The $64,000.00 Question Continued

As promised last night, the following is again, the $64,000.00 question and then the answer from States Attorney Davis Ruark.

Mr. Ruark – We all know that you encountered some personal problems during this last term. Why should the voters of Wicomico County be willing to overlook those and re-elect you to a seventh term?

Davis started his response with, “I was wrong”.

Ruark admitted what he’d done that night. He admitted it to his Mother. He admitted it to his Wife and Family. The very next day, a Saturday, he admitted it privately to his Staff and then he admitted it the all of the news media. He asked for forgiveness from God, from his family, from his Staff and from the community. He is grateful for all of the support that He's received. As a result of what occurred, he believes that he is a better State’s Attorney, a better man, a better husband and a better father.

I want to start of by thanking the Wicomico Neighborhood Congress for inviting me to last night's event. It was an honor being invited and I sincerely hope this sends a clear message out to those nay sayers, Salisbury News is the new generation of news and information.

To the few people who mocked me last night after I asked that question, hopefully today you can see why it needed to be asked. WE THE PEOPLE have every right in an open format to get the answer to what is by far the biggest thing on every one's mind referencing this race.

After all, scroll down and look at the rest of the questions we were going to ask. It's clear to me that the ONLY reason Matt and Seth are running is because of a personal flaw in Davis Ruark. NOT because there's anything wrong with the States Attorney's Office. Davis made a horrible mistake. Davis owned that mistake, apologized, asked for forgiveness and over the past 2 years has proven to change his personal life and better the States Attorney's Office through this experience.

Now, will there be people out there who may never forgive him for his actions, perhaps. However, I want ALL of you to think really hard about what I'm about to say. The ONLY reason there should be ANY change in that Office would be based on performance or the lack thereof. Mr. Ruark has been the Wicomico States Attorney for 24 years now. He has not been challenged because his performance has been impeccable. Well, maybe I've gone too far in that statement. However, now that he's made a mistake, others are coming out of the wood shed to challenge him because they feel he's vulnerable. That may be true and Davis Ruark could possibly lose this election because of such a mistake. However, he'd never lose it because he failed to do his job or run his Office properly.

Now, in my honest opinion, Seth did a horrible job last night. You know what Folks. Seth reminds me of that kid always complaining he didn't get his way. Those perky lips, like a pout, shoulda, coulda, woulda. Stomping his feet as Daddy gets out of his Rolls Royce saying, now Seth, you shouldn't have done that, GO TO YOUR ROOM! Pucker, pucker, stomp, stomp! Not my idea of the next States Attorney. My guess (if Seth were to win) is that 75% of the Staff in the States Attorneys Office would search for new jobs immediately. That's a scary thought Folks, especially with crime being so high in Wicomico County. Better keep that in mind when you go to the polls.

Matt did a fabulous job last night. A bit green but seriously coming on strong. Matt doesn't have a primary so we'll save our statements about him for later on. I will say his performance as a young man was quite convincing. In all honesty, however, it's the lack of experience that concerns me as well as others. Look, if I can ask Davis the $64,000.00 question, clearly we need to address the hardest question Matt will face and that's the lack of experience.

There's no question I personally like Matt. I truly do not know Seth as last night was only the second time I've met him face to face. I will add, last night Seth walked up to me and said, "Hi Joe, I'm Seth Mitchell." I replied, I know Seth, we've met before. He looked confused and I said, remember, the NAACP Forum? "Oh yeah, that's right, we spoke about Matt there." That was only a few weeks ago and I find it hard to believe that once you've met Joe Albero face to face that you'd FORGET you ever did so. I hope that doesn't come off wrong Folks but come on now, seriously.

We'll have more on last night later today.