A few months ago, Greg Bassett, Daily Times general manager and executive editor, wrote a piece about how he heard a local businessman bragging about landlords planning to take over the elections this year so they could control the City Council. Salisbury politics is badly known for dirty politics -- and here we go again.
When I ran two years ago, someone made false statements about how Jim Ireton, Debbie Campbell and I would raise rents outrageously.
Of course it wasn't true, but that may have been enough for me to lose by one vote.
Other comments and tactics used against Ireton were so awful, I can't even repeat them. The lies told about Tim Spies four years ago to cost him the election were just terrible.
The president of the Salisbury Area Property Owners Association, a landlords group, compared Mayor Ireton and Councilwomen Campbell and Terry Cohen to Nazis in a letter to a blog. The vice president of SAPOA compared a roomful of homeowners to Viet Cong, saying he would "let" council member talk to his tenants -- as if he owned them.
Misinformation about possible laws and where candidates stand on issues is sent to our most vulnerable people to scare them. Salisbury, just say "no" to all this hate and falseness.
Our city is suffering because of it. Judge candidates by their demonstrated dedication to you, knowledge of the issues, ideas and ability to do the job.
And be sure to vote.
Cynthia Polk
Salisbury
When I ran two years ago, someone made false statements about how Jim Ireton, Debbie Campbell and I would raise rents outrageously.
Of course it wasn't true, but that may have been enough for me to lose by one vote.
Other comments and tactics used against Ireton were so awful, I can't even repeat them. The lies told about Tim Spies four years ago to cost him the election were just terrible.
The president of the Salisbury Area Property Owners Association, a landlords group, compared Mayor Ireton and Councilwomen Campbell and Terry Cohen to Nazis in a letter to a blog. The vice president of SAPOA compared a roomful of homeowners to Viet Cong, saying he would "let" council member talk to his tenants -- as if he owned them.
Misinformation about possible laws and where candidates stand on issues is sent to our most vulnerable people to scare them. Salisbury, just say "no" to all this hate and falseness.
Our city is suffering because of it. Judge candidates by their demonstrated dedication to you, knowledge of the issues, ideas and ability to do the job.
And be sure to vote.
Cynthia Polk
Salisbury
7 comments:
This is a well witten piece..not sure who wrote it thought, but it speaks volumes.
The only message that should be refined is don't vote for anyone who is being funded and supported by anyone from the Slum Lords Association.
Lmao, this piece is horrible. Sapoa isn't to blame for this city's problems. Members of sapoa would replace every council member and the mayor if they could. Anyone who has every owned property in Salisbury knows the city does nothing but raise fees, make up fees, and harrass landlords. if sapoa has so much power over the city then why is Ireton mayor and why is owning rentals in Salisbury harder then ever? It's no secret sapoa doesn't like how the city is ran, do you blame them? Ever time they turn around their is a new fee or 4-2 or safe streets....The city is in the crap whole because of the politicians that run it. Politicians that get voted in with only a fraction of it's city population. Blaming sapoa is a joke. Most of it's members can't vote in city elections and voting is anonymous so stories of forcing tenants to vote in their favor are bogus. Oh course they try and get tenants to vote in their favor but when it comes down to it...is anonymous! And those so called slumlords provide hundreds of jobs, pay millions in taxes, provide affordable housing for our city's poor population, and are deeply invested in our city. Why would they want the city to fail? This city went in the crapper when the business and property owners lost their vote. Stop blaming others for our problems.
And the city is the one who thinks landlords own their tenants. Whose name is on the water/sewer bill that was consumed by the tenant? Whose name is on the fines for the tenant not cutting their grass, not picking up their trash, leaving furniture on the porch, etc? Who gets the bill from the city police for false alarms? The landlord in this town is held responsible for everything their tenants do or don't do...they are in fact treated as the landlords personal property. Walked down church street and you will see people that throw trash in their own yard. And people wonder why...they arent held responsible for anything.
This is interesting. Those things may have been said. But anyone can be defensive when they feel like they are being attacked. What is missing in this opinion is the omission of the constant, inaccurate, negative rhetoric being directed at the rental industry and renters. Elections are won in this city based on hatred perpetuated by the very people Ms. Polk is defending. If certain candidates didn't have SAPOA to blame all of the evils of this city on, then they would have no platform. Don't believe me, just look at their political literature. Isn't it ironic that the people whose platform is based on hatred, cry foul when they are called on it. It is the oldest trick in the book folks. Don't fall for it. Think for yourselves and vote for civility and those who are not threatened by hearing all perspectives.
12:48 PM + 12:58 PM + 1:17 PM = SAPOA
and more than likely the same person.
By the way, thanks for keeping tabs on this election through Joe's Blog!
12:48 and 12:58 were both my comments and I'm not a sapoa member. Not sure why your thanking me for visiting Joes blog. 10:06 + 3:55 = ireton groupies and most likely same person.
The people of Salisbury are sick of this argument. There are far more pressing issues that need to be addressed other than regulating the rental industry. As long as the politicians keep this controversy on the forefront, we all lose, and important stuff like bringing business to the city and developing downtown will be on the back burner.
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