It’s all over. After a long, exhausting process, the city of Salisbury has adopted its FY 2012 budget. By a 4 – 1 vote, the council overrode Mayor Jim Ireton’s veto. No one is blooded. Feelings are (hopefully) intact. The mayor’s response to today’s vote:
“They have exercised their rights; and I have exercised mine.”
This is just as it should be. The mayor presented a budget. The council made changes and adopted the budget. Ireton didn’t like those changes; vetoed the budget; and put forward a spirited defense of his actions. The council was able to muster the votes to override the veto.
Kudos to the mayor, his staff, and to the council for doing a tough job. The other night when we were doing our (technically handicapped) live blog event, someone commented that the budget debate was like watching paint dry. It is. Try doing that day in, day out for 6 weeks. That is what the council had to endure. The mayor and his staff were at it a tad longer.
While Ireton’s rhetoric was a bit heated yesterday, I think that the only player in this little drama that deserves severe chastisement is councilwoman Shanie Shields. She broke her word and voted against the budget. Needless to say, she was the sole vote against the override today. While speculation ran rampant after Ireton’s morning radio interview with WICO’s Bill Reddish, councilwoman Laura Mitchell kept her word and stayed the course; voting for the budget and the override. Council members Terry Cohen, Debbie Campbell, and Tim Spies have been rocks throughout this process.
All parties deserve thanks from the voters of Salisbury. It was a difficult process and will have to be repeated again, beginning 10 months from now.
15 comments:
Hoe bout an apology to Mitchell for the eailier post based on pure speculation. While you're at it apologize for the threats.
The campaign for redistricting began yesterday.
Strongly disagree on Ireton, who once again has deliberately smeared Ms. Campbell and Ms. Cohen in public. He's a sore loser that needs to change or leave office.
Kudos to the fab four. Hiss-boo to Shanie
4:42, I agree. Ireton does deserve "chastisement" and more. He more than exercised his rights. He behaved like a bullying pig, a tantrum thrower and he threw a PR bash at taxpayer expense.
The real Jim Ireton has come forward, and it is ugly!
"While Ireton’s rhetoric was a bit heated yesterday"
O come off it, G.A., what you described yesterday and today was not "a bit heated."
Ireton accused Campbell and Cohen of DELIBERATELY acting against transparency, and a host of other things. Those two have done tons for the neighborhoods over the years. I am thoroughly disgusted by Ireton and his accusations.
How did Shanie wind up doing a complete reversal? Who got to her and how? Who was the black woman who spoke at the budget hearing who said the mayor's budget was just fine? Shanie said the same thing. What is their connection?
Unlike Ireton I am not making accusations, just saying how it looks to me.
GA...grasshopper...I think it's safe to say that Campbell and Cohen were were battered and bruised at the hands of the mayor during his press release; this is not "just as it should be". The Mayor lied about the their public service records, suggested that they were excluding people from the process, accused them of "micromanaging" when they were simply doing their jobs, I won't bother to give all of the examples that were in his speech... I think he could be brought up on ethics charges for naming his boss, the head of the boe.
Ireton has turned out to be a complete stooge.
Jimmy boy? Didn't you learn as a child that you just can't have everything that you want?
You still act like a child so maybe there's still time, but not on the taxpayer's dime Bozo!
Shanie got schooled on her vote from Gary and Louweasal. She's never had a mind of her own and now this proves it.
Can I ask a stupid question?
If Ireton wanted the council to give people a break on sewer rates by using surplus, how come he didn't just budget that?
While the departments work short handed due to Ireton's furloughs, he makes public works employees go out and tidy up Onley Road intersection, just for him. If your water main was broken, to bad, so sad, Ireton needed these people to set up a tent, podium and chairs for his dog and pony show. So much for his concern for employees and citizens. His only concern is that they do his bidding. Just like his predecessor.
That black woman speaking at the budget session was Mary Ashanti, President of the local NAACP. She and Shanie don't care if the lowest paid get furloughed either as long as they get what they want.
The veto has his thong all in a bunch I bet.
Gotta give Debbie Campbell and Terry Cohen a lot of credit. They would of been within full rights to lash out at that bozo mayor.
But class acts they are, they didn't say anything in anger at him.
Sure he was gracious -- in the end. But 'till then, he was his usual ridiculous parading immature self.
He had a semi snit on a WBOC interview last night about the matter.
He told citizens of Canal Woods and the Church St. area not to complain to him, to complain to the council. Another stab at the council.
He's definately not setting a good foundation with this council either.
Thanks to Laura Mitchell, Tim Spies, C & C for making a good decision.
Let's take a look further down the road to spring 2013. Ireton is campaigning for re-election. He can not control Campbell, who is also up for reelection in 2013, if she runs again. In his unstable mentally challenged way of thinking, if he abuses her publicly she will go away, like a battered spouse they move on, eventually. Therefore, we can expect continued beatings from the boy mayor until he is unseated.
Then there is Cohen, who has far more integrity than the boy mayor, who can't be bought and paid for by the same outside interests the mayor is playing up to. The boy mayor fears Cohen will run for mayor. Should she take that leap, he knows, he can not defeat her. Her record speaks for itself. On the other hand, Ireton's record is screaming to all within hearing distance and much further. Rather than worry about what might happen in 2013 the boy mayor should be worrying about what is going on right now. Stop blaming the council for everything he and his staff continue to screw up. Stop making excuses for all the screw ups and take responsibility.
The boy mayor is through, over, done. He has proven himself, over and over, we have had enough.
I'll never vote or promote for Ireton again and he can stick his signs where the sun don't shine.
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