Good News From Tuesday’s Council Work Session

Holding a press conference is something I rarely do, but Tuesday’s great work by four
members of your Salisbury City Council truly warrants that I do so, in addition to the encouragement I have received to provide more of this kind of information directly to the public.

Therefore, I would like to provide some detail on the following issues discussed at our September 4th meeting:
1. Critically needed support for public safety through increasing police and
dispatcher salaries
2. Council’s support for the innovative change to the proposed River’s Edge project
3. A line of attack on the derelict Thrift Travel Inn property
4. Information about what is being returned to surplus from our 2012 fiscal year
5. Forward movement by the City Park Committee on its donation policy

First, politics were set aside as the Council stood with Mayor Ireton, Police Chief Barbara Duncan and Wicomico County State’s Attorney Matt Maciarello to support the backbone of our crime reduction progress – our patrol and detective police officers. Because of the outstanding job our police force has done in bringing down our serious crime numbers , few are aware of how we, as a City, stand at the brink of losing that progress and possibly much, much more.

Without retaining our seasoned officers, without taking care of the newer officers we
have already brought on board, the potential costs to the City in hard dollars, lost
business, lost court cases and lost lives are not costs we can afford to bear. The quiet dedication of our Salisbury Police Department cannot be taken for granted one minute more.

Your Council not only supported moving forward to legislative session the Mayor and
Chief’s request for a $400,000 budget amendment, it unanimously agreed to a higher
figure that will provide longer-term security to the goal of retention and recruitment of experienced officers. It will also increase salaries for our often overlooked dispatchers, unfreeze a frozen dispatcher position and aid in the retention of these people who form your first line of protection and safety.

Ladies and Gentlemen, not only can we as a City afford to do this, we as a Community
can’t afford not to do it. The band-aid approach historically taken will put public safety at risk.

Council scheduled first reading of this budget amendment for legislative vote at our
meeting this Monday night, September 10th.

The Council thanks Chief Duncan and State’s Attorney Matt Maciarello for talking with
the Council, as well as Mayor Ireton for advancing a budget amendment that addresses
this critical issue. Colonel Ivan Barkley, Major David Meinschein and Deputy State’s
Attorney Ella Disharoon receive your Council’s appreciation as well for taking time to ensure Council members understood what this budget amendment will mean to your
safety and to the men and women who are dedicated “to serve and to protect.” Last but
not least, this Council President thanks Council Vice President Debbie Campbell for her urgent request that I place the issue on this Council work session agenda.

Second, the River’s Edge project came back to Council in an inspiring form that
Councilman Tim Spies correctly described as a “catalyst” for our Downtown. Osprey
Property Company’s Executive Vice President Brian Lopez presented a development
plan that provides for 90 to 106 units of living and studio space geared toward artist residents, including those with disabilities, who earn 60% or less of median income.

This plan brings a successful model used in many cities across the country to drive
economic development while providing a path to economic self-sufficiency and
opportunity for low-income citizens. It specifically leverages this river location and the proximity to the Downtown Arts and Entertainment Distict in a way that is not only a benefit to its residents, but also to the adjacent neighborhood and the city as a whole.

This is something special that Salisbury doesn’t have. Indeed, to the best of my
knowledge, it’s something that the Eastern Shore doesn’t have. By nurturing our
immense home-grown talent while filling other needs, our community can prosper from a
creative economic engine that will drive Salisbury and our Downtown to be a soughtafter destination.

Mr. Lopez provided a clear explanation of the program and its technical requirements of the City. Additional information provided by Mike Dyer and Dr. José Balea of the
Epilepsy Association of the Eastern Shore, partners in this proposed project, showed this is an obvious win-win-win for our City, for our Downtown and for our citizens.

To them, we express our appreciation for their time, effort, ideas and input. The Council even engaged in a bit of its own creative brainstorming on how to further include the community’s participation, with Councilwoman Shields stimulating that discussion.

The Council looks forward to voting on a resolution of support for the River’s Edge
project this Monday night.

Third, the public needs to be aware of the circumstances surrounding the blighted Thrift Travel Inn. The Mayor has requested an additional $55,000 in funds to demolish it.

However, the demolition of the Thrift Travel Inn cannot be accomplished at this time because the property is currently being auctioned online and a legal notification process from the City is not likely to finish until October 20.

