There’s no need to recount details of the debacle that last week was for Barack Obama because the mainstream media has lost its rapture over this sorry imitation of a leader and begun to report facts not fiction about him. The military conflict that was his weapon during the campaign is now his nemesis, not to mention his performance in response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
It was likewise a week of woe for Jim Ireton in his role as part-time mayor of Salisbury, beginning with the City Council meeting on Monday, May 24. The members flatly rejected his plea to restore certain items that they had decided to cut from his proposed budget, which they sliced and diced. Items that were cut include substantial pay raises for certain employees. But the battle of the budget was just the opener for the week’s main event.
During the public comment portion of Monday’s meeting, two landlords confronted Ireton, pointing out that he has not responded to attempts by SAPOA to have a working relationship with the City, and instead has attacked with his “Slum Property of the Week” feature on the City’s website. Stu Leer said that many of the citations attributed to his property and tenants are bogus. During the comment by SAPOA’s president she was rudely interrupted by Ireton, whereupon Louise Smith pointedly told him to (in effect) shut up. We reported that episode the next day:
http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2010/05/ireton-loses-self-control-at-salisbury.html
Ireton then launched a massive retaliation against Mr. Leer by posting lists of hundreds of alleged code violations and police calls (and other matters) that Ireton referred to in his press release as “Leer’s violations.” Almost immediately it was pointed out that Ireton’s lists include numerous items that are not pertinent to his claim about Mr. Leer, who has responded with an analysis that largely refutes Ireton’s claim. We covered this sequence of events as they occurred with several posts and also ran posts that pointed out that the City owned property could be cited for numerous code violations:
http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2010/05/iretons-overt-hostility-to-landlords-is_28.html
http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2010/05/mayor-ireton-practice-what-you-preach.html
http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2010/05/stu-leer-responds-to-mayor-ireton.html
http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2010/05/salisburys-next-slum-property-of-week.html
http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2010/05/mayor-says-properties-draining-city.html
http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2010/05/iretons-overt-hostility-to-landlords-is.html
And we have urged Ireton to at least meet and discuss matters with landlords, as has former City Council member Bob Caldwell. We posted his letter offering advice to Mr. Ireton:
http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2010/05/mayor-ireton-now-hear-this.html
And other matters occurred to beset Ireton. As soon as the budget had been passed, the fire department announced a major administrative shake-up in staffing and crew assignments as a result of having to furlough personnel. This move, which may be modified, together with Ireton’s failure to select a permanent fire chief, continues to devastate morale among fire personnel. We will be following this rapidly deteriorating situation:
http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2010/05/sfd-shift-changes.html
After the Council adopted the budget, Ireton again asked for various items to be added, and his request was flatly rejected by the Council, as we reported:
http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2010/05/council-rejects-iretons-requests-to.html
At a neighborhood meeting on Thursday, Ireton refused to answer questions by SBYnews, and that may have been his biggest mistake since taking office last year:
http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2010/05/mayor-ireton-meets-with-camden.html
Since becoming Salisbury’s mayor Mr. Ireton has managed to create or compound a growing number of concerns and problems. That and his attitude when questioned or criticized, which is much the same as that of Barrie Tilghman, is making many folks wonder if they made a major mistake in the last City election.
It was likewise a week of woe for Jim Ireton in his role as part-time mayor of Salisbury, beginning with the City Council meeting on Monday, May 24. The members flatly rejected his plea to restore certain items that they had decided to cut from his proposed budget, which they sliced and diced. Items that were cut include substantial pay raises for certain employees. But the battle of the budget was just the opener for the week’s main event.
