DelMarVa Observer - Your Source for News From and About DelMarVa
PORTLAND, OR – What happens when the taxpayers loan a company $10 million and provide another $20 million in other incentives in return for a PROMISED 450 jobs? If you are an Oregon taxpayer and the company is SoloPower, the answer appears … NOT MUCH.
Like the better known case of Solyndra, Oregon taxpayers are waiting to find out if they will ever recover any of their hard earned money after the San Jose, CA based firm has announced that it is closing shop.
WEST, TX – As the death toll has risen to 15 from last week’s explosion at a West, TX fertilizer plant explosion the lawsuits are already starting. While the first funeral for a victim of the blast was yesterday, the first of at least five (5) lawsuits was filed on April 19th.
For attorneys, burying the dead seems to come a distant second after filing lawsuits.
We’re Glad Jim Ireton Isn’t a Math Teacher
The newly elected Salisbury city council is on its way to adopting a budget for FY 2014. Included is a tax rate hike of nearly 8% coupled with a DROP in water and sewer rates. One thing that appears to be missing is mayor Jim Ireton’s promised “storm water authority”, now laughingly referred to across the country as the “Rain Tax”.
Newly minted council president Jake Day is backpedaling on his campaign commitment not to support a tax hike. He now claims that he won’t support a tax hike above constant yield. We’ll give him that one (on style) since the net affect of the rate increase should be revenue neutral. We wonder if the people who stayed home at the last election will be as forgiving since a sizable number of them will see their taxes rise?
The section of Ireton’s proposed budget that disturbs us most is a cut in the water and sewer rates. WHAT? A self-identified conservative is against a cut in government fees (water and sewer fees are not really a tax)? Sorry to disappoint, but … YES!
Here’s the problem. Salisbury is showing a sizable surplus in its Water and Sewer Enterprise Fund. HOWEVER, Salisbury is having to PAY TWICE for its failed waste water treatment plant (WWTP). By cutting rates now, the city will have to raise them that much more in the future. The problem is simple. Ireton hopes to justify future general fund tax hikes because he’s decreased the water and sewer rates. Given that Ireton makes Barack Obama look like a Reaganite, he just can’t sit idly by and watch tens of millions sit unspent, even if it is in Salisbury’s best interest. That money needs to be SPENT! Sadly for Ireton, he can’t spend water and sewer money for every fly by night leftist scheme that comes down the pike, even if he thinks that Jake Day will rubber stamp Ireton’s every whim. (The jury is still out on Day, we all know that Laura Mitchell and Shanie Shields will rubber stamp all sorts of craziness.)
SALISBURY, MD – Another questionable real estate deal is catching the eyes of Wicomico County taxpayers. Today the Wicomico County Council is scheduled to vote on the acquisition of 23 acres of land for a new transfer station near Allen.
The purchase price for the property is approximately $150,000. However, the price was originally $250,000 $220,000. The price came down only after the county government was offered nearby parcels at a much lower price. This calls into question the legitimacy of the original appraisal. In addition, there are questions regarding personal ties between the family of the landowners and County Executive Rick Pollitt.
This comes on the heels of the county’s approval of a lease / purchase agreement for new office space for the State’s Attorney’s office. Questions were raised when county purchasing director Rick Konrad informed two bidders that their proposals must meet certain requirements or their proposals would be automatically rejected. The winning bidder did not meet those same requirements.
As in the case of the State’s Attorney office deal, it is expected that the pro-Pollitt majority coalition of council members John Hall, Matt Holloway, Stevie Prettyman, and Sheree Sample-Hughes will approve the purchase.
PYONGYANG – The North Korean government has vowed to attack South Korea without warning if anti-North Korean protests continue in the south.
"The supreme command of the Korean People’s Army Tuesday issued an ultimatum to the South Korean puppet group," Pyongyang’s official news agency, KCNA, said.
Threatening that it would not give any advance notice before attacking South Korea, the North warned: "Our retaliatory action will start without any notice from now."
North Korea said it was responding to insults from the "puppet authorities" in the South, who yesterday held a rally against the North in Seoul.
While North Koreans were celebrating the 101st anniversary of Kim Il Sung’s birth, South Koreans protested recent threats from the North including burning North Korean leaders in effigy.
SALISBURY, MD – This weekend NASA will host the second International Space Apps Challenge. Scientists, software developers, hackers, and ordinary citizens from around the world will gather in over 75 cities, including Salisbury, to help solve various space exploration problems. The program is part of the Open Government Partnership.
Individuals and teams will tackle one of 53 challenges. The Salisbury site for the challenge will be at the HotDesks small business incubator at the Tri-County Council building across from Wor-Wic Community College.
Ireton, Shields Sworn in for New Terms
SALISBURY, MD – Newcomer Jake Day, along with incumbent Shanie Shields, were sworn-in to the Salisbury city council Monday night. In a surprise move, Day was also elected as council president. Councilwoman Laura Mitchell was elected vice president.
Mayor Jim Ireton was also sworn in to a second term. The terms of Ireton and all five council members will end in November 2015 as the city adopts a new election cycle.
At the end of the meeting Ireton delivered his FY 2014 budget to the council. In his budget Ireton calls for a $0.065 rate increase.
photos courtesy of Jeremy Cox via Twitter
GREENVILLE, DE – Last year YOU paid $26,400 in rent to Vice President Joe Biden. Why?
It seems that the U.S. Secret Service uses a cottage on the grounds of Biden’s estate outside Wilmington. This property is used as part of Biden’s protection detail but Biden charges the taxpayers $2,200 per month!
Typical of most high-profile liberals, Biden and his wife donated less than two percent of their adjusted gross income to charity in 2012.
photo courtesy of the Washington Times
SALISBURY, MD – As Wicomico County homeowners again face an increase in their property tax rates, County Executive Rick Pollitt held a “public hearing” on his soon-to-be-released FY 2014 county budget. It should be noted that no real budget detail was provided for citizens to comment on.
