BARRIE & BLOGGERS BUSTED BUBBA’S BALLOON!

Jim Ireton’s large margin of victory in Salisbury’s mayoral primary and the very small lead Comegys has on Bob Caldwell at the moment is proof that the last minute shenanigans and scams perpetrated by Barrie & Bubba have backfired on them, big time. Let’s briefly review some of their schemes, and we probably don’t yet know about even half of them.

The dumbest was for both Barrie and her spouse to contribute to Comegys’ campaign the maximum amount allowed. Besides providing further evidence of Bubba’s allegiance to landlords, SAPOA and developers, this money made possible some of those red and white signs that we see at rental homes and various developments and business locations.

Then there’s the attempt to manipulate residents at The Cottages at River House into voting for Comegys, while also denying the other candidates any visitation right at the facility – apparently after their request to speak with the residents was referred to Barrie for guidance. That’s outrageous.

But much more outrageous is that weekly “public affairs” program (Monday Morning with the Mayor) that BPT does on WICO–1320AM. The current version is a campaign ad for Comegys, starring him, with Barrie as the moderator. It may and, if not, should be a violation of federal broadcasting rules by those involved -- look for more about that on this blog in the future.

The good news is that each of these things clearly cost Comegys votes yesterday and surely will hurt him again in the general election on April 7. But that would not be the case without the ability to put the facts before the public on this Blog. Salisbury’s mainstream media has not mentioned these matters, except in the routine article about campaign contributions, which listed the donations to Comegys. The difference is striking between the tenor and outcome of the mayoral elections as recently as 2002, when Barrie defeated Duke Shanahan by a thin margin by means of last minute character assassination.

There’s no need for Barrie to present this Blogger with a certificate of appreciation for serving the public interest at one of the few City Council meetings to be held before she becomes history. Salisbury residents already know that she and her comrades – Comegys, Dunn, Cathcart, Insley, Schuster, T. J. Baloney, etc. – HAVE BEEN BLOGGED!