Let’s face it -- Jim Ireton is working with Barrie Tilghman's administration, or making every attempt to do so. But are Barrie’s staff people making every attempt to work with Jim Ireton?
Let’s face it -- he is being set up to fail. The citizens who supported and voted for him can see it as plain as day.
Monday night, Louise Smith raised concern about the increase in crime. Now, is that genuine concern from a woman who voted against additional police and their second year of raises? Or it that a little stab at the new mayor who campaigned on a crime reduction platform, despite being in office less than two months and saddled with his predecessor’s people?
Very recently, Terry Cohen debunked statements made by John Pick, more than once during the ethics commission hearing. No malice on Terry’s part, just the facts, ma’am. Likewise, her showing up Paul Wilber, who apparently can’t read the Maryland constitution. How many times does Paul Wilber have to err in favor of Barrie Tilghman and her cronies, costing the taxpayers to make a mess and again to clean up the mess, before Mayor Ireton sees what is going on and dumps him?
Chief Webster’s most recent slap in the face, of the public and Mayor Ireton, has got to open his eyes. Chief Webster railed against Jim Ireton in the Daily Times, stating adamantly that crime was down. Now that Jim is Mayor, crime is on the rise and Barrie Tilghman’s chief of police has nothing to say about that and he shuts down the Narcotics Task Force! Surely Jim Ireton can clearly see what is going on here.
If Chief Webster doesn’t fight the “war on drugs,” crime will definitely increase. In fact, he isn’t and hasn’t done the fight and the crime is already increasing. According to Chief Webster, there are no gangs in Salisbury, and since there are no gangs, does this mean there is not a drug problem? Gangs = drugs = prostitution = robberies = assaults = home invasions = burglaries = murders. Even before there were gangs in Salisbury, there were drugs, so why shut down the task force?
The State of Maryland provided the lower shore with a mobile Methadone unit, unveiled by the county recently. The thought is to provide Methadone, a synthetic opiate, to heroin addicts. If we have no need of a drug task force, why does the state feel we have a need for a very expensive mobile drug-dispensing unit? Does anyone else see the irony in this?
The Salisbury Police Department has been understaffed for years. This is not news to anyone that has been paying attention. The turnover has never been higher than since Chief Webster has been there. You cannot keep good men and women if you have inadequate leadership. Chief Webster has proven, for a very long time, to be inadequate.
Barrie Tilghman along with the scheme team of Dunn, Comegys, Cathcart and Shields have expanded the limits of the city thereby expanding the coverage required by an already understaffed police department. These same people have also denied the required relief to an already overworked, understaffed and poorly equipped department.
I would like to suggest to Chief Webster that he follow the lead of Sheriff Mike Lewis and many other LEO’s in his position. Reinstitute the drug task force, make those big drug arrests and get convictions. Then lay claim to the drug money, vehicles and useable properties to better equip the officers at Salisbury Police Department instead of sticking every penny of that equipment on the backs of the taxpayers. The officers at SPD should not have to fight 21st century crime with 20th century technology and equipment.
And if the Chief can’t do that, then he needs to do the right thing and resign. And if he won’t do that, then the people of Salisbury need to rise up and let the city council -- especially Smith, Comegys and Shields -- know that they need to back Mayor Ireton firing Chief Webster.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
30 comments:
I was going to respond but I seem to of forgot my name, who am I, where did I go.
Once again, the mayor CANNOT fire the police chief! The only people who can do that are the City Council. It is the charter, there is no way to change that unless the citizens do a referendum.
Gross Incompetence, failure to fulfill job requirements.
What do "we the people" do. Call the council, sign a petition lets get moving on something. Anyone have suggestions?
It is coming near election year, never know Louweasal may jump on the bandwagon. If she's not going to address crime then her and Bubba may as well just start waving Buh Buh!
Very good article. We know the Mayor can't fire the police chief but if the Council - specifically, Comegys, Smith, and Shields would get off their dead butts and do something positive for a change we wouldn't have this problem would we?
Websdter, Sub-standard performance.
Thanks for the laugh early this morning, Chief Webster fighting crime following the lead of the Sheriff. Man I am going to laugh at that all day.
To the city council, if you do not open your eyes and hold this poor excuse for a chief responsible and get rid of him, then we will get rid of you. You have to be voted in, we will campaign to have someone run in your place.
Things have to change now, not tomorrow, now. We had a gang related shooting this week.
Open your eyes
9:27 What are you willing to risk?
I go to tastee freez all the time for a delicious ice cream cone. In order to avoid making a left turn onto Rt.13 south, I drive to the end of Dover Street and head out to Rt.50 that way. If the Chief Webster wants to see proof of "gangs" and the "drug problem" in salisbury, all he needs to do is visit this location. I've witnessed drug transactions on MORE than one occasion right there on the street! More than one of these individuals was wearing a red t-shirt(red=bloods). The funny thing is that right around the corner from this I've seen a Salisbury police car parked near the railroad tracks on Truitt Street, waiting for someone to run the stop sign. It seems to me the focus is in the wrong place! So I've stopped passing through what is obviously a troubled neighborhood, and I'm making that left turn now. It's much less dangerous.
If you always do , what you've
always done , you gonna get , what you always got. Change is Constant!! Get rid of the people
who do nothing !