Rather than unveil his budget, Pollitt and the Wicomico County Board of Education used the event to call for more spending on Education. While I came late to the event it appears that little was missed. When I asked two individuals after the event if I missed anything of substance, the responses were nearly identical – “If you heard one teacher speak, then you pretty much heard the whole thing.”
I recognize that Pollitt again faces tough budget decisions. However, repeated acts of political theater do not solve problems. While the Daily Times is giving prominent coverage to Delmarva Public Radio’s current “begathon”, Pollitt needs to realize that public hearings are not supposed to be begathons. They require information for open citizen input. Given that this event was held without providing that information (like his proposed budget), there is no point other than to politicize an already volatile issue.
LONDON – The British Broadcasting Corporation is facing heavy criticism for its coverage of the passing of former PM Margaret Thatcher. The BBC was been criticized for giving undue prominence to Thatcher’s political opponents in their coverage of her death. Now the broadcaster has been covering a campaign to encourage citizens to buy recordings of the song, “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead”, including playing the song on air.
AMSTERDAM – A speaker at a recent computer security conference in Amsterdam demonstrated how to seize control of an aircraft using an app developed for Android smartphones.
One of the assumptions of a free market is that all parties have equal access to all available information. This is why things like “insider trading” are illegal. We acknowledge that we do not live in a Pollyanna world of perfect competition and perfect information. That said, we thought that the government was supposed to protect consumers from market manipulation.
It appears that this is not the case. Any viewer of CNBC or Fox Business know that the release of minutes of the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee (FOMC) or of a Board of Governors’ meeting can, and do, move markets. Why then did copies of the minutes of the March Fed meeting go out a day early to several banks, at least one hedge fund, a law firm, and several Congressional staffer?
WASHINGTON, DC – While the Obama Administration continues to insist that children are starving and old people are dying because of the cuts required under sequestration, ESSENTIAL federal spending continues for … BAGPIPES.
H/T – the Drudge Report
The Daily Press’s Shad Plank blog calls this video released by GOP gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli an “attack” ad. No one questions the facts imparted in the video. The outlets which have been covering Democrat candidate Terry McAuliffe’s less than open departure from GreenTech certainly don’t share a reputation for conservative or Republican bias. They include Politico, the Washington Post, and the Associated Press.
Billions in spending increases. Billions in tax hikes. Same-sex marriage. Repeal of the death penalty. “Green energy” subsidized by taxpayers. A state with already limited gun rights transformed into one of the most restrictive states in the nation. These are just a few examples of Martin O’Malley’s political “accomplishments”.
When O’Malley first ran for governor he was hailed as a “moderate” and “pragmatist”. Kennedyesque – more John than Teddy. O’Malley wouldn’t touch issues such a gay marriage or more restrictive gun control with a ten foot pole.
While he never hid his disdain for the death penalty, he attributed this to his Roman Catholic faith. I sympathize. I too am opposed to the death penalty – because of my pro-life beliefs. Sadly, O’Malley doesn’t allow the Church’s teachings to interfere with Democrat orthodoxy.
What happened? Barack Hussein Obama. In 2008 the Democrat party abandoned the center-left compromise which delivered two terms to Bill Clinton. National Democrats became more radical than in 1972. O’Malley, who has never hid his personal ambition and has always demonstrated fluid political and moral compasses, moved farther to the left.
WASHINGTON, DC – For those that believe only Republicans would engage in things such as illegal wire-tapping, fear not. It appears that the left doesn’t bother with legal niceties when it suits their purposes either.
Mother Jones has published an article based, in part, on illegal recordings made of Sen. Mitch McConnell discussing the possibility of a challenge from actress Ashley Judd.
While Judd has announced that she will not run in 2014, her response to the illegal act sounded and awful lot like a candidate: “This is yet another example of the politics of personal destruction that embody Mitch McConnell and are pervasive in Washington, D.C.”
The mainstream media’s response seems to be more concern about McConnell “digging up dirt” on Judd rather than the fact that an illegal act had taken place. We can only assume that ABC News has never heard of opposition research.
We thought that children were starving and old people were dying because of the sequester? Yet … we would dare deprive the Obama’s of a little in-house entertainment (or multi-million dollar vacations).
ANNAPOLIS, MD – Next year voters will have a chance to amend Maryland’s constitution to place gas tax funds in a “lockbox”. The stated purpose of the amendment is to prevent a future raid on highway user funds like those that occurred with regularity during Maryland governor Martin O’Malley’s two terms in office.
While the amendment’s stated purpose may seem noble, and sound policy for Maryland taxpayers, some legislators are questioning whether or not the proposal is real, or little more than political theater. The amendment would require a 60% vote of both houses to raid the highway user fund. However, each time in recent years this has occurred it was accomplished by a vote of greater than 60%:
House Minority Leader Tony O’Donnell objected, “Every time we raid the Transportation Trust Fund, it meets the three-fifths vote” in both houses.
Even here on the Eastern Shore we’re not exempt. While legislators like Del. Norm Conway (D-38B) and Sen. Jim Mathias (D-38) don’t mind coming home to tell constituents that they voted against bills like the recent gas tax hike, they also haven’t hesitated to vote in favor of raiding the highway user fund.
SALISBURY, MD – Today incumbent Salisbury mayor Jim Ireton is to unveil a new approach to business at the Salisbury Chamber of Commerce. According to the Daily Times, “Let’s Do Business Salisbury”appears geared almost exclusively towards developers, not just those seeking to open a business in Salisbury.
For those members of the business community looking for a a “one-stop shop” for permitting, registration, and other bureaucratic entanglements, Ireton’s presentation will be viewed either with disappointment or as a baby step in the right direction. Newly elected councilman Jake Day and unsuccessful mayoral candidate Joe Albero both focused heavily on the need to court new business and on the need to streamline things like the permitting process, often viewed as an impediment to doing business in Salisbury.
