The third public dialogue meeting on the Salisbury Safe Streets anti-crime legislation package is set for Tuesday, November 30, 6:30 p.m., in council chambers on the third floor of the Government Office Building, 125 N. Division St, downtown. The meeting is slated to be the last in a series hosted by Salisbury City Council Members Debbie Campbell and Terry Cohen.
According to the hosts, this final meeting will bring together input collected from the first two meetings, information that answers questions raised and an exchange with residents who “get up in the morning and go to bed at night dealing with crime issues in our city.” The previous two meetings with overflow audiences were dominated heavily by representatives of the rental industry lobbying against the anti-crime proposals related to housing.
“We feel we received useful input from the previous meetings that could lead to improvements in the legislation, stated Campbell. “The rental industry has now had extensive input, and we want to make sure that people on both sides of the issue have an opportunity to provide observations, feedback, and questions regarding the draft legislation.”
Cohen said that, although members of the public were getting a better understanding of the proposals, rumors and misinformation continue to be circulated. “This meeting should help clear up some of those misconceptions and misrepresentations,” Cohen said.
On August 2, Mayor Jim Ireton introduced the proposals, but the president of the city council, Louise Smith, has refused to schedule the legislative proposals for discussion by the council as a body. Numerous residents and the editorial board of the local newspaper, The Daily Times, have stated that the legislation should at least be discussed publicly by the entire council at its open work sessions.
Campbell and Cohen encouraged the public to read the actual text of the anti-crime proposals in preparation for the meeting, since a primary goal of the meeting series has been to get feedback specific to the draft legislation. The proposals can be found under the link “Neighborhood Legislation Pkg” on the city website homepage at left, http://www.ci.salisbury.md.us/, and on the website the two council members share, http://www.onyoursidesby.blogspot.com/. Hard copies can be obtained by calling the city clerk’s office at 410-548-3140.
3 comments:
The citizens of Salisbury should be extremely thankful for these two dedicated council members and their willingness to endure the things they have to endure in order to provide this opportunity to their constituents.
Imagine having to be defamed and humiliated by your "fellow" council members while you attempt to give people an opportunity to be heard.
The council 'majority' in Salisbury is a disgrace, not only to the city, but to the entire region (as has been the case for many years now.)
Citizens: UNITE! DEMAND to be heard in a full council session.
It's your RIGHT!
Over 900 Part 1 crimes have occurred in Salisbury since the mayor requested the council president to take this package to work session. That's over 900 crimes of murder, rape, arson, car theft and robbery in the past 6 months.
How many of those crimes wouldn't have happened if the mayor's Safe Streets Initiative had been in place?
People who don't know what this program is about NEED to know. Louise Smith's refusal to take it before council is driven by SAPOA, and not by the people or the needs of this city.
The "other" plan she and SAPOA are working on are lame diversions that will have little or no impact on crime or the spreading decay that is killing our neighborhoods.
Salisbury has to decide: have a government that works for the city and its people, or have one that's led by the nose by a special interest group, a group whose only special interest is getting more money in its pockets.
April is just around the corner.
If the person who wrote this piece would have stayed forthe meeting, they would have noted that through Debbie's and Terry's own polling of the participants, virtually over half were not landlords. Additionally these objective citizens noted that this legislative package for what it is.It has nothing to do with crime, but it has all to do with the Mayor's dislike of the Rental industry.
To answer your question regarding part 1 crimes. zero improvement with this legislative package, but a significant improvement if all parties had come to the table to resolve the prblem. SAPOA is not the party that refuses to come to the table with the parties that will have the greatist impact on crime reduction. Look at your mayor for this guilty party, and put the 900 part 1 crimes on his shoulders.
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