It was the most mundane of meetings, approving stimulus money and grants for this and that project.
The usual cast of characters were there. I just came to observe, and as fate would have it, right before I drifted off during the public comments, I was jarred by the place erupting. A lady who was a victim of a violent crime in a home invasion, had been brutally beaten and had come in front of the council many times before to speak about her concerns about crime and gangs in Salisbury. I won't mince words here. The council knows exactly who she is.
She came to the the podium to speak about the increasing crime problems in the city of Salisbury and related issues about Chief Webster. Understandably she didn't want to give her name and address to be broadcast on the cable channel (PAC 14) So she told Louise Smith, "You know who I am and where I live."
For the record, the council requires citizens to record this information on a sign in sheet if they wish to speak during public comments.
I was astounded at Mrs. Louise Smith (R) indignation. She had complete contempt for the woman and stood up and shut the meeting down because the lady wanted some privacy. Louise admonished her and before I knew it, as the woman continued to speak, the council members started standing up and the constituent was told the meeting was over and she could no longer speak. You really need to double click on this picture up close to see what's going on. This is Mrs. Smith Standing up and closing down the meeting and Salisbury Police Officer telling the lady she has to leave.
Then Jim Ireton (D) came out from behind the desk and berated her as well, telling her she couldn't bring "that kind of drama to the council. I'll say this in front of everyone" He did later spend a few minutes talking to her about her concerns in the hallway and seemed to take a different stance from my perspective.
I really couldn't believe what was happening before my eyes. A citizen was shut down and intimidated by our paid official.
Source
Really Louise? Really?!
Louise Smith didn't want to let anyone speak out against Chief Webster or about crime. Notice, Shanie was not at the meeting tonight? The 5 shootings were in her district.
ReplyDeleteRetaliation and intimidation continue in this city. Louise Smith is a tyrant, that sweet little old lady should wake up to a knife to her throat and be sexually molested, maybe then she'll understand why the woman didn't want to reveal her address publicly. Maybe Jim Ireton should experience the same as this woman. He was there to support her a year ago in front of the council, now that he is mayor he wants to publicly berate her? WTF is going on in this city?
Did Gary Comegys have a date or something? He beat feet out of there so fast it's a wonder he didn't knock Louise over on his way out.
ReplyDeleteWhy was there an (R) after Louise Smith but no (D) after Ireton???? Both are traitors.
ReplyDeleteJim Ireton has sold out everyone that supported him and put him in office. Fool us once, shame on you, you won't have the opportunity to fool us twice. I'm through with Ireton. At least with Comegys we knew what we were getting.
ReplyDeleteIreton = Louise = LIARS + FRAUDS
Who elso spoke about the latest crime wave -- nobody, I'll bet.
ReplyDeleteSalisbury residents deserve their fate, which ain't pretty and is getting worse by the day under your new mayor who is "more of the same.".
What is everyone thinking, the lady is a victim and the city had an opportunity to resolve this crime and blow it. BLOW IT! BLOW IT!
ReplyDeleteUp Yours JT! I told you we know every single time you make your lame comments and two of them were just rejected.
ReplyDeleteLeave the handicapped woman alone as well JT. Those calls are being investigates and God Forbid they prove they came from you, you're in deep sh!t.
Stay off this Blog. You're a very mentally sick man.
Ireton, who is another that I supported, should have supported the citizen, and should have stood up to Louise Smith.
ReplyDeleteHow many times does this woman have to be a victim? She was in the privacy of her own home and she was victimized. Then she is only looking for justice in her case when she feels the police won't do anything and over and over she is the one that is thrown to the wolves.
ReplyDeleteIt is about time someone besides herself stands up for this woman and help find the one who invaded her privacy and also put a stop to the harassment she has to endure. All she wants is closure. Louise, Gary and Shanie (MIA), it is not anymore than you would want if you were the victims. You should be ashamed of yourselves but then again, you would have to have a conscious and integrity, both of which you three lack.
They seem to be taking their lessons from the White House well.