Ireton’s plan involves setting up a kiosk on the first floor of the Salisbury / Wicomico Government Office Building (GOB) with form packets useful to developers. Ireton also hopes to install a similar kiosk at the Chamber’s office on East Main Street.
According to the Daily Times’ Jeremy Cox:
…Those changes will be accompanied by a new, business-friendly atmosphere in the city’s staff offices, Ireton said. Those adopting the customer-service approach are the Mayor’s Office; Public Works; Building, Permits and Inspections; and Planning and Zoning.
… (Asst. City Administrator Lore) Chambers, though, said city administrators have worked on the plan for more than a year. Ireton said he was loath to announce the effort during the election season out of concern it would be criticized as a self-serving campaign ploy.
It should be noted that Ireton’s plan for downtown redevelopment was released two years ago. Some members of the business community are skeptical that this “customer-service” approach has been in the works for over a year. One local business owner, who asked that his name be withheld, stated, “I can’t believe that the mayor expects us to believe that it took a year to put some forms together. No one, certainly not the mayor, talked about treating businesses as customers until Joe Albero decided to run against him.”
Ireton will present his plan in the lobby of the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce at 1:30 PM today.
Much is being made about a possible 2014 match between incumbent Maryland senator Jim Mathias (D-38) and Del. Mike McDermott (R-38B). While McDermott would have to overcome Mathias’ huge money advantage (Senate President Mike Miller will THROW hundreds of thousands of dollars Mathias’ way), a Mathias vs. McDermott race will show the unfathomable divide between “Annapolis Values” vs. “Eastern Shore Values”.
Listen to McDermott on the recently passed budget bill:
While I am a fan of Public Radio Delmarva (actually WSDL), I don’t support Maryland tax dollars going to support it. While I actually believe that SU needs a new library, I can’t imagine where $135 million is going. What about all of that money in the SU foundation? Why can’t it go to help build and equip a new library?
If you attended the recent town hall on Gov. O’Malley’s gun bill you would have witnessed a stark contrast in approaches. McDermott has FOUGHT this bill from the start. Mathias just voted against it (I would suggest for political reasons). You would have seen and heard the passion McDermott brings to this issue. While Mathias wasn’t in attendance, he sent an envoy to read a letter. The categorical difference was apparent to all – McDermott was fighting to protect one of our most sacred liberties while Mathias was tinkering around the edges to make a loathsome bill slightly less loathsome.
As a political junkie, I think a Mathias – McDermott race in 2014 will be exciting. As a citizen of Maryland, I believe that a McDermott candidacy and victory will send a message to those here and in Annapolis who believe that giving up our God-given liberty in pursuit of a few cups from the public trough is a worthwhile pursuit.
DelMarVa Dealings appears each Monday and discusses local politics and its impact on the Delmarva peninsula.
We dare any gun control proponent to attempt to refute this.
Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has passed away at the age of 87. Baroness Thatcher was the greatest women to live during my lifetime one of the greatest Western political leaders of my lifetime and arguably the greatest person ever to hold the title of Prime Minister. She led Britain from the bottom of its post-WWII malaise and re-established the UK as one of the worlds greatest western democracies. A key supporter of Ronald Reagan’s plan to defeat the evil empire of the Soviet Union, Thatcher served as PM from 1979 through the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Take time to watch this portion of Prime Minister Thatcher’s last question time before parliament. At approximately 2:45 into this video you will see the typical attack from the left regarding “income inequality”. As Mrs. Thatcher so ably points out, despite that fact that this “gap” has widened, even the poor in Britain were much better off under her policies. Of course, that doesn’t hold much sway with those who believe that re-distribution of wealth will always succeed, despite the fact that it has NEVER succeeded.
… he would rather the POOR BE POORER provided that the RICH WERE LESS RICH.
Thatcher’s comments regarding the left are as true today as they were in November of 1990. One need only listen to the rhetoric coming from today’s Democrat party leadership.
It’s been tried in San Antonio. This weekend it will be tried in Norfolk. Perhaps Salisbury could benefit from a quick and dirty “Extreme Makeover”?
This weekend a group of volunteers and the urban planning firm Team Better Block will unveil a temporary “makeover” of a neglected section of Granby Street (once Norfolk’s vibrant main thoroughfare). The key word in this is “temporary”.
Why would a municipality spend thousands of dollars to temporarily fix-up a section of town? It gives people a chance to not only visualize, but actually experience, a re-vitalization plan. Rather than spend hundreds of thousands, or millions, of dollars on a plan that may be good … or bad, Team Better Block’s approach is simple:
People get to see the potential of an area. Potential developers / investors can be attracted. Bureaucracy is curtailed. The advantages are almost endless.
WGMD HOST NOT READY FOR PRIME (OR ANY OTHER) TIME
When I’m cruising through Delaware (or northern Worcester or Wicomico counties) I often bump my dial over one tick from WICO-FM to hear what’s going on at WGMD-FM. While I like talk radio, I prefer some local content and WICO is now 99.9% syndicated. (two public radio stations are now the only source of real local content on the Lower Shore)
Two Sundays ago I happened to tune in and heard some guy named Bill Rogers spouting the most ridiculous nonsense this side of MSNBC. The problem? Rogers claims to be a conservative. Personally, I think we should trade this guy to the left for a future third round draft pick.
What was Rogers’ crime? The guy’s entire show (I only listened for about 90 minutes while I was driving to Seaford and back) was an attack on Libertarians. Sure, everyone has a right to their opinion. I don’t disagree with Rogers’ premise that voting Libertarian is often equivalent to voting Democrat, but Rogers’ reasoning was based on a false premise that I found quite offensive.
Rogers claimed that Libertarians were foolish because of their stance on gay marriage. He specifically claimed that same-sex marriage laws would require churches to marry same-sex couples. He didn’t say this once either. Rogers must of repeated this at least a dozen times in the period I was listening.
It’s bad enough that my party (the GOP) is systematically driving libertarian-minded voters away, now we have a supposedly conservative, local talk host trying to do the same with what are basically lies.
