neighborhood, and a shiny new big pickup truck.

Continues to brag in public that he "attended" Salisbury State College, which, strictly speaking, is true, but neglects to mention that he dropped out after the first semester, never to return.

These are just the obvious ones. Can you think of more?"

47 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can't believe the Daily Times actually said, "and to be fair." Who do they think they are. You better give us additional candidates or I'll drop your paper so fast you won't know what hit you.

Anonymous said...

The Times they are a changing? That article doesn't support that phrase. I fell off the toilet reading that article, can I sue?

joe albero said...

It should be noted that the Daily Times created a link do Gary Comegys Website in the paper and on line but they failed to create a link to Bob Caldwell's.

I have been fair and corrected the links for both Candidates mentioned in today's Daily Times.

Anonymous said...

"and getting the long-awaited new Salisbury Fire Department headquarters built to provide a safer environment for our firefighters and EMTs".

I thought fire departments were to provide a safer enviroment for the PEOPLE they serve. Now hes saying that the fire department was not built to serve the people but to serve the firemen. WOW

Anonymous said...

I want that commenter for mayor!

But since he's not running, Bob Caldwell's letter was great, and true.

I look forward to seeing Jim Ireton's. Notice that Mr. Gary Civility took a personal swipe at Jim Ireton.

I wish to heck that Comegys HAD "abandoned" Salisbury, and unlike Ireton who CAME BACK when he didn't have to, wish that Comegys just stayed away.

Our city would be so much better off if Comegys had.

Good luck to Caldwell and Ireton, the two REAL men in this mayoral race!

Anonymous said...

And let's not forget Gary's voting for the Sassafras/Westwood shoestring annexation when he knew that Mike Dunn, the sitting president, was involved in the purchase and sale of the property. Even when Dunn finally recused himself from continued voting on the annexation, Comegys kept voting for the project. Dunn stated emphatically that he did not profit from the sale of the property, but it's commonly accepted that he's now a "millionaire" following development of the property, moving from a modest home in the College neighborhood, purchased with Salisbury Neighborhood Housing funding, to an upscale waterfront property in the county.
More kickbacks here, Gary? Hope your adept at hiding the money, because the truth will one day come out.

Anonymous said...

To all interested parties in the corrupt city of Salsibury.

I called Neighborhood Services and Code Compliance the other day about the illegal placement of Gary Comegys campaign signs and I was told they were not allowed to pick up those particular signs. This directive came from the mayor's office and they are not allowed to pick up his signs, but all others are fair game.

Anonymous said...

Another fixed election. Gary's red signs remind me of the $71,000,000 of debt he helped put the city under.

Anonymous said...

The "To be fair" was Joe commenting on the Times making the appearance of fairness. The letters appear separately.

Also, the links appear the same in the letters on my screen, written as text, but not live links. Just FYI.

Except for that City1732, the commenters are all giving Comegys' record the good look he asks them to give...sort of like when Barrie invited people to check out the blogs for themselves.

Anonymous said...

10:44...write the complaint to the Mayor and the Election Boards of the city and county.

If they fail to act, then there's a problem.

Although it's dumb that Code Compliance wouldn't be enforcing that. If your public right-of-way isn't cared for, they get on your case.

Anonymous said...

If Anon 10:44's comments can be verified, there needs to be an outcry in all the blogs (even those favoring Comegys), as well as a flood of letters to the Daily Times and to WBOC & WMDT. The statement is unfortunately both disgusting and believable. This mess has got to end.

Anonymous said...

Quit crying and go take the signs down yourself. Put them where they belong...in his front yard or there is always the recycle bins. A nice bonfire could be had as well.

Anonymous said...

Those signs are the perfect width for measuring out garden beds. Just leave them in the walkways to prevent weed growth.

Anonymous said...

Ok where is the article on the dep fire chief and the flat tire????

Anonymous said...

Why do you have that nice portrait of Comegys and his wife and that lousy, fuzzy one of Caldwell?

Reminds me of the Daily Times. They had Gary's nice portrait in the candidates chart, but always have the lousy picture they took of Debbie Campbell from FOUR years ago.