ReplyDeletenothing different here down in Princess Anne with those commissioners all arrogance
ReplyDeleteIt looks like this lady, a fine tax paying citizen was attacked by the biggest criminals of all. Jim Ireton and Louise Smith. Jim Ireton, I as well as many other citizens in this city are thoroughly disgusted in you. Can you do us all a favor and just step down. We expected this out of Bubba, not you. These actions would be more palatable with Gary Comegys so please step down and let Bubba have the Mayors seat. I now wish he would have been elected because I didn't want to see this side of you.
ReplyDeleteWhy do Salisbury residents continuously do this to themselves? MOVE!! Trust me the shore isnt anything special and its definitely not worth living an entire life of fear or frustration over. I'm not even in Salisbury putting up with crime and high taxes and the local media cover-ups and I'm already sick of all the backwards BS. The problem is that everyone comes on here to complain and then when they actually have a chance to speak to those that "should" be listening they back out. Stage a protest, form a neighborhood watch, camp out in front of the mayors office, attend council meetings, etc. This area needs to have all the sh*t flushed out of it. Problem is there wouldnt be much left afterward.
ReplyDeleteJoe i can't believe the bull crap going on in this city. The people need to take it back. I'm a county resident just outside the city, but enough is enough. Here's the bad part if it wasn't for you and your blog all this would go without any fight. Keep up the great work Joe.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with some comments on here with regards to this lady. There are rules and laws that we may or may not agree with but must follow. This procedure of giving your name and address dates back years and years. Yes, I will agree that Louweasel did not handle it properly and compassion should be extended to this lady but there is an ethical way to communicate good or bad.
ReplyDeleteYou don't have words and i don't have time....
ReplyDeleteIf the physical address of the speaker at the podium is so important WHY DIDN'T LOUISE make Mr. Trader or Mr. Mayer give their exact physical address?
ReplyDeleteThis poor woman is a victim who came to a televised, public meeting and demanded anonymity. That just doesn't make sense.
ReplyDeleteLouise overreacted but other than shut down the TV cameras and turn off the microphone, what else could she do?
Both sides were wrong. If the woman wants to make a formal complaint she should. If she wants to join a victims rights group she should. She shouldn't go to televised public meetings and try to use them as her soapbox.
problem is you can't run all of the thugs out of Salisbury because then the slum lords would not have any tenants. The good people of Salisbury need to start at the top and get rid of the thugs on the council as well as do nothing Jim in the Mayors office.The council meetings in Salisbury are nothing but a bad soap opera type of play that the people of Salisbury must not care about because if they did this type of BULL$HIT would stop. The only reason for someone to sign a book or sign in sheet is intimidation on the council's behalf.Truth is they do not want the public to speak at their meetings period !
ReplyDeleteAnnon: 7:34 Don't know the answer to that, sadly most don't know this Lady's circumstances so she didn't help herself being so abrupt. I can only imagine what she is going through. I pray that
ReplyDeleteshe is helped and helped immediately.
More than a year later the attacker is still at large. Smith was intimidating her on purpose. She gave her name and others had not been made to give addresses. This is a public building, since when is the woman not allowed to finish what she had to say for anyone who would listen. The meeting ended, the camera was off, but why was she made to leave by the police. She is a victim of crime. Allow her to speak and show some compassion and support.
ReplyDeleteI hope that those who are outraged by what happened last night will attend the next meeting in two weeks and will speak up. Fill the seats! ANyone willing and able to organize that?
I too live just outside city limits, so I have no "rights" officially. But I am thoroughly disgusted at what this city has become. I grew up here. I remember boating and fishing on the Wicomico. I remember being able to ride my bike all over the city as a young teen.
ReplyDeleteIt's very sad.
Look closely at that picture! Louise is still leaving, the other council members and the mayor and Pick are seated, the cop is already at the lady's side.
ReplyDeleteGary Comegys is gone. Bet he's the one called the cop over to take the lady out! Gary's taking over!
Talk about intimidation!
Look at the guy in the white shirt up front. He's turning to someone and the body language is like What the heck just happened here?
I'm not saying that Jim was right, but in all reality he's got to stay on the good side of the council majority-this could have been a schmoozing tactic. He will not be able to accomplish ANYTHING as mayor if he pisses off any one of the three amigos. To shoot down a citizen is not his style-I know the guy and there had to be some sort of strategy behind his actions.
ReplyDeleteLouise is the biggest bitch I know-she deserves to rot in hell for the problems she and her cronies have caused this City! People need to remember these meetings when it comes election time-she doesn't represent the people because she doesn't even want to hear them out!