I will concede that the day may come that some court, even the US Supreme Court, may make such an outrageous ruling. However, that day has not arrived … YET. It’s bad enough that nominally Christian denominations such as the Episcopal Church perform what are de facto gay weddings. We have enough battles to fight in the present. People like Rogers don’t need to make up problems. If he is a conservative, as he claims, he also doesn’t need to deliberately offend a portion of the electorate we need to win.
PARKER, CLAYBAUGH SHOW TRUE COLORS … AGAIN
BALTIMORE, MD – While Eastern Shore property owners brace for the news of how much they will be forced to pay, business owners and non-profits on the Western Shore of Maryland are already complaining about the new stormwater fees they will be charged starting July 1. Fees for homeowners are running from $18 to more than $100 per year. Businesses and non-profits estimate that their charges could be more than $10,000 per year in some cases. Because this is classified as a fee rather than a tax, non-profit organizations are not exempt.
On Tuesday, newly re-elected Salisbury mayor Jim Ireton is presenting his plan for improving downtown Salisbury. He is not expected to unveil the fee structure. Businesses question whether or not investment in Salisbury is cost-effective given that lower tax Delaware and Virginia are just a few miles to the north and south.
In Baltimore and other counties, businesses are being charged this fee even if they treat their own stormwater:
David C. McKenzie, vice president of Liquid Transfer Terminals Inc. in Curtis Bay, said his company pays about $58,000 in property taxes and could get hit with nearly $44,000 in stormwater fees. That fee is too high, McKenzie argues, because his company treats its own stormwater.
"A facility that manages its own stormwater is not treated any differently than a facility that does nothing to mitigate its stormwater pollution," he said.
One Baltimore business, Rukert Terminals Corp., estimates that its fee could be in excess of $300,000 per year.
The state of Maryland has just passed a $37 billion budget, chock full of the expected tax hikes and wasteful spending. Wicomico County Executive Rick Pollitt will unveil his proposed budget on Thursday during his annual dog and pony show at the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center. We can expect a proposed $0.07 rate hike. In a lead up to this, Wicomico School’s superintendent John Fredericksen provides an op-ed in today’s Daily Times which again proves that someone with so little understanding of basic economic principles should not be in charge of so much money.
Public schools are important to a community on multiple levels. The perception of high quality schools impacts whether or not a county or city is a desirable place to call home. That same perception can even impact whether or not businesses choose to locate in an area. It is a widely held belief that quality public schools impact an area’s crime rate. There is also the moral argument, which is probably the strongest of all, that we owe our next generation a decent education.
Yet, Fredericksen makes none of these arguments. Instead he tells us that Wicomico County’s public schools are an “economic engine” which grows our local economy. While I realize that none of Fredericksen’s degrees are in something as practical as finance or economics, that does not excuse ignorance about something so basic. I would be happy to suggest several easy reads which might get him up to speed.
Fredericksen’s argument is equivalent to Nancy Pelosi’s laughable statement that unemployment benefits are an economic development tool. Government spending, whether on education, unemployment benefit, or food stamps is a transfer of wealth – NOT a creator of wealth. In the case of state or local spending, where the government cannot run a deficit, this is even more so. Money taken from individuals and businesses for government spending could be put to better use by those individuals or businesses. It could be invested in new plant or equipment. It can create jobs through the CREATION of wealth rather than through its transfer.
Does this mean that public schools are bad? No. We, as a civilized society, have decided that funding public education is something we need to do. Unfortunately, people like Fredericksen attempt to equate spending ON education with quality OF education. Unfortunately people like Fredericksen want you to believe that the spending, in and of itself, is the net benefit to our community.
It’s little wonder that Wicomico taxpayers have such little respect for Fredericksen or the system he is charged with running. That’s the real shame.
GEORGETOWN, DE – Sussex County Sheriff Jeff Christopher’s ongoing battle with the state of Delaware over the extent (limit) of his powers has found an out-of-state ally. The Pasadena, MD based Institute on the Constitution hosted a forum yesterday at DelTech’s Georgetown campus.
“Our drive is to raise up a citizenry that understands these issues and can act on them from a basis of knowledge, not just petty personal interests,” said Michael Anthony Peroutka, a lawyer from Pasadena, Md., and founder of the institute.
Christopher argues that the state’s constitution provides his office with law enforcement powers. Delaware governor Jack Markell, AG Beau Biden, and several state courts have disagreed.
photo courtesy of the Cape Gazette
Elliott Roosevelt, grandson of Democrat icon Franklin Delano Roosevelt, is sitting on top of almost 2 BILLION barrels of oil. By injecting carbon dioxide into the ground he, and independent experts, expects to release 400 – 600 million barrels of that oil. Of course, that’s assuming that the Obama administration doesn’t throw up additional roadblocks.
While the Obama administration has all but stopped new drilling on public lands, energy exploration on private lands has grown and yielded results. North Dakota has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation thanks to “fracking” for natural gas. The method being used by Roosevelt has the potential to bring another 3 – 4 million barrels per day to market.
Photo courtesy of Bloomberg
It seems that simple, basic economic truth is coming home to roost in the European socialist utopia. It’s already occurred in Canada. Why can’t our own politicians grasp the obvious?
In a study released Friday at the annual conference of the Royal Economics Society, economists Luca Agnello and Vitor Castro of Italy and Ricardo Sousa of Portugal tracked austerity programs from 1978 – 2009. They found that the best programs shoot for the greatest deficit reductions in the 2nd and 3rd years of a program. They also show empirical data that opposition mounts to austerity programs lasting more than nine years.
Yet, here in the United States, our politicians are unwilling to make real cuts to government spending or to reform entitlement spending. Don’t expect too much media coverage of this study; it violates the current political narrative too much to receive serious consideration. Among the common sense findings:
IMAGINE – Reducing Spending is MORE EFFECTIVE than Raising Taxes! I wonder what Barack Obama’s reaction would be if he was actually made aware of this study?
