I am sick at home watching PAC 14. I'm told Public Works have packed the room. Let's see where it goes tonight. I'll keep updating this Post so simply refresh every few minutes and I'll keep you updated.
WHERE'S JIM IRETON AND LAURA MITCHEL?
The Rivers Edge project is up for discussion. Developer is asking for a letter of support and financing support.
This project will cost around $16.5 million. $12.5 million will come from loans. The low rents will last for 40 years. $300.00 to $900.00 a month in rent. $16,000.00 to $45,000.00 a year in personal income qualifies applicants to live there.
Councilwoman Shields asked in a work session that this project cater more towards her constituents in that community.The developer agrees to work harder at making her proposal work.
Kate Gibson is now speaking. She's very concerned about Downtown. This is a low income subsidized housing project and she doesn't believe Salisbury needs more. Clearly she's not supportive of more affordable housing. She's very concerned and feels it will effect the Downtown. She's concerned about the people that will be moving in.How long before its torn apart, how long will it take for crime to go up.
Ben is now speaking. He's calling it an artist colony and he supports it. He sees two strong points of progress. The ability to have responsible affordable housing shows Salisbury isn'tjust a stop on Rt. 50 and Rt. 13. He supports the responsible growth. He's thanking the Council for their support.
Shanie Shields is expressing how upset she was that this project had changed. However, she's willing to work with the developer. She believes it will enhance the marina. She looks forward to working with the developer when this comes to "fruitation" and "idears".
Mrs. Campbell is expressing how excited she is about this project. She believes it will be a destination for the arts district. Mr. Spies sees this project as not only an area for artist to live affordably, this allows artists to expand on their artistic abilities. Great opportunity for children as well.
Art doesn't know color, age or gender, said Council President Terry Cohen.
Council is discussing West Nile Virus and mosquito's and asking to increase the budget by $40,000.00 above and beyond the current $20,000.00 already set in their budget. They are asking that each resident please police your yards and clear it of any standing water, including clearing your gutters.
Council is taking a 10 minute recess and will return to discuss the $650,000.00 increase for Salisbury Police Department.
While they are on this break, do ANY of you realize or notice just how smooth this meeting is going? I wanted to start this sentence by saying, "I don't want to be critical" because as all of you know, I plan on running for Mayor. However, while I'm Blogging I must do my job. That being said, without Ireton and Mitchell, the meeting is going extremely well and without ANY outbursts, grandstanding or interruptions. My point is, I SEE WHERE THE PROBLEMS LIE, DO YOU?
Council is back. Mayor Ireton is at a PTA Meeting tonight. Looks like he's trying to settle back in to his Teaching job, smart move.
Chief Duncan is now speaking. 92 sworn, 32 civilians and serving 30,300. Handled 51,000 calls for service. Compared to Annapolis and Dover, they have 116 sworn officers. Dover has 93 sworn Officers. Comparing per officer, our officers handled over 1,200 calls. In other words, per capita, Salisbury is extremely understaffed and overwhelmed.
Quality is strained just based on work load, according to Maciarello. To be a true community policing agency we need to spend 45 to 50% of our time in the community. Reality, we spend about 20%. Chief Duncan just corrected the actual numbers misquoted in the work session last week. We have officers actively seeking employment elsewhere and that total is 13 people looking for jobs elsewhere.
Salary issues, $36,4 starting. $42,700 on OC. MSP base is $40,000.00. Fruitland is $36,500.00 starting.
I disagree with Duncan giving raises to 60 Police Officers. I can see bringing starting salaries up to where it needs to be to compete but to give EVERY ONE raises is just flat out wrong. The point is to help bring in EXPERIENCED Officers. I support giving the Police what had been promised to them year ago but above and beyond is not right. This seems to be an almost bribe to keep what they have.
Matt Maciarello is expressing his concerns and he's right, Salisbury needs more Officers.However, Salisbury needs more EXPERIENCED Officers and again it it my personal belief the funding they are discussing should be planned much better. what I mean by that is, again, they should NOT be paying 60 Officers additional money. They should fulfill their promise years ago and what's left over needs to go to new, experienced Officers.
Public Works is now grandstanding and asking for a pay increase as well. They are claiming they are losing employees as well. 65% of public works employees have a second job, according to this citizen. They are asking the City to table this and reconsider public works as well.
Public Works is actually starting to make sense. One employee just said they wished they had a leader like Chief Duncan to stand up and support their department.
"ALL City Employees are doing more for less".