I'll say it again, Louise you are a heartless BITCH!
(sorry for the language Joe, but it is fitting for her)
This is public comment, not a public hearing or an inquisition!!!
ReplyDeleteI heard the lady say, "you have my address."
She was fully within her rights not to give it after the two people before her were not made to give it.
The giving address thing does not go back years and years.
If you want to speak at the meetings you sign your name and address. Ok, this part I understand. Obviously this is the sheet Mrs. Smith uses when calling the people up to speak. Why must they repeat this information for all to hear? There may not be many people who attend the meeting but who knows how many are watching on PAC14. We know Salisbury has gangs and many people who just like putting fear into people. What if this woman had been allowed to speak her mind. This may of ticked someone off who was watching from home. Before this woman could get home after the meeting, someone could of been waiting for her there.
ReplyDeleteIf stating your name and address publicly is a rule, this rule needs to be changed.
I was there last night and was shocked by the amount of empty seats... After all of the commotion and complaints about the chief on an earlier post, I was shocked by the lack of attendance.
ReplyDeleteThis is part of the problem. You talk the talk from behind your screens, but not a ONE of you were brave enough to get up there and speak your minds! SHAME ON YOU!!!
( not that you would have been able to.. since the meeting was adjourned...)
My friend and I sat there scratching our heads thinking... Did this really just happen? Even the council was shocked. It was like everyone was frozen, looking around to see who was going to get up and leave first.
There were other citizens who were waiting to speak as well. How fair was that to them?
She was asked to state her name and address and refused.... The two men who spoke before her were not asked to state theirs!
It's no surprise... Louise knew EXACTLY who she was and what her address was. She just didn't want to hear what she had to say! I sure as hell wouldn't give my address if I were in her shoes!
She was a victim of a violent crime in her own home! Her attacker has not been found! She has questions that are not being answered and had every right to get up there and speak.
I understand that there are rules to be followed, and that she was very abrupt and angry... but there is also a things called compassion and freedom of speech!!!
Luise Smith can't control herself, let alone a meeting. She is an embarrassment to this city.
ReplyDeleteLouise knew this citizen was a crime victim and should not have even pressed her to give her residential address. How truly crass Louise was and appeared out of control and downright mean and nasty. The victim had every right to defend herself as to not publicly declaring her street address.
ReplyDeleteLouise Smith is absolutely classless.
ReplyDeleteAnon 10:14 wrote: "Louise Smith is a tyrant, that sweet little old lady should wake up to a knife to her throat and be sexually molested"
ReplyDeleteI don't care who she is or your personal feelings against her, NOBODY deserves to be sexually molested unless they are in jail for sexually molesting another.
To wish a woman to have a knife to her throat and be assaulted is just sick. Joe, please re-read this post and remove it.
Seems Shanie Shields was in hiding last night. She can bitch about buying some tar pit of a property, but can't be present to ask about more crime control?
ReplyDeleteI think that all of us feel compassion for this lady who was victimized. We can understand her frustration with crime and her feeling that the police are not doing enough to reduce the crime rate.
ReplyDeleteBecause of her experiences, this blog's readership would understandably come to her defense and "cry foul" at Louise Smith and Jim Ireton.
However, there is the other side. This lady has, time and again, played her "poor pitiful victim" card. The Council all know who she is. There is some comparison between her and the lady (whose name I've forgotten) who lost a son in Iraq and who showed up wherever George Bush was to make a scene. After a while, our feeling sorry for her gave way to disgust and anger for her constant disruptions and possible compromise of the President's safety.
I do agree that, if not everyone is required to cite his/her name before speaking at Council, then she should not have had to. If the addresses are listed on the sign-in sheet, I should think that would be sufficient. I guess the primary reason is to be sure that the speaker is a Salisbury resident. The "address issue" needs to be re-visited by Council.
Louise Smith, like her or not, has the duty as president to run an orderly meeting. If the lady in question was purposely making it difficult to carry on a meeting, then Ms. Smith has the obligation to terminate the meeting and/or remove the disorderly woman. Mayor Ireton was quite right in saying that a Council meeting was not the proper forum for "drama."
