I'm expecting GA Harrison to come up with a Post later today about the Liquor Dispensary Board decision today at the County Council Meeting but Stuart Haemel stood up during Public Comment and stated that their Board invited Council Members to their Meetings and none of them showed up. Joe Holloway waited until it was the Council's time to speak and flat out called him a liar. Joe asked other Council Members if they had received any such said invitation and not one of them had.
Joe then called for immediate subpoenas demanding the information the Dispensary Board refused to give up after the Council asked for it and they chose to discuss it at a later point and time. To this day the Council has yet to receive the information requested but the amazing part was, the Council voted 6-1 to drop a referendum to allow the VOTERS to decide on the Dispensaries future.
21 comments:
I'm telling you folks in the listening audience . . . this Council can be recalled for thwarting their noses at the taxpaying public. Their rebellous behavior demands some discipline.
This issue should be addressed by the taxpaying public via the referendum process.
Stay tuned. . .as the 'opera ain't over til the fat lady sings'.
The taxpayers deserve accountability and all they have received from the Liquor Board is rhetoric.
Maybe the Liquor Board will start offering everyone free liquor.
With the all of the farm subsidies, etched wine glasses, free gasoline, and passenger free custom mass transit, hell what difference does it make.
It appears almost everyones receiving some kind of welfare in this County.
Who was the lone dessenter?
al capone didnt have this much trouble.
anonymous 4:33
Stevie Prettyman.
Cheers for Stevie P.
Jeers for the 6 dwarfs!
I've spoken with a few restaurant/bar managers who expect their prices to go up based on what the special commission said would happen if they got rid of the WCLCB.
Maybe council members heard negative feedback about the way things would be switched around, with the chance of someone, probably restaurants, paying higher prices for liquor to make up the shortfall. The county won't lose money on this! One way or another, the council will make sure they cover the difference, which likely means higher liquor taxes in the short term to guarantee no loss of revenue.
BC in NC
It's not surprising someone like Joe Holloway, a political neophyte born into money, would make such ignorant claims publicly. It is disappointing he would be disrespectful and dishonest to someone 25 years his senior. It's even more disappointing he would act so ignorantly in public toward a relative. That's right, Joe is Stewart Haemel's cousin-once-removed. And it is Stewart, not Stuart.
The fact of the matter is this: All LCB meetings, since its inception some 60+ years ago, have been open to the public as required by law. According to current Board Members, NO ONE ever showed up at these meetings until this past February. Now maybe Joe and his ilk (to coin a term from G.A.) needed a written invitation. Well, they got one. The invitations were sent out in two groups: Democrats first and Republicans second. ALL members of the Council have attended at least one meeting, Gail at least 2, administrator Matt Creamer has attended, and if they tell you otherwise they are flat out lying! They are the ones truly being dishonest.
As far as making public all information regarding the operation of the LCB, the Council is barking up the wrong tree. Surprising as it may seen, the LCB answers to the State, not Joe and his ilk. The reason they want this information is not to maximize profits for the County as they and G.A. would have you believe. The ulterior motive is to come up with a business plan that would undercut the LCB, then present it to distributors, businesses, and other powerful lobbies in the State and County in an effort to destroy the LCB, steal that profit from the County, and line their own pockets by opening their own private stores. Now that said, nearly everything you could possibly want is available through a FOIA. Why haven't they gone that route? Who knows? They really should approach their State Representatives first, that would be the right move. Maybe they have and were shot down there too and that is why, in the end, they voted down a referendum.
On a side note, I too expect a post from G.A. Harrison seeing how he cornered Stewert Haemel near the elevators and grilled him for information which, in my opinion, constitutes, at the very least, bullying and intimidation of a senior citizen, possibly harassment.