Lord Keynes gets a bad rap these days. If he had lived to see the mess that was made from his General Theory he would be ashamed to see what the term “Keynesian economics” has come to mean. Rationalism reigns. Liberal politicians and economists tell us that if you spend X the economy will improve. After spending X, we don’t see the desired result. What is the left’s answer? We didn’t spend enough! (don’t worry, Paul Krugman didn’t receive his Nobel Prize for spouting this macroeconomic drivel)
Common sense has fallen to men and women who fancy themselves gods. While this statement may seem extreme, it is fact. Omniscience and omnipresence are required to “manage” a national economy. That’s either Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” or a god. Since most of these folks don’t believe in either Smith or God …
H/T – D. J. McGuire @ Bearing Drift
The Observer appears on weekends in the DelMarVa Observer and provides commentary on a variety of issues.
Another beneficiary of millions in taxpayer subsidies appears headed for bankruptcy. Fisker, the electric car company, has fired three quarters of its staff according to Wilmington’s News-Journal.
In 2009 Fisker received a $529 million Federal loan and $21 million in other incentives from the state of Delaware. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden heralded Fisker as a big part of the administration’s “Green Energy” initiative.
Maryland governor Martin O’Malley wants to be President of the United States. He’s term limited as governor. He’s spent his life as a political executive – first mayor of Baltimore and then a two-term governor. His temperament just doesn’t fit the life of a legislator. So … what’s a guy to do?
In O’Malley’s case he’s looking towards 2016 - when he leaves the governor’s office he’ll have a year to get geared up for the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. No slouch, O’Malley is already starting to build an organization so he’s not going to be left in the dust in this age of the infinite presidential cycle.
O’Malley has been busy burnishing his lefty bona fides for the activist crowd that selects Democrat (and Republican) presidential nominees. Here in Maryland we know – we’re paying the freight. For eight years O’Malley has punished the Once Free State in order to craft his statist gravitas.
In less than 400 well crafted words, the Wall Street Journal’s Stephen Moore explains what our nation has to fear:
The prospect of an O’Malley presidency gives new meaning to “Fear the Turtle” (the diamondback terrapin is the mascot of the University of Maryland). O’Malley may be doing all of the right things to win the hearts of the leftist elites, but his policies have been dangerous for Maryland and will be even more dangerous for our nation.
The Spectator appears on Fridays, focusing on issues which impact our nation and the world.
WESTOVER, MD – Daily Times reporter Deborah Gates describes a free-for-all at this month’s Somerset County Board of Education meeting as competing groups collided over recent criticism of Washington High School principal William Johnson. Parents have accused Johnson of poor leadership and spoke of disciplinary issues at the last two BOE meetings. At this month’s meeting supporters of Johnson came out and accused Johnson critics of being racially motivated.
At several points during the meeting BOE chair William Miles had to gavel the crowd to order. Several Johnson supporters called for the resignation of BOE members Dan Kuebler and Robert Wells because of their public criticism of Johnson.
At several points in the evening a Johnson supporter attempted prevent Gates from taking pictures of Johnson. After the meeting, Johnson supporter went so far as to steal Gates’ cell which she was taking pictures with. A police officer had to retrieve Gate’s property.
ANNAPOLIS, MD – It didn’t take very long for the Maryland Senate to adopt the version of SB-281 approved by the House of Delegates late yesterday. The bill, which is one of the most restrictive gun control laws in the country, now goes to Gov. Martin O’Malley for his signature.
ANNAPOLIS, MD – The Maryland House of Delegates passed one of the nation’s most restrictive gun control laws yesterday by a vote of 78-61. In addition to banning so-called “assault weapons”, ammunition magazines will be limited to 10 rounds and Marylanders will have to undergo a background check with fingerprints in order to purchase a handgun.
While the bill must be reconciled with the Senate version passed last month, the bill is expected to become law and Maryland will join the ranks of New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia as having the nation’s most restrictive gun laws.
Del. Mike McDermott (R-38B) observed that this bill is equivalent to banning legal gun ownership: “…the licensing requirement would add even more delay, amounting to a “defacto ban” on gun sales in Maryland”.
Incuments Mayor Jim Ireton and Councilwoman Shanie Shields, along with challenger Jake Day swept today’s Salisbury city elections in a landslide. The results were:
| Mayor | ||
| Joe Albero |
782 |
|
| Jim Ireton |
1,694 |
|
| District 1 | ||
| April Jackson |
77 |
|
| Cynthia Polk |
80 |
|
| Shanie Shields |
145 |
|
| District 2 | ||
| Debbie Campbell |
612 |
|
| Jake Day |
1,569 |
While these results are not official, the margin of victory for each candidate was large enough to negate any impact from the counting of absentee and provisional ballots. There are approximately 300 absentee ballots outstanding. As of today, approximately 250 ballots had been returned.
In addition to the margins of victory, probably the biggest surprise was voter turnout. While Salisbury has a reputation of abysmal turnout in municipal elections, it has continued to grow each cycle. This year’s turnout saw a dramatic drop – to 17.32% citywide compared to 21.10% four years ago. While the addition of absentee and provisional ballots will increase the turnout percentage slightly, there will still be a large decrease.
The council will reorganize later this month.
*****************************
For additional analysis of the 2013 Salisbury election, tune in to WSDL (90.7 FM) at 9 AM Friday when DelMarVa Observer’s G. A. Harrison joins WSDL’s Don Rush and SU political science professor Michael O’Loughlin on Delmarva Today for an election post-mortem. The show can also be seen on-demand at a later date.
Maryland Delegate Mike Smigiel (R-36) has posted a video which shows the House Judiciary Committee changing the vote AFTER an amendment had passed. The amendment, offered by Smigiel, would have increased punishment for criminals convicted of a gun crime.
One of the arguments against Maryland governor Martin O’Malley’s gun control measure is that it punishes law-abiding Marylanders while doing NOTHING to punish criminals or actually prevent gun crime.
The video was prepared by pro – Second Amendment group The Maryland Minutemen.