Therefore, your Council decided that this timing issue offers a perfect opportunity for a renewed call to action to the Mayor and our community to hold owners of blighted properties responsible for their impact on our city. We directed City Attorney Mark Tilghman to contact Thrift Travel Inn’s owner – United Central Bank of Garland, TX – and make our expectation known that if the property does not sell at auction, it is the bank’s responsibility to demolish it at the bank’s own expense and to do so swiftly.

This way, taxpayer funds will not be prematurely committed to take care of a problem
that is another party’s duty to resolve. It has been reported very recently that, in Dover, M&T Bank demolished four derelict houses at its own expense, saving Dover
approximately $60,000.

Salisbury is no less deserving. While the City can place liens on the property if it
performs the demolition, the City already has a list of properties with liens that are not moving at tax sale, so who knows when or if the taxpayers would see that money return.

As soon as information comes back from the city attorney and the auction outcome is
learned, we will all know better what is likely to be the fate of the Thrift Travel Inn. In the meantime, please know that your Council is making every effort to not put another bank bail-out on your back, whether temporary or permanent.

Fourth, thanks to the incredible work of Acting Internal Services Director Gerri Moore and her staff, your Council learned at the work session through Ms. Moore and her August 23, 2012 memo that money is returning to surplus for Fiscal Year 2012. Based on unaudited figures:
• Over $2 million will return to the General Fund surplus;
• Over $1.2 million will return to the Water and Sewer Funds, aided by the
Wastewater Treatment Plant lawsuit proceeds;
• Over $55,000 will return to the Parking Authority; and
• For the first time in many years, the Marina Fund will realize a surplus of nearly
$6,000.

When Council Vice President Debbie Campbell once again pursued the answer to this
vital question about the surplus on August 27, few of us realized that the news would be this happy. Again, these numbers are preliminary and must be confirmed through the audit, but this is outstanding news for our City and for our taxpayers. Every City employee is to be commended for their contribution to this outcome.

Fifth, the City Park Committee – a determined advisory group of volunteers still suffering a 3-member shortage – has advanced a donation policy for trees, plants, benches and other amenities to improve our jewel of a park for your enjoyment, which offsets costs to our taxpayers. The Council asked the City Attorney to review the policy, and we hope to Committee members, to former member Susan Hughes and to City Adminstrator John Pick for making this possible.

These successes come on top of others this Council has achieved in its 16-plus months of working together. Among these issues are:
1. working with the Mayor and legal counsel to obtain the most beneficial monetary
outcomes possible on the Wastewater Treatment Plant litigations;
2. holding off tax hikes during recessionary times, while still providing funding
levels for the core services you require;
3. moving forward tenant protections through a lease addendum; and
4. getting to “yes” on a plan for the Onley/Bateman/South Division St. intersection,
with construction now nearly complete, that provides greater safety, at less cost
than originally proposed.

The list is actually quite long, so I’ll stop there in the interest of time.

To achieve successes like these, it sometimes it takes longer than any of us would have liked, but they would not have been possible – or would have been less effective and/or more costly, or both – had it not been for Council members’ time invested in looking for a better way to accomplish the goal. Other times, we must take swift and decisive action, even if the process or outcome is less than ideal.

The media can help the public to understand this and to also have realistic expectations about the length of time it takes to bring an initiative to completion or to ensure that legislation results in a truly good law. Even seemingly simple projects can have complex consequences that need to be considered, or a major issue may need to be resolved quickly. When the media helps the public understand this with facts, rather than focusing on political drama, it serves our citizens well and reduces their individual and collective stress.

Salisbury doesn’t have to settle for less. It is a community deserving of quality
development, respect for its residents and workers, preservation of its natural and historic assets and positive media attention.

In its first 15 months, your City Council held 136 meetings to work diligently through so many diverse issues. Therefore, I would like to thank City Clerk Kim Nichols and Assistant City Clerk Diane Nelson for their incredible support of the Council and their efforts on behalf of our citizens every single day.

And to my fellow Council members who stuck it out for nearly eight full hours on
Tuesday with a few breaks, but no dinner break – Debbie Campbell, Shanie Shields and
Tim Spies – thank you. It was an honor and a pleasure to work with you through
approximately a dozen topics, during which your diligence paid off for our citizens and captured the meaning of “leadership.”