Circuit Court Judge Donald Davis has just informed the County Council he takes full responsibility for the purchase of 8 trash cans. Judge Davis stated, "I think the purchase was a mistake."
Councilwoman Stevie Prettyman stated she did not expect Judge Davis to pay for these trash cans out of his own pocket and wished he would reconsider that. The Council President concurred.
Judge Davis stated he'd leave it up to the Council to decide if they'll accept his check.
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50 comments:
Judge Davis always treated me fair. (They dont make the big,big bucks like people think they do).
You could always sell them on eBay.
What about that desk and chair that cost much more?
Accept it!!! This will show other that unacceptable purchases should be made by the individual approving them.
Not taking the check lets everyone believe the behaviour is condoned and the council will back down when challenged.
The council should spend their time on what Pollitt wants to pay for that parking lot land.
Always did think that Don was a great guy. Hell of an offer. jackkcharl@aol.com
Judge Davis is a stand up guy. That is why he did it.
Judge Davis is a great guy, but I think on behalf of the citizens of Wicomico County the county council needs to accept his check. If not I am going remember this when I go to the polls.
Judge Davis is a good guy and this is NOT his responsibility. Good effort by the judge.
Cash the check on the way to FIRE RICK POLLIT.
Take the money, and write him a big thank-you letter! This is a total no-brainer, people!
I thought it was FOUR trash cans instead of "eight"??????
If I were Judge Davis I'd take each of those trash cans home with me. After all, he did buy them. Then see what type/style trash can the County will purchase to replace those $500 ea. trash cans.
There were 8 trash cans, not 4. They were also almost $500.00 each, not $420.00 like the Daily Times tried to pass off.
I hope they insured the new trash cans. I never heard of anyone stealing a cheap trash can but, now that so many people know what these jewels are worth....
Judge Davis, i have some paper weights for $499.00 each.
Would you be interested? I think they will match the trash cans.
It is a real deal.
Talk about manning up. My hat is off to him. WOW
What in the hell does Davis have to do with the purchase of trash cans. I've never heard of such crap in my life. I'm sure they have a purchasing dept. with supervisors. If he signed for them then he should pay for his mistake. It's hell getting caught isn't it judge? This may open some other doors that need to be reviewed.
Good guy , nice guy , yeh , yeh ,yey just pay for the trash cans judge. That was a stupid thing to do . Sounds just like our present day judicial system!This could be the tip of the ice burrrrg.
While I don't know that it should be proper for this judge to have to pay for these out of his own pocket, I must say "it must be nice to be able to just write a check for $4000.00 for something that doesn't even belong to you".
Who says they aren't paid well???!!
According to the Wicomico County goverment website, Frederick C. Harris is the purchasing agent for the county. Therefore, I would guess that the buck stops with him. It should be easy to find out who authorized the purchase. Is someone in Harris' office authorized to make purchases? Whoever did okay the trashcans should be raked over the coals.
Davis said he is the chief administrative judge and the buck stops with him. Give credit where it is due. Unlike Barrie Tilghman taking full responsibility for the $84 million dollar WWTP, Judge Davis manned up and took responsibility for this expenditure getting by him. He also made restitution to the county without being asked because he thought it the right thing to do. Leaving it up to Pollitt to either accept the check or return it was the smart thing for the council to do.
Oh, and being able to write a check for $4,000 is probably due to his willingness to SAVE instead of spend every dollar he makes.
Don Davis is compassionate, thoughtful and fair. Say what you will about the trash cans but he is the best of the best and a man's man.
It's not the point that now he's going to pay for them. It's the fact that they ordered trash cans that were that expensive what in the heck where they thinking? Oh I guess they weren't.
One thing is obvious to me and that is we tax payers should be reimbursed for this and that those others that may be involved should be exposed.
Make him pay for the DIFFERENCE between what should have been paid versus what was paid. If new trash cans were needed, the county would have paid something for them.
If the cans haven't been used yet, send them back.
Re: 11:18 Post
You need to get your head examined. The last time I checked, a Circuit Court judges salary was in excess of $125,000.
Judge Davis will never miss it.
Hey Rick:
Got any trash cans at the landfill?
