For the past several years the Salisbury City Council debated over Debbie Campbell being able to use the telephone to conference into Work Sessions while she is on travel with business. The numerous requests were denied.
Now that Councilman Gary Comegys is ill, it seems Gary is able to conference into Work Sessions via e-mail. Now I'm not privy to his actual mental and physical condition but one does have to challenge this in several ways, with all due respect.
It would be one thing to look at your Caller ID in a teleconference call to be able to confirm it is in fact who the person claims to be. It's another to confirm their voice. However, what's to say Mike Dunn, Barrie Tilghman or even Debbie Comegys isn't sending in those e-mail messages for Gary Comegys while these Work Sessions are being conducted.
Now I don't mean to be critical here but fair is fair. If Debbie Campbell was not allowed to use the telephone, Gary Comegys should not be able to use e-mail.
The Salisbury City Council is making multi million dollar decisions and I for one want confirmation that, one, my Councilman is in the proper frame of mind to do his job and two, I want to make darned sure it's him who is at the other end of these multi million dollar decisions.
Don't come back with comments about how sick Gary is and feel sorry for him. I am concerned for his health but as a businessman, business is business and Gary would feel the very same way if he was not in the condition he is in. Since no one else will bring this topic up, I'll take the punches for now but I want these e-mail conferences stopped immediately.
24 comments:
You have made an excellent point , given the past 3 to 2 votes , I would say someone is scared. E-mail is not legal and more importantly is it not ethical.
what is good for the goose is good for the gander. Debbie cant vote or attend a session over the phone neither should Gary or anyone else! If his health is so bad he cant come to a meeting someone else should take his place. Ill bet if Debbie were ill she would be replaced before they knew HOW sick she was.
I have no problem if he participates by e-mail as long as they are read into the record if, as and when received.
Excellent point Joe. I am very concerned about Mr. Comegys frame of mind as well. While it may not be popular to say, Mr. Comegys should step down. He has not been able to attend any meetings and he should do this for the good of the city.
anonymous 11:44, it cannot be proven that Gary was the author, therefore I firmly disagree. Wit the games that have been played in the past, I feel this is completely unacceptable. Just my opinion of course.
Joe:
If there is any doubt, they can call him to check -- BTW, why not just set up a speaker phone in the Council room so he can speak?
C.T.Webster Was not allowed to teleconference either. He came in a wheel chair and air tank. He had just had a heart valve replaced. Tilghmans tribe forbade him from having the priviliage. It depends on which team you are on.
It should either be a telephone or video conference. If one can "attend" while not actually in attendance then all should be able to do the same. If Mr.Comgeys health is that bad or mental status is in question, he should resign his position (even temporarily).
anonymous 12:06, this is why ALL Council Members should be present at ALL meetings. Like I said, what's Gary's frame of mind? The taxpayers should know.
Secondly, they absolutely refused Debbie Campbell using teleconferencing, it's out of the question for Gary.
Actually Joe, you are wrong once again. It is none of our business, as taxpayers, what Gary's state of health is. I'm not a big fan of his, but I respect his right to personal privacy. That right is NOT waived when you become a politician.
anonymous 12:21, you are absolutely wrong. You waive that right once you get into a public position. And don't feed me that I'm not a big fan of his crap. So if he were brain dead, he should still be on council? Oh, that's right, you wouldn't know that because it's private, according to you. The man should respectfully step down but they'll find every possible way around that to keep votes 3-2. I wouldn't wish his condition on any human being but it is what it is. He is not capable of doing his job. In fact, the City chose that after my Wife herniated three disks in her back on the job, she was not capable of performing 100% so they terminated her. How was her condition open for debate, yet Gary's isn't??????
12:21 I agree about patience privacy but as we all know, if this were Terry or Debbie asking to do this via email those three would refuse this request. Why is Gary being given special treatment? This is not right, those three along with the idiots they hang with are trying to pull something over the taxpayers. Nothing should be voted on unless all members are there in person. This sounds like an idea of Barrie's. It stinks.
Does anyone know if there is a provision in the city's charter for proxy voting?
If not, this is ILLEGAL!
If there IS a provision, I would suggest that the public make a big stink about it and have it removed!
Scenario: Three or so Council members are on their way to some meeting, all in the same vehicle and they're all involved in an accident and hospitalized. Cancel the meeting or have them vote on items in proxy?
Any vote should be IN PERSON!
If you're not able to get to your job to do your job then you should not be able to have input on what's happening in your absence!
If you look at some of the drugs used in cancer treatment, they specifically warn you about hindering mental alertness. Regardless....
How is this open Government and how is the missing person contributing when they are not fully engaged? I'll assume that this was the reasoning behind denying participation via teleconferencing in the past.
Just imagine a Councilperson being on life support participating in a session and using a rule of:
2 farts = YES
1 fart = NO
Is this really much different than what's taking place now?
Why are you so worried about Debbie Comegeys making the decisions. Thats who has been making them for the last 10 years.
Too funny, he does not make the decisions, he is like Bill Clinton.
quite simply, joe is right. you have to be impartial and fair. IF they allow comegys to do this, it would be extremely unfair to others. the security of the emails should be in question as well. i like the earlier idea of temporarily stepping down for comegys, but allow comegys to do it 'gracefully' of his 'own' decision.
You morons act as if we're talking about approving launch codes for an ICBM. Get a life.
anonymous 3:58, to many of our viewers, they are. Just because every topic doesn't have your full attention, each and every discussion and vote is vital to many taxpayers. Big or small, they are ALL important. If they weren't, we wouldn't need a Council.
Can you say DISCRIMINATION????? I know a few lawyers that can say it very well.
I think this procedure violates the Open Meetings Law.
"You morons act as if we're talking about approving launch codes for an ICBM. Get a life."
Not at all. That (ICBM launches) may be your personal priority but I expect you do not remember why.
I'll have to agree w/Joe on this. Common sense just tells you voting by email is wrong and unethical since anyone can be typing it and if Debbie Campbell was not permitted to vote by phone, then I'd also say what's good for the goose is good for the gander too. It is obvious they have rigged this so the vote goes how they want it. He needs to step down and let someone else do the job. I wis the man well and hope he can recover. Nothing personal, just the right thing to do. He needs to put the tax payers interests ahead of his own.
This is one of those situations where the law of unexpected consequences rears its head. They should have allowed Debbie to video conference instead of setting a dumb precedent. At some point though, I think they should allow members to video conference in on meetings *IF* there is some situation requiring them to be absent. I would not want someone to video conference into every meeting just because they didn't want to leave their house.
What makes gary an exception? Live by the sword. Must be consistant. Webster and campbell were denied.
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