DAILY TIMES PREPARES “OCTOBER SURPRISE”
What Happened to “Stick to the Issues”?
Salisbury’s Daily Times is planning its own version of the “October Surprise” for this Sunday’s edition. According to Daily Times city reporter Jeremy Cox, the paper plans to run a front page “expose” outlining the past legal difficulties of incumbent mayor Jim Ireton and his opponent, businessman Joe Albero.
“I’m really disgusted with the entire approach taken by our local newspaper”, stated Albero. “It’s small wonder that they’ve had to put their building up for lease. People just don’t want to read a paper that is one step above the National Enquirer. Who cares that Jake Day has a heavy foot, or that our three District 1 candidates have met with personal financial misfortune, or that both my opponent and I have had some minor brushes with the legal system? Why does the Daily Times think that these things take precedence over my plan to bring jobs to Salisbury, Jim Ireton’s repeated attempts to raise our taxes, or Jake Day’s plan to use our tax dollars to subsidize residential development in the city?”
Albero also noted that early in the campaign the Daily Times stated that they wanted to ONLY report on issues. “Throughout this campaign I have focused on how to make Salisbury a better place to work and to live. It’s unfortunate that they have gone back on their word and chosen to take this path. What have we seen from our local paper during this campaign? Most of the articles we’ve seen this election season have been thinly disguised attack pieces. Any discussion of real issues has been little more than fluff. I don’t believe that reporter Jeremy Cox is either lazy or a bad reporter. I can only conclude that publisher Tom Claybaugh and editor Michael Kilian believe that they can gin up advertising sales from certain business segments or somehow increase readership by attempting to use Gannett’s assets to impact a local election with salacious stories that have no real impact on Salisbury’s residents and businesses.”
Albero’s publication, SBYNews will print a response (written by a named contributor) after the Daily Times runs its piece.
At Tuesday evening’s final candidate forum before next Tuesday’s Salisbury city elections, there were few surprises; but there were a few. The biggest surprise was that the sponsors of the forum – the Salisbury Chamber of Commerce and SU’s Center for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement (PACE) – through their chosen moderator, Chamber ED Ernie Colburn, gave up all pretense of being honest brokers in this process. For starters, it became abundantly clear that SOME of the candidates had been provided the questions in advance of yesterday’s forum. Candidates were also permitted rebuttals on a SELECTIVE basis.
The first question posed by Colburn was to council candidates about creating a business-friendly environment for the city. After District 1 incumbent Shanie Shields read her answer from a prepared script, a stammering Colburn interjected that “No candidate had been provided the questions in advance”. District 2 challenger Jake Day also seemed to have his answers well prepared in advance. However, he was not as obvious as Shields.
After the first embarrassment, Colburn followed up by attempting to sandbag mayoral candidate Joe Albero. Colburn stated that Albero had called for the closing of the Salisbury Zoo. Albero was at ease when he corrected Colburn, “I’ve never said or written such a thing. My wife worked at the zoo and she would kill me if I ever said such a thing.” Albero has been a critic of the zoo in the past and has called on the zoo to be more financially self-sufficient. Our research was unable to find any instance where Albero called for the zoo to be closed.
TAG TEAMING CANDIDATES
One new approach in this debate was a “tag team” approach taken by Day and incumbent mayor Jim Ireton. Ireton never referred to Albero. In a weak attempt to tie Albero and Campbell together, he would say “my TWO opponent”, while pointing to both Albero and Campbell. Day attacked Albero directly by claiming that NO ONE has called for 500 affordable housing units to be built on existing downtown parking lots. Ireton’s downtown plan does call for 500 housing units. Speaking on the matter over the past two years he has called for some or all of those units to be “affordable” housing. Even while trying to call Albero out, Day equivocated; saying “I think” and “I’m pretty sure”.
WHAT’S WRONG WITH TRANSPARENCY?
Monday evening a crowd of over 500 people showed up at the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center to hear some of their elected officials discuss current federal and state initiatives to curtail Marylanders’ right to keep and bear arms. The meeting, hosted by Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) and Wicomico Sheriff Mike Lewis featured the two hosts, Del. Mike McDermott (R-38B), Wicomico State’s Attorney Matt Maciarello, Worcester Sheriff Reggie Mason as well as Sheriff’s (and their representatives) from around the state.
Each speaker emphasized the individual’s God-given right to bear arms, not just for hunting and sporting purposes, but for the protection of one’s person, family and community. Another common theme was the fact that pending federal and state legislation do nothing to stop gun crime, but will make criminals out of law-abiding citizens.
Wicomico Sheriff Mike Lewis spoke and acted as the moderator for the evening’s event. He emphasized the importance of our second amendment rights. He was obviously torn over the potential consequences of pending state legislation. Lewis noted that he swears an oath to protect and uphold the constitution of the United States, the state of Maryland and to enforce the laws of the state; given that most county Sheriff’s believe that this legislation strips Marylanders of their rights to keep and bear arms. Lewis provided an excellent analogy from the infamous Dred Scott decision – Slaves could not bear arms, because they are not citizens.
Congressman Harris made a moving argument regarding the consequences of attempts to strip citizens of their guns:
Many of you already know my story. My parents escaped from communism in the Ukraine right after World War II. In communist regimes, the first thing they do is disarm the citizens.
Harris also demonstrated the hypocrisy of claims that more gun control is about keeping guns out of the hands of criminals:
SHOWING BIAS IN A BETTER WAY?
The Daily Times seems hell bent on queering this year’s Salisbury mayoral / council elections just like they’ve tried every other time in recent memory. Will they be successful? We’ll know next week.