During the public comment portion of Monday’s meeting, two landlords confronted Ireton, pointing out that he has not responded to attempts by SAPOA to have a working relationship with the City, and instead has attacked with his “Slum Property of the Week” feature on the City’s website. Stu Leer said that many of the citations attributed to his property and tenants are bogus. During the comment by SAPOA’s president she was rudely interrupted by Ireton, whereupon Louise Smith pointedly told him to (in effect) shut up. We reported that episode the next day:
http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2010/05/ireton-loses-self-control-at-salisbury.html
Ireton then launched a massive retaliation against Mr. Leer by posting lists of hundreds of alleged code violations and police calls (and other matters) that Ireton referred to in his press release as “Leer’s violations.” Almost immediately it was pointed out that Ireton’s lists include numerous items that are not pertinent to his claim about Mr. Leer, who has responded with an analysis that largely refutes Ireton’s claim. We covered this sequence of events as they occurred with several posts and also ran posts that pointed out that the City owned property could be cited for numerous code violations:
http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2010/05/iretons-overt-hostility-to-landlords-is_28.html
http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2010/05/mayor-ireton-practice-what-you-preach.html
http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2010/05/stu-leer-responds-to-mayor-ireton.html
http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2010/05/salisburys-next-slum-property-of-week.html
http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2010/05/mayor-says-properties-draining-city.html
http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2010/05/iretons-overt-hostility-to-landlords-is.html
And we have urged Ireton to at least meet and discuss matters with landlords, as has former City Council member Bob Caldwell. We posted his letter offering advice to Mr. Ireton:
http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2010/05/mayor-ireton-now-hear-this.html
And other matters occurred to beset Ireton. As soon as the budget had been passed, the fire department announced a major administrative shake-up in staffing and crew assignments as a result of having to furlough personnel. This move, which may be modified, together with Ireton’s failure to select a permanent fire chief, continues to devastate morale among fire personnel. We will be following this rapidly deteriorating situation:
http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2010/05/sfd-shift-changes.html
After the Council adopted the budget, Ireton again asked for various items to be added, and his request was flatly rejected by the Council, as we reported:
http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2010/05/council-rejects-iretons-requests-to.html
At a neighborhood meeting on Thursday, Ireton refused to answer questions by SBYnews, and that may have been his biggest mistake since taking office last year:
http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2010/05/mayor-ireton-meets-with-camden.html
Since becoming Salisbury’s mayor Mr. Ireton has managed to create or compound a growing number of concerns and problems. That and his attitude when questioned or criticized, which is much the same as that of Barrie Tilghman, is making many folks wonder if they made a major mistake in the last City election.
14 comments:
He said he might veto the budget that the Council passed last week -- have you heard what happened?
Jim-beau has got to GO!
Joe:
It's really hopeless:
Obama - O'Malley - Pollitt - Ireton
Thank you for going where the Daily Times can't or won't.
PS -- I did see a good piece by Elizabeth Harrington last week on WBOC about the Leer-Ireton dispute.
anonymous 11:14, of course you saw something on WBOC about it. They sit back and watch what's HOT on Salisbury News and then do their own report on it. Just look at our news for the day, then the comments and the next thing you know you'll see ALL of those same stories on the 6:00 news that evening or the next day.
I saw the rerun of the Council meeting on PAC 14 where Ireton could not keep his mouth shut when Ms. Adams was speaking and Louise Smith had to and did muzzle him.
He really needs help (but is it "on the way"?).
Joe:
That piece on "BOC" was good because it had live statements by Stu Leer that directly challenged Ireton's smear campaign against him. Maybe you could do an interview with him and Ireton on your news program
11:12-
Spot on!
Those bozos are all tax & spend liberal Democrats.
We can get rid of two of them in the election this fall.
This is why we need SBYnews now more than ever.
So Ireton is not the boy wonder many here thought he was???..just a boy, really . Immature and hot headed.
Things are just as bad with his part time teaching gig. Word is that he will be "involuntarily" transfered to Glen Avenue next year. No one gets moved this way without cause. They'll spin it but it is what it is. This dude has two wrong careers.
Jim Ireton's behavior as mayor is yet another example of "Be careful what you wish for." I wonder how many are now longing for a return of Barrie Tilghman. By the way, when you described Ireton as Salisbury's "part-time mayor," I inferred this to be a slight. The mayor's office, I believe, was never designed to be full-time; certainly the salary suggests that. Mayor Tilghman devoted herself virtually full-time to the job, but this was her choice. Yes, I voted for Mr. Ireton and am now beginning to rue that vote.
I voted for Ireton and am still glad that he is Mayor rather than Tilghman. He should stop letting SAPOA and Tilghman's cronies take him off focus with silly defensive moves like his stuff on Leer. back int eh day he wold have researched more carefully rather than be baited into a knee-jerk reaction. I am sure that they were rooting for him to veto the budget so that Louise could protest loudly to the raises for the chosen few in public yet still get more money for some of her buds. That's the only reason that I can think of for some of her bizzare budgetary choices like not funding regular hours for SPD and paying overtime instead.
Jim Ireton is the mayoral version of Obama. May be they both shoud go to Rehoboth.....and become self-occupied.
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