YOU'VE DONE A GREAT JOB MAYOR IRETON!!!!! This should be a major embarrassment to the Mayor.
Howard Landon is now speaking. Treat everybody fair. $591.00 every two weeks, he's holding a paycheck from a man who rides the back of a garbage truck. Can YOU survive on that? This is a slap in the face to the rest of the City Employees.
$646,000.00 is what the Police need. Compounded to the balance of this year they need, $447,607.44 for 16 more pay periods. Dispatchers are NOT included.
Council moved forward on first reading. John Pick asked them to table it so the Mayor could have the opportunity to discuss the figures and the Council MAJORITY said, NO. For what it's worth, at this point its none of the Mayors business. He dropped the ball on this as well as the formerMayor Tilghman by ignoring the Police for at least 8 years.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
25 comments:
I will never go dowtown
Who the heck was that "preacher" from Public Works asking for more money???? And referencing Obama???
Give me a break.
I will go down, but not Downtown.
Joe, why don't people value the employees that pick up their trash, literally work in their poop, provide safe drinking water, etc?
You get what you elect.
Jim Beau = No Show
And Laura Mitchell, too!
Why paid more to the city employees that pick up your trash, they have that position as of their education in school. Most of them or drop outs and should have stay in school, they would have gotten a better job placement. As for someone saying they got $591.00 every two weeks, I could make it work for me, were as that's about the same as I get from my Social Security check now.
Thanks for the good commentary on the meeting....I did not get to watch it. Residents of Salisbury have a clear choice as does the rest of the country as to which direction they want to go. Support your local police...they are the ones that really have your back. Just my opinion...thanks Joe for all you do.
Great job Harry Howard White!!!
You hit a home run tonight.
The City's Public works employees should be proud to have someone like you to represent them. RP
Salisbury cops got your back:
But remember when seconds count the cops are minutes away!
Anonymous 10:02
Think about what you just said next time you go get yourself a shower or flush your toilet or get up in the middle of the night in a blizzard to get a drink of water; if it wasn't for those "state certified morons" you'd be out in the cold asshole!
10:02 you sound real educated yourself! By the way - all City employees are required to have a HS diploma or GED...even your trash man. Those guys, along with the guys that work on sewer lines have hard, manual labor on a daily basis and deserve some respect from the citizens of the City. They probably could make more sitting at home collecting unemployment but they are working. I wish people understood Public Works is keeping you safe just like police & fire...they are in during storms, they keep sewers going, they keep drinking water safe and clean. More people use Public Works than any other dept...I believe they deserve equal treatment!!!!
LOOK, enough is enough. Tonight was NOT your night, accept that. Tonight was about the Police Department. Promisses were made and reniged upon by FORMER City Council Members.
While I agree too much was given up to the SPD up front, it is an investment and I do NOT blame the Council. Would I have done it differently, yes. But I accept what they did and when elected I will make it work.
REMEMBER everything I have been saying, all for one and one for all. ALL get raises or NO ONE gets raises.
If elected I promise you, I will find a way to compensate ALL of you. To be completely honest, I'm glad this happened uner Jim's watch and not mine because I would have done it different.
That being said, there's a LOT more to what's going on that 99.9% of you don't realize. We're working hard to make things right and you just have to accept the baby steps before leadership changes.
Please, sit tight and know some of us have your backs and you will not be ignored. Grandstanding right now will not serve you well.
Do NOT give Ireton a reason to let you go. Your important to me, ALL of you. Come to my Office and lets talk. I am a man of my word and even if I have to give up my own salary to make things happen, I WILL.
Don't just take my word, come see me face to face and look into my eyes. You will instantly see your talking to a straight shooter who values his word. No BS! It's time we finally turn things around without any more excuses.
Get Public Works vote and you'll win Mayor job hand's down Joe.
anonymous 10:59, the people of public works know me, for the most part. They know where I stand, including the fact I do not accept their current leadership. I'm a straight shooter and I BS no one. It is what it is and I understand some people are scares poopless that there's a very strong chance I'm going to get elected.
That being said, either people will instantly change their ways or they will be gone, period.
I have proven in the past, if I have to go out there and do the job myself, I WILL. Just look at what I did with the Salvation Army when the warden pulled all of the work release people from ringing the bell. Screw them, I rang them on my own.
You LEAD by example, not behind a desk. I want to be that Mayor each one of you say, this guy means business. This guy will get his hands dirty. This guy has our back. Show me another Mayor that would be willing to work with you side by side? I'm the real deal and IF the press gets a picture of me filthy dirty, I'll love it. NOT that I'm at all interested in any press, believe me.