Louise Smith would have a totally different attitude if her home had been invaded and she had been robbed and beaten.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I live outside the city limits so was unable to vote for a new mayor. I say unfortunately because I would have voted against him. His teaching ability was already proven to me. My child was one of his students and he has a "just push them through" attitude, not really caring whether they are actually learning anything or not. Parents keep an I on your childs work for his classes, if your child even has much homework for his classes. He didn't care about the students why care about the city? Change starts with education in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteSchmoozing isn't going to win the day. Jim needs to advance the agenda he promises. If the council majority doesn't go along let the voters ring their phones off the hook and turn their backs at bridge and socials. They won't hold up to that for long. Smith, Comegys and Shields are trying to set Ireton up for a recall.
ReplyDelete9:48 - I'm pretty sure he would have at least taught them the difference between "I" and "EYE", as in, "keep an EYE on your child's work for his classes"
ReplyDelete9:41, the woman was not purposely trying to disrupt a meeting. She just pointed out that Louise Smith already had her address. Smith did not have to cut the meeting off. There were other ways to handle it. She is Mike Dunn all over again.
ReplyDeleteI don't care whether that lady came to play a victim card or not. She had as much right to speak as the others allowed. The others didn't have to give her address. If she is so known to everyone on the council, then why would she have to give her address?
Smith didn't apply the rules consistently. She singled this woman out. Louise Smith victimized this lady again!
The drama was caused by Smith, not the lady. Just like when she shut the audit meeting down. But Ireton blamed the drama on the lady, not on Smith.
Ireton has turned. Why, I don't know. He should stand up for the citizens, not for Drama Queen Smith.
He's a one-term Mayor if he makes it that far.
ReplyDeleteI am aghast at Mayor Ireton's behavior. People will sure fool you. The mayor should be bringing some "drama" to managing the affairs of Salisbury.
ReplyDelete"He's a one-term Mayor if he makes it that far."
ReplyDeleteLOL. Bet Joe is kickin himself now for pushing sooo hard for him!
Where the hell was Shanie Shields last night? She should have been there before the door was unlocked to advocate for more crime control, or was she muzzled by her partners? She is the most pathetic excuse for a councilwoman, and District 1 is paying the cost. Who are the people who voted for this woman and where are their voices?
ReplyDeletePerhaps the lady could post whatever it is she wanted to say last night on this forum. She could post her questions and concerns, how the investigation has been handled and how it could be handled better, and any issues she has with Chief Webster. At least then her info would be there for city residents to read and become aware of- maybe it would help bring some new info and maybe even closure for her.
ReplyDeleteShanie and Louise are incompetent.
ReplyDeleteIf the SPD had better leadership, perhaps it would not have been necessary for this lady to have been there at all.
ReplyDelete9:41 AM said...
ReplyDeleteHowever, there is the other side. This lady has, time and again, played her "poor pitiful victim" card.
********
Really, 9:41? Really? Name those "time and agains" for us. She barely got two sentences out of her mouth last night. Since you know so much, I want to know all the times she's played her "victim card."
I've seen her on this blog, what, twice? Once after she was first attacked. Then for a press conference on the anniversary of the attack where she pledged to help CrimeSolvers raise money.
Doesn't sound like someone playing the victim card to me.
I didn't like what Ireton did last night, but he is an excellent teacher. I am hopeful that he will learn how to be a real mayor very quickly: keep his campaign promises, representations to the volunteers who worked hard to get him elected to bring change, and will have respect for the citizens of the city. Last night was disgusting, but cold be a turning point.
ReplyDeleteI don't know Ted Shea was shot and he still refuses to help the WCSO adn opposes their efforts.
ReplyDelete9:41 How dare you! If it were you or a family member who had been attacked as this woman was and nothing had been done about it yet, would you be sitting back as if nothing had ever happened? I hope this woman will keep reminding the Mayor and the council about the crime in Salisbury. I'm sure if she were to show up at a meeting, without saying a word but just by being there, it would tick Smith off. I've got news for you. If I am attacked in my home (again) I will continue to fight againt it. At least I live in a town where the Police Chief along with the whole department, the City Manager AND the City council care about the citizens in this town.
ReplyDeleteYou've got nerve! You must be a friend of the Village Idiots on the council.