Anonymous said...
Dunn has made a living out of being devious, starting with Sassafras Meadows, where his name was on the deed of a parcel outside of town for "convenience's sake" (sounds like Hillary, doesn't it?) just before his hand picked "Dream Team" Barrie Tilghman council voted to annex it. Dunn made, according to him, "millions" on the deal with the developer to get a slice of all development profits on the site.
Next, the Old Mall development scheme, where over 750 housing units were to be inserted into those two lots, violating zoning codes and forcing the neighborhood residents to accept radical changes in density and all the headaches that come with it. The proposal used a tax credit for the developers, wherein no city property taxes that pay for roads, lights, sewer and water, would be collected from them for about 30 years. Dunn and the Baltimore County developers were very, very chummy over this proposed project. In the end, the court prevented the whole thing, based on what the judge saw as an illegal switcheroo that was being perpetrated by Dunn, Tilghman, Comegys and their tools on council, the same people who brought you the failed wastewater treatment plant. Thank a group of concerned citizens for bringing the issue before the court to determine its legality.
The city attorney at the time, Paul Wilber (yes, that Paul Wilber), was responsible for writing and reviewing the proposal documents for the housing project, just as he was the wastewater treatment plant contracts, which, curiously, had a one million dollar liability clause for the builders of the $70 million project, the project that failed from day one and will cost city taxpayers over $170,000,000 in the end, if there ever is an end.
Dunn moved from a cozy home across from SU on College Avenue immediately after his council term to a half million dollar house in Tony Tank, an enclave for some of the area's wealthy just outside city lines. A few years later, he sold that place and moved back into the city, much to the dismay of many, into a more modest place in a nicer part of the Camden district.
He went from part time job to part time job, most notably as corporate donation director of WSCL, the non-profit radio station at Salisbury University. Under his "leadership", WSCL's on air fundraising hit new lows, especially when he was at the microphone and his syrupy whine assaulted the ears of Delmarva Public Radio Listeners. He was let go soon after.
His appointment as the highly overpaid office boy for the Greater Salisbury Committee came as a shock to many who had witnessed his short, crony-filled, self-serving political career.
To say that Dunn is a snake in the grass would be a major understatement. He is not to be trusted with your toys or your money unless you have it in mind to not get them back. If Dunn is for removing the revenue cap, which modestly limits the county's income via property taxation and thereby puts respectable limits on county spending, then you know there's something in it for Dunn, something more than a few hearty pats on the back from his developer, investor, banker and landlord pals. Salisbury has its own swamp, just as DC does, and Mike Dunn is one of the uglier creatures in it.