They used to have auditors too!
Anon 12:17
I agree with you completely. Take the money & run. Thank you Judge Davis for being an honerable gentleman. You should be commended.
now that's the kind of accountability we need in this area!
Bravo for Davis for stepping up and taking responsibility. They should take the check and shut up!
I took it as a grandstanding move on his part. He obviously didn't sign the purchase order, and if one of his staff did, then THEY should have offered. Even so, there is no reason to expect a check, just assurance that it won't happen again. EVER. And, a big thank you from THIS taxpayer to sbynews for breaking this story and shedding some much-needed light on extravagance in government. This ain't the time for anything fancy OR unneeded. While sitting in the GOB council chambers I noticed some plain rubber trash cans with white liners in them. Now that's the spirit.
If Judge Davis wrote the check out for payment of the trash cans then he must be the responsible person who authorized the expenditure to begin with.
This brings up an even more interesting question as to how a Circuit Court Judge can authorize a County expenditure?
This County continues to amaze me with such shabby bookkeeping.
Not only did we have a landfill fiasco, a fired internal auditor - but now we have $500 trash can purchases?
It's no wonder Wicomico has such a deficit.
I am confused how is ordering $500 trash cans his fault, do they have our judges ordering office supplies now????
Go Judge Davis. That's a very honorable thing to do. It was a mistake and it shouldn't be on the backs of the taxpayes. Thank you.
Salaries of Maryland Judges-effective July 1, 2008
Judge, District Court 127,252
Chief Judge, District Court 149,552
Judge, Circuit Court 140,352
Judge, Court of Special Appeals 149,552
Chief Judge, Court of Special Appeals 152,552
Judge, Court of Appeals 162,352
Chief Judge, Court of Appeals 181,352
Thanks for keeping us updated on this. I was watching PAC 14 when the audit was presented.Some really good questions came from some of the council members. Way to go!
Saw Davis Rurak try and defend his office about some checking account which has been mentioned in the audit for the past two years. Hope it has gotten straighten out.
From some of the council concerns
looks like the finance manager need to get on the ball.
Saw Judge Davis come in and pony up to the trash cans. What a stand-up man he is. Very honorable on his part. Thanks Judge Davis.
See this:
http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2008/12/another-pay-raise-for-marylands-judges.html
Wow your Honor just send them back. This is peanurs compared to what Slick Rick and the seven dwarfs have done to our county.
Vote em all out in November. I know of at least four that are going it they like it or not. No one has time for liers and crooks.
The sad thing the other three are as worthless as tits on a boar hog. They just hang around and do nothing.
The
Wicomican
If the Judge knew the cost before the purchase, I would have thought he would have realized that $500 per can was a little too much. Accept his check and maybe this type of spending won't happen so much in the future. It's easy to spend someone else's money - like the taxpayer's money. For $500, the can should empty itself.
Hope we did not pay for the cologen shots of one judge. LOL Oh well if we did they look damn good. Dirty minded rascals HER LIPS. I really did not have to go there.
Easy Little "E" might be reading this.
So if this judge is so quick to offer up a $4000.00 check for trash cans purchased, it makes me wonder what other purchases have been made that he's hoping they won't find out about. Something larger to this?
Think about it. How quick would you be willing to write a $4000.00 check for something that belongs to the county?
Really?
Judge Davis is an outstanding person and very responsible. He is willing to accept responsibility and have certain members of the council "shut up" about the whole issue. I'm sure other monies have been spent on unnecessary things. At least he came forward. I don't recall Rai Sharma or Ray Lewis coming forward and offering any money for what happened at the landfill?!?
By the way...I also heard the Soil Conservation was closing up. Wonder if that has anything to do with them always using equipment from ASAP Septic Service (ownded by Ray Lewis)???
Investigate that council members!
The internal auditor was on to all of this and that is what got her fired.
Is the audit posted somewhere online?
If anyone knows, how about posting a link to it. Thanks!
CORRUPTION !!! People it is time for sweeping change
Does anyone in the general reading audience even understanding how purchasing works within the government? Do you know about state contracts -- who you can buy from - who you cannot? Perhaps the corruption lies within the vendors for the State of MD?
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