We are Governed by Those Who Show Up: The Very Expensive Civic Center Parking Lot

Today's public hearing on Rick Pollitt's desire to use a Maryland state grant to purchase a parking lot for the Civic Center was held. More details of this proposal are available here.

It's a shame this public hearing was held on a work day and snow day for children, when many tax payers were unable to attend the WCC meeting. As a result, the majority of folks who attended and spoke out were not the tax base, but special interests advocating for this outrageous expenditure.

County executive; Rick Pollitt made his case in his favorite Pollitt friendly media venue, The Daily Times Sunday, claiming the money used for the Open Spaces funds are not our tax dollars. "No, it is not. Not unless you bought or sold property in an agriculture district recently." he said. Well Mr. Pollitt, that is not entirely true. At least according to John Cannon. The transfer taxes you speak of that fund the "Open Space" grants go into the general fund before they are reallocated to various grants, so while transfer stamps make up some of the funding, the truth is the funding comes out of the general fund. Bottom line is this is absolutely OUR TAX MONEY.

According to Joe Albero; he met with Rick Pollitt after he won the county executive seat and they discussed the "old mall" parking lot and Rick's desire to acquire it for the Civic Center parking. Rick promised Joe; "I promise you the county will never pay a dime for that property." Joe asked how that was possible. Pollitt responded that the county would barter it for another piece of county owned land or some other option but the "county tax payer" will never pay a dime for it. Pollitt seems to be confused now as to where state grant funding comes from.

Certainly there is a case for needing more parking space at the Civic Center. The question really is at what and whose cost? This issue has been around for years and it is my understanding that the City of Salisbury dithered around with it for so long that they lost the original deal which would have offered the first 5 acres for free. Whether that was a good deal or not, is irrelevant now. The point is this has been a discussion for many years and all other options have seemly been dismissed.

While the majority who spoke out today are having their palms greased by the Civic Center in some way, most fiscal conservatives question over paying for such a property during an economic crisis, for a facility that is a tax drain on the county. Certainly with all the land that the county owns; including the Wicomico County owned stadium across the street, The Wicomico High School down the block, the currently un-utilized space and would-be parking area on the Civic Center's current property, the Shore Birds stadium, the old Bennett grounds, all the property Salisbury University has taken over, I mean acquired, as well as other countless county property expansions, there ARE other alternative, not withstanding fee base parking. Sadly they seem to be ignored.

Instead, we as tax payers, in a state with a 2 billion dollar shortfall, are being forced to take this "free money" from the state, instead of demanding that the state use it to balance their budget. "Use it or loose it" is the mantra. and that my friends is the basis of the problems and our fiscal woes. If local municipalities would just start to refuse state and federal "free" stimulus money we could dig ourselves our of this economic mess but the excuse we keep hearing over and over again is, if "we don't use it somebody else will". Well, my advise to the Council Council is to grow some gonads and start being the example of how to be good stewards of our money or find yourself unelected next election.

The other prevalent argument was "we have to spend money to make money" Oh yea? Borrowed money you mean? That will get you bankrupt pretty quickly. Additionally, you have never made money, why should we trust you now? We heard this same sort of thing from the Obama administration when he pushed for the stimulus funds and continue to raise the debt ceiling. "We need to spend our way out of this economic down turn." is the sentiment. How's that working out for you?

The message I heard from many of the special interests today was "We know what's good for you and you don't", followed by an invitation to meet with them so we could "understand" properly why this broken down structure would finally, after decades, make a profit if only they had a $300,000 plus per acre parking lot. A price tag that most agree is well above market price by probably two-fold. Added to this is; the 1.5 million dollar price tag is only the purchase cost. There is the removal of the current asphalt, the cost of the run off issue, at least another 1.5 million to pave it, then there is the little decorative islands and trees, the lighting, the maintenance and the security that will surely be needed, let a lone crossing guards. Where is this money going to come from? You and I. The claim that putting in this parking space will be a revenue maker is pretty well snuffed out in light of a balance sheet revealing all the costs.

Unfortunately, the tax payer footing this bill didn't have much of a voice today. However, there are plenty of people that oppose it.

A comment on this blog that seems right on to me: "It seems that most governments don't realize that every time they purchase a property not only are they wasting taxpayers money but they are also removing it from the tax base which leaves less revenue for that government for eternity. In reality, most local governments should be selling excess property to generate revenue, not buying more. There must be something in this purchase for Pollitt if you know what I mean."

The president of the Wicomico County Council; Gail Bartkovich, asked the vote be moved to the next meeting at 10am on Tuesday, February 16th. She then asked that citizens please email their opinions to council on this matter via the WCC website. A simple "yes" or "no" would suffice, so please make your opinion known.Or simply email them here: countycouncil@wicomicocounty.org

A suggestion might be that alcohol sales would be a good first step in creating the revenue stream necessary to expand the Civic Centers business model and the affordability to expand.