After a series of scandals destroyed what little credibility remained at Salisbury’s Daily Times, new publisher Tom Claybaugh and managing editor Michael Kilian faced a tough choice:
All the News That We WANT to Print
Daily Times
Daily Times
Where is the story on Joe Albero’s economic development plan? Where is a thoughtful analysis of Jake Day’s slick manifesto (which you can’t even download from his site anymore)? Where is an analysis of Jim Ireton’s attempt to raise taxes (more than once) while he claims that he never raised your taxes (worth at least four Pinnochio’s over at the WaPo)? Where is the story about Ireton and Day’s lack of basic math skills (how do to add 500 residential units downtown, plus commercial space when you have less than 100 available parking spots (after you have sold off all of the riverfront lots – which has merit – plus Lot 1 between the library and the plaza?). WHERE is the story about national real estate interests doing a mailing two mailings for Jake Day?
They’re no where to be found. Why? Mr. Kilian doesn’t want the public to learn too much about the candidates running for office. If they did, the DT’s favored candidates wouldn’t stand much of a chance. Unfortunately, things are worse on the op-ed side of the shop thanks to Mr. Claybaugh and op-ed editor Susan Parker.
WE Decide the News, WE Decide YOUR Opinion
Have you bothered to ask yourself why there haven’t been many letters to the editor in support of Joe Albero or Debbie Campbell? The answer is simple … the Daily Times won’t print them.
AVAILABLE After April 2nd
Small City, Population 30,000+
Waterfront Opportunities Available
City Government willing to SUBSIDIZE Real Estate Development
Contact Jake Day
That’s the REAL message that showed up in voters mailboxes yesterday in a mailer from the National Association of Realtors.
When was the last time that a NATIONAL Political Action Committee got involved in a LOCAL race in a city the size of Salisbury?
If you read Salisbury council candidate Jake Day’s “plan” the reason is clear – Day’s “solutions” for Salisbury’s local economy are focused almost exclusively on DOWNTOWN and on SUBSIDIZING RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT.
Is Jake Day channeling the political corpse of the previous Salisbury administration?
Are Day and his backers hoping that putting a NEW FACE on an OLD PROBLEM will make voters forget that they are still paying for past mistakes and that Jake Day wants the Salisbury taxpayer to DOUBLE DOWN?
Next week the Tri-County Council will hold its regular meeting. Where? The safe assumption would be that the meeting would be held at the organization’s new $10 MILLION facility at the corner of US 50 and Walston Switch Road.
You would be wrong. The Tri-County Council is holding its meeting at … a brew pub.
Why are YOUR tax dollars – and that’s what funds the Tri-County Council – being used to hold meetings at a brew pub when you have already paid for perfectly good meeting space?
Wicomico County councilwoman Sheree Sample-Hughes is the chairman of the Tri-County Council. Maybe you should ask her.
Imagine you lived in a city carved up into little wards or districts. Then imagine that your city council members are given “discretionary” funds to dole out for “projects” or to fix potholes and street lights. It sounds like Chicago, New York, or Washington, D.C. Well if Jake Day is elected to the Salisbury City Council, this is what he has in store for you.
Rotten Boroughs
Across the sea in Great Britain, they used to have “rotten” or “pocket” boroughs. These were parliamentary constituencies (districts to us Yanks) that were, in effect, controlled by one person (or a small group of people). The British wisely changed their election practices in the 19th century.
At last month’s Democrat Club meeting Mr. Day announced that if he was elected he (along with councilwomen Laura Mitchell and Shanie Shields) would re-visit re-districting and change the council to a seven member body elected from individual districts. He had previously announced at the Salisbury Chamber / PACE forum that he supported a seven member council. (NOTE: this would occur REGARDLESS of who is elected mayor as charter changes cannot be vetoed.)
What’s wrong with that? If you divide Salisbury into seven districts which are roughly equal by population you will have created FOUR rotten boroughs. Think about it. Salisbury would be governed by AT LEAST four districts where the total votes cast to elect the majority of council would be less than half (probably less than a third) of the votes cast to elect the other seats.
The facts are simple. The current District 1 simply doesn’t show up to vote in city elections. Neighborhoods such as Church Street / Doverdale, the Presidents and Princeton Homes don’t show up to vote in city elections. Residents of Camden, the Park area, the neighborhoods along North and South Schumaker Drives – they show up to vote. Yet – they will be effectively disenfranchised when it comes to city council representation. It is easily conceivable that you will have council members (from a majority of districts) elected with fewer than 100 votes. Some could be elected with fewer than 50!
Bottom line – a group like SAPOA could literally buy a majority of the city council ON THE CHEAP! Is this YOUR vision for a better Salisbury?
Slush Funds
Imagine you lived in a city carved up into little wards or districts. Then imagine that your city council members are given “discretionary” funds to dole out for “projects” or to fix potholes and street lights. It sounds like Chicago, New York, or Washington, D.C. Well if Jake Day is elected to the Salisbury City Council, this is what he has in store for you.
Rotten Boroughs
Across the sea in Great Britain, they used to have “rotten” or “pocket” boroughs. These were parliamentary constituencies (districts to us Yanks) that were, in effect, controlled by one person (or a small group of people). The British wisely changed their election practices in the 19th century.
At last month’s Democrat Club meeting Mr. Day announced that if he was elected he (along with councilwomen Laura Mitchell and Shanie Shields) would re-visit re-districting and change the council to a seven member body elected from individual districts. He had previously announced at the Salisbury Chamber / PACE forum that he supported a seven member council. (NOTE: this would occur REGARDLESS of who is elected mayor as charter changes cannot be vetoed.)
What’s wrong with that? If you divide Salisbury into seven districts which are roughly equal by population you will have created FOUR rotten boroughs. Think about it. Salisbury would be governed by AT LEAST four districts where the total votes cast to elect the majority of council would be less than half (probably less than a third) of the votes cast to elect the other seats.
The facts are simple. The current District 1 simply doesn’t show up to vote in city elections. Neighborhoods such as Church Street / Doverdale, the Presidents and Princeton Homes don’t show up to vote in city elections. Residents of Camden, the Park area, the neighborhoods along North and South Schumaker Drives – they show up to vote. Yet – they will be effectively disenfranchised when it comes to city council representation. It is easily conceivable that you will have council members (from a majority of districts) elected with fewer than 100 votes. Some could be elected with fewer than 50!