Two Cents
Thanks Joe, 450pm
Its getting so bad, even the gov. employees caught in waste, lies and deceight arent held accountable. Ths council knows damn well most everyone wants to down size gov. at any turn. They'll never push for those records. We all need to call/email and request the referendum. Their no longer thinking like the public, they've got the greed in their eyes.....http://www.wicomicocounty.org/council/council.html#John%20Cannon
I was at the hearing. Haemels' comments were only one of the gross distortions of fact presented by the dispensary "supporters" i.e.lackeys.It is quite clear that none of them read the committee report nor have a clue as to the depth of the problems with the dispensary system and it's current board members and management.
Left to it's own inertia,this is going to become another lanfill type embarrasment for the county.
The council seems to be hoping it will all go away...it will not.I assure you.
Good ole boy system alive and well in Wicomico county too.
Nalagirl
You have to be kidding me? He calls Haemel a liar then votes down the referendum? What kind of a no balls POS is he? He's the one that did most of the belly aching now all of a sudden changes his tune? Stevie has the only balls among the whole bunch.
6 of them little dwarfs needs to have their heads, and maybe pockets examined for more $23 pens or liquor. This is fiscal conservatives? No accountability? I guess if the RINO shoe fits, fuggin' wear it.
I can't believe Gail fell for that trash. She'll not get another vote from this neighborhood association. Has she been hanging around Louise Smith or what?
We voters put your asses in there and we can also TAKE YOU OUT!
Where was that fearless leader Pollitt -- if he was there, did he say anything?
The money the county was losing due to thievery would more than cover the diddly squat revenue from the liquor control board, 6 people on the county council need to remove their heads from their collective butts.
I can't believe they voted down an opportunity for the taxpayers to participate in local democracy, that should be even a bigger crime. Well now we know who doesn't care what we think. Touche' dumbasses
Response to 5:32
I absolutely agree. Harrah for Stevie.
At least we have one realist in this County.
The liquor control board needs to be disbanded. I hope everyone rings the hell off their elected representatives.
I'm also quite surprised by Joe's vote. I would have thought he would voted to disband the bandits.
One interesting little tid-bit of information....Mr. Haemel owns a print shop. I wonder who does the printing for the Liquor Control Board....hmmmm
Joe Holloway is a relative of mine and I can assure you that I am very familiar with the Holloway/Warren family tree and Haemel is not a cousin once removed of Joe Holloway's. Nor was Joe born into wealth. Joe Holloway has worked hard for every penny he has and hasn't expected anyone to give him anything. Nor has he expected to benefit from the gov't as Papco Printing has been doing since it's owner was appointed to the WCLCB. I will watch Pac 14 tonight to see Haemel's mistruths. He knew full well that he nor the board have made the records available to the council nor the receipts that were requested in June. Who was he trying to kid?
Anonymous said...
"He knew full well that he, nor the board have made the records available to the council nor the receipts that were requested in June. Who was he trying to kid?"
Where are you getting your information? April 15th 2008 Stevie P. sat down with PKS(the accounting firm for the WCLCB) and reviewed all disbursements from the last 4 years. On April 28th Gail B. did the same thing. After that time a letter came down from the Attorney General of MD saying that the Wico. Co. Council has NO ROLE in the governance of the WCLCB. So of course the Council made additional requests publicly after that time to raise a stink but why should the WCLCB turn over anything further? They have the backing of the State. And what didn’t the Council find the first two times that they thought was missing? You really have to question the motivation of the people attacking the WCLCB.
PKS? isn't that Alessi's accountant also?
I don't know where any of you folks are getting the information that the Wicomico County Council has no say over the WCLCB.
Quite the contrary. I remember vividly when the County rented, yet another, building to house the monster agency. That's right folks, they authorized paying rent for the facilities that they are in right now. I wonder if this is factored into their operating surplus. . . or is this method of accoounting off line to like the Civic Center.
Joe. . . you need a photograph of the building and offices. The one lone council member and disenter that voted not to rent this facility was one Richard S. Adkins. He stated the rent being charged to the taxpayers was way to high. He even cited the square footage and said the County shouldn't be renting this office.
I remember because I was in the audience.
So don't tell me Wicomico County doesn't have a say in the matter.
I know because I was there.
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