We're going to sweat together and in the end sit back years from now and laugh about our experiences together. More importantly we're going to understand each other because the Mayor should NEVER forget where he/she came from.
Yeah Mr. Ireton, the heat is on.
I know Jim Ireton has laid down the law on public works employees. The word is that if they are seen with me they will lose their job. You lose your job between now and my election, I'll hire you back. I'll close with this. IF only Jim Ireton knew how many public works employees wear my tee shirts on weekends.
So Joe, raises for everyone? What if some positions are already well compensated? Do you recognize the difference between salaries that have been set wrong to start with and raises? Maybe I misunderstood your comment.
anonymous 11:34, you did misunderstand me.
Look at the original Post. I clearly state that ALL 60 Officers, (for example) don't need raises. That is of course my opinion.
The Sheriff's Department and MSO don't have LEOPS, so the Chief needs to stop selling snake oil to the citizens. Those who are VESTED aren't going anywhere, unless her leadership sucks.
Don't take everything at face value. There's much more to this than most know.
Should top paid long term employees be a part of these increases, NO. If they don't like it, retire.
I'm not a stupid man. We will come to find out where the dead weight is and we'll do everything possible top revitalize morale and make the necessary changes, yet we will NOT forget who got us to where we're at today.
I want to retain as many as possible to make Salisbury proud again. I need your votes, I need your support and TOGETHER we'll make Salisburty a place we can ALL be proud of.
Come on now, think hard about what I've been telling every one. It's not my election to lose, it's the citizens' election to lose.
The city water tastes like pool water and most streets are unsafe to walk down after dark. I'm so glad i moved away from Salisbury when i did.
They all want part of that $2,000,000 they found.
How the hell do you lose 2 mil. bucks.
I guess the same way they lost the $400,000.
Got some good people running this city. NOT
Joe:
Your warning to PWD employees is wrong - "Grandstanding right now will not serve you well."
Look what has happened with no public complaint about pay - nothing - while the SPD gets more because the department head, Ms. Duncan, does grandstanding in public while Theresa Gardner is AWOL.
Ireton and Gardener have used the employees in public works. That was clear enough last night. Cohen, Campbell, Spies and Shields had to fight tooth and nail just to get $250 bonuses and work boots for those employees. Ireton and Mitchell wanted the money to go to the Mayor's office or better yet, to spend it on something else. Those employees have been played. They all know that they could have easily gone and talked to any of those council members instead of that ugly display last night. Instead they chose to go and mix the isue of proper funding for public safety with raises. Anyone who has been paying attention kows that the pay at SPD has plenty to do with people leaving that department. I learned something new last night: it costs roughly $78,000 to recruit and train a new officer. Multiply that by the ones that have left or the vacancies created by retirement that had to be filled with new recruits because experienced officers won't take a pay cut to come to Salisbury. To continue to do that is stupidity. I understand why city employees are upset. The Mayor was hiding over $2 milion while furloughing them, but don't forget, the Mayor was hiding that information from the council and the public too. In fact, at budget time the Mayor only asked raises for a few select employees (mostly in HIS office). It was HIS job and the job of your department head to justify and advocate for a change in pay scale if there is a problem.
If it hadn't been for Campbell we still wouldn't know. So, the employees should be thanking her. Her record in office shows that she will work hard to treat everyone fairly, both the employees and the taxpayers.
Ireton and Gardener both need to go. I will be that some of the turnover in PW is from Gardener's poor leadership an bad temper. She hates Campbell and is unemployable if Ireton is gone, so I wouldn't be surprised if she works extra hard to paint an untrue picture of his political foes.
7:35, I agree with you. My wife and I live on a fixed income and know what it must be like for these employees, but last night was an embarrassing circus for those employees. One said they didn't begrudge the police anything, but they turned out in the bright shirts we taxpayers paid for to take attention away from the seriousness of the police situation. A mayor and department head that would allow that need to go.
Tighlman's administration also misplaced several million dollars about eight years ago and once again, it was Debbie Campbell that found it!
Thank's to Campbell, Cohen and Spies for their excellent leadership! They are all good stewards of our city.
7:35 those work boots were a mirage. Theresa Gardner STILL has not allowed workers to get those boots!!!
Joe, promises were also made to public works by Tilghman as well. The year she gave the police a 12% across the board raise she said PW would get theirs "next year" and it never happened.
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