The Salisbury City Council did not reject any deal to provide this service at Wal-Mart North, nor did I give a deadline for noon today for Wal-Mart to produce a signed memorandum of understanding (MOU).
Council was making every effort to accommodate this late-in-the-game request, right up until it was informed this morning that someone at Wal-Mart had decided to go with the Sheriff’s Department. Those efforts included adding the discussion as an emergency item to the Monday work session, even though the Council had no written or verbal confirmation at that point that Wal-Mart was willing to enter into a legal agreement with the City.
The goal was to have an MOU with Wal-Mart on a legal par with the City’s MOU with the Centre at Salisbury, which had been reviewed by the City’s legal counsel and which took into account a number of important requirements for the protection of the City.
The Council did not see the MOU referenced at the work session. Council was not provided a copy of the Wal-Mart agreement. Staff had not reviewed the document and could not confirm to Council if the MOU was the same as the Centre at Salisbury’s or if it had been changed in some way. Council was not given a name as to who signed the agreement, but was told it was signed by a "manager." Council asked if the City knew who Wal-Mart authorizes to sign these agreements, and staff did not know.
Council was ready to move forward pending advice from the City’s legal counsel that the MOU was consistent with the Centre at Salisbury agreement and pending confirmation from Wal-Mart as to who its legal designee would be.
Since there was no mention of the name of who signed the agreement, the accusations by the Mayor in his press release today that Council’s actions were politically motivated against a specific employee of Wal-Mart are baseless and offensive.
14 comments:
Sounds like business as usual around city hall; council leaders(?) sit by shuffling papers, asking opinions by a turtle pace process, avoiding decisions, until all is said and done, the real world has moved on and council takes the Obama approach of blaming everybody else. Bunch of clowns IMHO.
Is anyone else getting sick and tired of Jim Iretons daily press releases and his attacks on Councilwomen Cohen and Campbell??? I am ready to do whatever I can do to get Jim Ireton recalled as Mayor.
I beg to differ...it seems to me that the council is being blamed for something it had no control over, and has been forced to spend valuable time defending itself against these bogus accusations.
Not really sure why this is even being discussed given that Walmart has already entered into an agreement with the County.
When a business has to choose between 2 law enforcement agencies for protection, there are too many law enforcement agencies. Combine them and cut out the unnecessary duplication in overhead. Businesses and citizens should not have to solicit bids for public safety.
As a lifelong resident and taxpayer of Wicomico County - I do not see any need for any security at that location because of its close proximity to the Sheriff's Department on Naylor Mill Road.
It is almost within spitting distance of the Naylor Mill Road Sheriff's Department and the especially with the service road that leads right up to Wal-mart's front door.
That is my humble opinion on the subject.
Recall Ireton NOW. Him and his press releases are absolutely disgusting.
allowing the sheriff's office to work that overtime is absurd!!! it is an extreme slap in the face to the city police officers!! the counsel and mayor should do whatever it takes fix this. they CAN keep the deputies from working within the city if they truly wanted to. Joe... please get on them and make them fix this. city officers have been working this detail for a few years now and counted on this money for the holidays!!!
The stores should pay their own security staff. Why the taxpayers paying the over time.
18 other locations ok'd this without any councils getting involved. salisbury is just plain corrupt.
The stores are billed by the city so actually they do pay for their own security. The council and mayor are like dogs chasing their own tails - going around and around in circles and accomplishing nothing. Everyday a new humilation is brought to Salisbury by the useless council. If 7:17 is correct and 18 other locations were ok'd without council involvement, than why did the council get involved over Walmart. Sorry but I have seen the camdem trio in action for too long now to believe their innocent, it is not my fault, pitch. At one time I thought they were what Salisbury needed but now I have changed my mind. The daily bs from them has now turned to a joke in my opinion.
6:01, if they already had an agreement with the sheriff, does that mean this was just a set up? Smells like it.
Anonymous said...
allowing the sheriff's office to work that overtime is absurd!!! it is an extreme slap in the face to the city police officers!! the counsel and mayor should do whatever it takes fix this. they CAN keep the deputies from working within the city if they truly wanted to. Joe... please get on them and make them fix this. city officers have been working this detail for a few years now and counted on this money for the holidays!!!
November 9, 2011 6:43 PM
This is a very uneducated and poorly constructed sentence. If you want better pay then get the job at the Sheriff's Office if you can. Counted on the money for the holiday's? Quit wasting your money the rest of the year. You should thank the city council for allow you to be exempt from furloughs this year. Get a grip you pity party overtime whore!.
The City Council is doing the right thing. Why do I get the feeling that the minority, ie. Jim And Barrie's camp are on here making the negative comments.
Salisbury taxpayers most certainly shouldn't be paying for crowd control for a business that takes in tons of money all year around. If Walmart can't afford their own security people then I wouldn't even think about going there on Black Friday. I never shop on Black Friday anyway, nothing but a bunch of animals and idiots anyway.
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