We need to start a letter/email writing campaign to the mayor and council. Let them know exactly how we feel whether it be good, bad or indifferent. Opinions on blogs is ok but it won't make our voices heard at the highest level. Many don't have internet yet have the same concerns. Email, snail mail or call the council and mayor. Let your voices be heard. We put these people in office, we have the power to remove them.
Email the mayor at: jireton@ci.salisbury.md.us
To email the council this will send one email to all 5 council members:
ALLCityCouncilMembers@ci.salisbury.md.us
Jim:
Now that schools out, you better ger a'goin if you want to make a showin'
When Coulbourne Dykes was chief of police his drug task force was hard at it making busts. They had a small fleet of drug confiscated cars for their undercover operation. Everyone knew Coulbourne drove a confiscated car and no one cared, other than Barrie Tilghman. No one cared because it didn't cost the taxpayers a dime, unlike his replacement Chief Webster that spends thousands of taxpayer dollars on a chair for his office. Barrie Tilghman undermined and fired a good man that would not bow down to her and presented us with someone who doesn't care about anything other than himself. He has no regard for the officers working in the department and even less regard for the taxpaying citizens of our city.
If she could fire a good man like Dykes so easily why can't we get rid of a worthless tick of a man just as easily?
There is a perplexing and possibly very disturbing aspect of the City's conduct in regard to the health insurance benefit received by certain members of the City Council.
Sometime last year the City Administrator, John Pick, asked the City Attorney, Paul Wilber to provide advice about whether the City could or had to pay the cost of that coverage. His e-mail message to Wilber, which I have not seen (yet), states that the question had been raised by Council members Louise Smith and Gary Comegys. This message seems to have come to the attention of the Council members who were recently the victims of the ethics attack by Jonathan Taylor as they were preparing for the hearing on that charge – Pick did not send it to Ms. Cohen or Ms. Campbell, and they remained unaware of it until very recently.
And now that Smith and Comegys are claiming that they had no involvement in the request being made, Mr. Pick seems to have recanted – he now suggests that then (now the former) Mayor, Barrie Tilghman, initiated the request for advice.
What we don't know at this point in time is when (or, even, whether) Wilber provided advice in response to the request, and if he did so what he said.
I seem to recall seeing a document from Wilbur that says the Mayor (Tilghman) has the right to remove things from the budget. Can anyone find this document?
"He is being set up to fail" If any mayor or governor allows him/herself to be set up to fail, that's no one fault but their own. So far my impression of this new mayor is that while he appears to be a personable guy, he's pretty darn weak as a leader.
11:00 a.m. You could do a Freedom of Information Act request of that.
I think this is an awesome post. Cornelia and 9:27 are right. The people need to speak out. 9;52, you talk about risk, but Ireton's not going to go after people like Barrie did.
Risk? We take it every day we go out on Salisbury's streets. Hell, if we go to sleep in our own homes!
Can the Mayor control the chiefs schedule, does Jim have the power to put him in uniform and make him work the graveyard shift?
11:56, do you want the new mayor to violate the charter of the city, to above the rule of law?
You are either new in town or have been asleep in Salisbury. The governor doesn't have a puppet legislature that changed all the laws to let him put his own people in place but prevent his successor from taking them out.
Welcome to Smallsbury.
I am sorry, but I am not buying this "cover the mayor's back" PR piece. The man ran as a "LEADER" who can affect real change, and top his platform was fixing our horrible crime situation. Now we're told he needs public support to do just that - We voted for him didn't we???? Isn't that enough public support and outcry???
Please e-mail this council. Everyone send e-mails that we have enough of the chief and the major. We want/need a change! When its time to vote again we will have new faces on the council. Guarenteed! We need to have some gang members set-up in a couple peoples neighborhoods and let them see first hand what is really going on. This will wake them up.
12:28 evidently not. When his hands are tied by 3 council persons. (I use the word persons lightly) We need to attack this problem like flies on --it. We can do it.
You are either WITH us or AGAINST us.
The sooner we get rid of these skeletons the sooner the closet will be cleaned out.
If they won't quit I'd make Barrie Tighlman look like Mary Poppins and they'll all want to quit. I can yell, cuss, kick and throw sh!t too!
Heck with professional, this is war!
12:28, apparently it wasn't enough public support and outcry. Look at Debbie Campbell. She got more votes than anybody on the council. Did Louise and team recognize that? No.
Get a clue. The pressure has to be on the council. If Ireton fires Chief Webster, but the council majority doesn't back him, this town will never be rid of him.
12:28, go ask Gary Comegys or Louise Smith if they'll back our mayor. Go on. Ask.
http://www.petitiononline.com/
Click on "start your own petition." Be careful of your wording; make sure it describes exactly what you want, who, where, when, to whom, limited to whom, etc. Start it in your in town friends, they pass it along to their in town friends.
Good Luck.
I love to read some of these post...If you have no personel to do the job....how to supose Chief Webster run this task force...Oh yea lets pay insurance for part-time jobs.....some of you people need to get a clue.......
12:06 Then let me pose this question to you: If the mayor is essentially powerless in Salisbury, why have one?
5:34 pm is mad because he lost the ethics complaint.
Those "part-timers" have already saved the city more than their insurance costs. And they are the only 2 of the 5 who have consistently stood up for the police.
Sorry you lost.
It will take the mayor and council years to undo the walls of corruption Tighlman built around her office.
Maybe Manure Bota should run for mayor, Bwaahahahahaa
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