Dear Mayor Ireton

5 years ago I made what I thought was a great investment in Downtown Salisbury. I purchased 300 W. Main Street. Over the past 5 years I have been constantly spending money improving the building. I have remodeled the apartments upstairs, everything brand new. I have improved the main floor and there's not a single person who comes in this building that isn't in awe over the improvements, including the former owners. I bought this building because I didn't want to be one of those people on the outside looking in complaining about Salisbury. I wanted to prove my interest financially and show I could make a difference. In 5 years I have paid almost $40,000.00 in taxes between the City, County and State. Now Mayor, let me ask you a very simply question. Just what am I getting for my $40,000.00/ Let's see, do I have parking spaces for my building, NO. I have to buy permits to park where I spend $8,000.00 a year in taxes. Do I get trash pickup? NO, I have to buy a permit, (out of state, mind you) to get a permit to bring trash to the dump. Do I get snow removal, NO. Do I get weeds removed, NO, I have been told I'll be fined if "I" don't remove the weeds, even those on the curbs in the street in front of my property. Here's what "I" see that I get for my $8,000.00 a year. Tax increases. Water and sewer increases, a $14,000,000.00 fire station, fire trucks, ambulances, millions of dollars dumped into a FREE Zoo, TIF money to developers and the old mall, pipe stem annexations at my expense, the Bricks, dozens of employees beautifying the Downtown Plaza one day a month, the Thursday before 3rd Friday. You see Mr. Ireton, I get treated like a whore and you are my Pimp. If people come visit me and happen to stay 5 minutes longer than they expected, they walk out to their vehicle only to see a ticket from your parking people. While many of you wonder why so many businesses are RUNNING out of Salisbury, just ask them and they'll quickly tell you their customers were sick and tired of the ticket police writing them tickets. The Mayor is making a small fortune off these tickets but what you don't know or hear is that those businesses that are left are getting hammered with tickets and customers are refusing to come back. BUT, if you happen to be a DEMOCRAT or are one of the Good Ol' Boys, (like Brew River) well, the City provides parking spaces for free and are too afraid to write tickets there. Yet they aren't afraid to write tickets to businesses like Market Street Inn. Then there's my 82 year old Mother In Law. She owns a very beautiful and well kept home on Camden Ave. Because crime is through the roof and her Husband passed away not long ago, she has decided, why live the rest of my life dealing with pain in the ass college students polluting in her yard and stealing anything that isn't tied down, she's moving to North Caroline, AT 82 YEARS OLD! You know what Mayor, F-You and even the former administration. She's considering putting her home on the market and guess what, the Realtors say it's not worth anywhere near what it should be worth. Pimp Ireton is now every one's Sugar Daddy and unless you can afford to lose money he couldn't care less about any one of you. So much so, tonight he'll be proposing yet ANOTHER tax increase. As if the parking Nazi's aren't bringing in enough extra cash, he wants more. Let's see my brotha pimp Ireton, it used to cost $1.00 to pay the fine, now it's $10.00. That's a 900% increase and now you have at least TWO people out there writing tickets. Yes, even Police Officers are encouraged to write tickets. As many of you know, many people have asked me to run for Mayor. I didn't want to mention this because I didn't want comments to come in just on that point, so please don't make mention of that. However, I will say, I refuse to buy my Mother In Law's home as I'll be damned if I'm going to spend another dime in the City of Salisbury. I refuse to raise our Grandson in a City the odds of him getting shot and killed in the 4th Most Dangerous City in America. Mr. Mayor, on your last 3rd Friday, someone threw 8 eggs on my building. Come on down Folks and take a look at what locals are capable of. No real police protection. I've had graffiti spray painted all the way up at the top of my building and no one was ever caught. I've had graffiti sprayed on the 1st level of my building, no one ever caught. I've caught people urinating on my building ON CAMERA and have been told, unless the Police see it there's nothing they can do about it. Yeah, I've had just about enough of Salisbury and Mayor Pimp Ireton. I refuse to be his whore any more and if it means we all have to take a loss and sell what we have, (or don't have) in Salisbury, so be it. Between the City Mayor and the County Executive, I've seen just about enough of their liberal BS. I bend over for no one and that's why I'm calling Mayor Ireton a Pimp. I'll pay my taxes one last time but I'm outta here and that's final.