Not accusing you of being like the Times, Joe. Just saying you might want to put the pictures on equal ground.

If anyone deserves a bad picture, it's Comegys. He's given us the ugly picture we see of our town, with the help of Barrie Tilghman.

Anonymous said...

Joe:

Where the heck is Ireton, I was all for him when he declared as a candidate last fall but that's the last we've seen of him. And now we have a real contender in Bob Caldwell to depose the Bubba=Barrie free ride for the SAPOA/landlords and the Chamber of Commerce clique.

Anonymous said...

To be fair, the lightbars that cost more, will last for on average 25 years before any repairs are needed. The cheaper ones you mention will not last that long, plus they are thinner thus saving gas mileage. It really makes a difference. To be fair.

Anonymous said...

Comegys' voting record doesn't support what he says he will do as Myaor. I don't believe him now.

Go Cauldwell & Ireton!

Anonymous said...

11:53, Ireton doesn't get coverage in the Times because they hate him. Don't expect the DT to cover anything Jim says or does with anything but negativity.

Anonymous said...

Gordy didn’t get new toys for the fire department without the help of Comegy’s on the inside. Remember that come voting day.

Anonymous said...

Ask the firefighters how many of them will be voting for Gary come election day.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Caldwell, wrote a long list of the things that Mr. Comegys did; now tell us what you are going to do. Our vote will be based on your platform, not what Mr. Comegys has done in the past. Do you get me?

Anonymous said...

"I've never abandoned it and I've never moved away to pursue other interests."

Figuratively speaking, you abandoned your city long ago, Mr. Comegys.

Anonymous said...

Ireton is definitely still out there! He has been going door to door in this cold weather, and has been going to 3-4 meetings each week. Stay tuned for the candidate forums, folks, where I am sure Ireton and Caldwell will shine, and Comegys will stumble his way through it. The Daily Times has it in for Ireton, thus the lack of coverage of his very active campaign.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
10:44...write the complaint to the Mayor and the Election Boards of the city and county.

If they fail to act, then there's a problem.

Although it's dumb that Code Compliance wouldn't be enforcing that. If your public right-of-way isn't cared for, they get on your case.

10:59 AM

Write the Mayor??? You obvioulsy haven't been reading this blog very long. You have no idea about retalliation do you?

Anonymous said...

I just rode down Main Street and saw a flaming red Vote fo Bubba sign in front of Burnette White Tires. I need a new set of tires for my pick up and guess where I am not going to be purchasing them. Dawn Tilgman, I was going to order new tires and rims for that truck, but guess what. I will never buy anything from you again. I have been doing business there for over 15 years, but no more.

Have you lost your mind or what? I guess it doesn't matter that you have became a home wrecker with the guy from the Chamber. (wink, wink)

Anonymous said...

Gary doesn't dare step foot in a firehouse.anymore. He has only been spotted at the Taj Mahal two-three times since it opened and those were to attend 'dog and pony' shows. It doesn't matter whether your career or vollie, new or old; we can't stand the man and won't give him the time of day. That is unless your Gordo, Hopeless, or Sea.

Anonymous said...

Gary has done what for the " Fire Fighters and EMTs"? In his 2 terms of office has no one told him that Fire Fighters are EMTs. They were combined a long time ago. I am very Thankful that Gary is up on the happenings of the Fire Department.
Jim has my vote.

Anonymous said...

Anon 2:13 read it again. Bob Caldwell did not list any of those things about Gary Comegys. That was posted by a commenter that obviously knows Gary's voting record.

Anonymous said...

I'm also keeping a record of every business that has a Comegys sign in front of it and I will never do business there again. There are plenty of gas stations (Gordy) and plenty of restaurants (Jimmy) and plenty of tire stores (Burnett) that I don't need to patronize your establishments. If the Mayor and her posse can't target and intimidate people with political signs in their yards and in front of their businesses as they have done in the past, we can too. Let's see how much money you make when the public realizes who you're in bed with.

Anonymous said...

He needs to also move to Florida with his old buddy, the mare! Anyone who votes for this person has to be a mental case!

Anonymous said...

If Barrie is going to move to Florida, I say we start collecting for the airfare--get her outta town, I know we can get donations for her tickets.

joe albero said...

The Tilghman's don't have much left here, that's obvious. Should Barrie move to Florida it would be very refreshing for all citizens to not have to see her or face her down the road. However, I'm not sure where that rumor started because I think she's going to stick around and be in every face she can be in because she's a bully. Always was, always will be.

Anonymous said...

All the campaign signs for comegy I see around town seem to be on "public" property. If that were any onr elses signs they would be ordered removed by public works. I guess he has to put them somewhere. I want to put out a few there too just to see how long it would be before they are removed...but the other two candidates would know that is wrong and not put them there...

Anonymous said...

Why is Gordy not the treasurer this round for Gary? If he was then it would look odd if he was "appointed" fire chief after See Retires.....

Anonymous said...

The lights may last 25 years but what is the point? The vehicle they are on will be replaced in 5 if they dont wreck it sooner.

Anonymous said...

Any business I see a red sign in front I will be boycotting including Burnett White. I need two front tires; shocks and alignment guess I’ll go to General Tire this time. Sorry Dawn if you’re supporting Comegys I’m not supporting you.

Anonymous said...

2:13 --

See Bob Caldwell's website:

electbobcaldwell.com

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Why is Gordy not the treasurer this round for Gary? If he was then it would look odd if he was "appointed" fire chief after See Retires.....

8:42 PM

BINGO!!!

See Salisbarrie, we are not as dumb as you think we are!!

Anonymous said...

Joe,
Whoever posted the idea of boycotting businesses who display Comegys signs has come upon a way to get the point across. I'll be following his lead, not giving ANY of my business to those shopkeepers, now or AFTER the election if they continue to display Comegys signs. The Comegys supporters will rail at this, saying it's a business owner's right to display whatever sign they want and to support whatever candidate they want. My answer to that is that I can support whatever business I want, for whatever reason. If this business owner or that one wants to publicly support Comegys, they can count on me and, hopefully, whoever else who sees Comegys for what he really is, to not give them business unless the signs are taken down.

Anonymous said...

I remember Gary from when I was in college way back when. He was at Salisbury State College, too. He didn't drop out after the first semester, he flunked out. Then he got a job with the SHA, doing roadside maintenance (you know, leaning on a shovel.) He's now a Senior Project Engineer for SHA. He mostly drives around in the yellow SHA SUV, smoking a cigar, checking other people's work for his boss. How he got to be an "engineer" I'll never know, unless he took one of those courses you see on a matchbook cover, but as lazy as he was back then, I don't think that he changed enough to complete the course.

Anonymous said...

8:54-

Bubba's firs boss at SHA was Barrie's pappy. Sure shows to go you!

Anonymous said...

Hey, I'd like to know which businesses have a Comegys sign out. I'll boycott them too.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Joe,
Whoever posted the idea of boycotting businesses who display Comegys signs has come upon a way to get the point across. I'll be following his lead, not giving ANY of my business to those shopkeepers, now or AFTER the election if they continue to display Comegys signs. The Comegys supporters will rail at this, saying it's a business owner's right to display whatever sign they want and to support whatever candidate they want. My answer to that is that I can support whatever business I want, for whatever reason. If this business owner or that one wants to publicly support Comegys, they can count on me and, hopefully, whoever else who sees Comegys for what he really is, to not give them business unless the signs are taken down.

8:46 AM

Joe I agree. Can someone keep a running list or post a link to the site?

It's time to Boot Bubba!!

Anonymous said...

Another Comegys sign:

Route 12 Pizza
917 Snow Hill Road
Salisbury

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Another Comegys sign:

Route 12 Pizza
917 Snow Hill Road
Salisbury

5:55 PM

I've bought my last pizza from that DUMP!!!

Anonymous said...

Hey, I got four new tires today for my Saab. I would have considered Burnett White (I've bought from them before) but they're definitely off my list of tire stores.
And yes, I'm telling my friends.

Maybe Bubba can write you a check, Dawn. Or maybe T.J. Maloney, Donnie Williams or Richard Insley. I paid $380 for a set of big premium Goodyear radials, with free tire rotation every five thousand miles.

Do you see the point we're trying to make here??