Bottom line – a group like SAPOA could literally buy a majority of the city council ON THE CHEAP! Is this YOUR vision for a better Salisbury?
Slush Funds
Yesterday we highlighted Salisbury mayor Jim Ireton’s interview on Delmarva Public Radio. In addition to being scarily anti-business in his rhetoric, Ireton also made the following comment:
I get up every day and barrel at 110%.
Really Jim? What do you “barrel” at?
For the moment, let’s ignore the debate as to whether a “part-time” mayor can successfully operate a $51 million enterprise. (I believe the record indicates a big NO on that one.) Let’s ask two other questions:
If your definition of being “part-time” is spending one second or more per week, month, etc. to the job of being mayor I’d have to give Ireton a free pass. However, IF (like me) you define the term as spending 20 – 30 hours per week at a task then the answer is clearly no. This ties directly in to question two.
For four years, and particularly during the last two, Jim Ireton has spent a fair piece of his “mayor time” engaged in political grandstanding, partisan politics, and pushing an agenda that is not even tangentially connected to making Salisbury a better place to live and to work.
In August, 2011 Ireton took time out of his supposedly busy day to picket the Salisbury office of Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD). He has time to picket, but not to sit down with city council and engage in civil, honest discussion of issues facing our city? Did this make Salisbury a better place to live and to work?
In June, 2011 Ireton called a press conference to attack the city council majority for not backing his planned luxury apartment project at “The Bricks”. In his press conference Ireton implies that council members Debbie Campbell, Terry Cohen, and Tim Spies are racists (sound familiar?) and intimates that racial discord could follow (with councilwomen Laura Mitchell and Shanie Shields cheering him on). Ireton’s rantings before the press are numerous, and (sadly) legendary. Do any of these things make Salisbury a better place to live and to work?
Ireton has travelled to Annapolis to lobby for issues such as gay marriage. Unless Ireton has some undisclosed plan to make Salisbury a mecca for gay marriage (with the tourism dollars that would follow) we have to ask – Do any of these things make Salisbury a better place to live and to work?
Ireton has lent his name and the prestige of his office to a campaign to strip gun rights from our citizens. Do any of these things make Salisbury a better place to live and to work? (Criminals will still get guns. C’mon … They’re CRIMINALS)
So … what’s your definition of “part-time”.
Last week, Don Rush of Delmarva Public Radio interviewed both candidates for mayor of Salisbury. The contrast was startling. While this was not candidate (and SBYNews publisher) Joe Albero’s best interview, he was relaxed and discussed the issues facing the city. Incumbent mayor Jim Ireton was agitated, sarcastic, interrupted Rush numerous times, and let the world know that Salisbury is NOT a business-friendly community.
See the interviews below. Ireton’s starts at about 29 minutes in.
Ireton claims great accomplishment. Nothing is his fault. If something didn’t happen it was because of the city council, specifically Debbie Campbell. If businesses believe that Salisbury isn’t business-friendly, it’s THEIR fault, not the city’s. Oh … and he PLANS to do lots of things IF he’s re-elected.
For every ten people that come to the city, five feel they’ve been treated OK. – Salisbury mayor Jim Ireton
What is most disturbing is Ireton’s attitude towards business. If you make a profit, you need to pay more. If the police have to come to your business TWICE in TWO YEARS, the city (NOT a judge) should be able to shut you down. If you appeal, you have to appeal to the same person who already decided to close your doors.
If you are a businessperson looking to move to Salisbury and you hear the mayor sarcastically asking questions like, “Who made that profit?” or “Somebody’s making money somewhere.” do you think that Salisbury is a great place to do business?
Ireton states, “For every ten people that come to the city, five feel they’ve been treated OK.” Ireton thinks that’s acceptable! Do you deal with businesses who take the attitude that they only need to satisfy 50% of their customers? If you are a business do you want to move to a city that takes this attitude? If you are a businessperson in Salisbury, do you want to expand in a city that takes this attitude?
You don’t have to give away the store to attract businesses. You don’t have to make Salisbury unsafe to encourage businesses to expand. You do need a sea change in attitude. Satisfying 50% of your customers is NOT acceptable. Making Salisbury “more progressive” isn’t going to attract business.
Giving YOUR Money Away to a Select Few
Salisbury mayor Jim Ireton LOVES to spend other people’s money. OK, he’s a liberal. Actually, Jim’s politics are somewhere to the left of Karl Marx. Ireton has seldom seen a government program he didn’t love. If Ireton is re-elected, AND if Jake Day is elected to the city council, Jim has a plan to spend some MORE of YOUR hard earned money. It involves re-developing downtown.
Ireton wants to sell the downtown parking lots for a song, subsidize them by waiving the capacity fees for water and sewer, and HOPE that Salisbury will somehow be re-born.
Does anyone believe that adding 500 “affordable housing units” downtown is going to re-vitalize Salisbury’s local economy? Evidently Ireton, along with Jake Day, councilwoman Laura Mitchell, and councilwoman Shanie Shields do.
The “logic” goes something like this:
Does that make sense to you?
500 Affordable Housing Units
OK, we sell off the parking lots, take EDU’s (water and sewer capacity) away from industrial development that could actually create jobs that pay a living wage, and 500 more housing units appear. Do you think that businesses will then flock to downtown? Ireton and his pals do.
Grocery Stores, Pharmacies, and Boutiques … OH MY!
Before a retail business decides to invest in a site they look at certain things, including traffic count and parking. Would you build a grocery store based on a target population of less than 2,000? Of course you wouldn’t!
But wait, wouldn’t people from outside the immediate area come? Would they? I live to the southeast of downtown. There are at least three grocery stores and at least seven pharmacies closer to my home than the downtown plaza. Well, maybe the people who live over on the west side will come? I can think of at least two grocery stores and two pharmacies that are closer. Well maybe the folks from Newtown? Maybe. Where are they going to park? Remember – Jimmy, Jake, Laura, and Shanie have sold all of the parking except for the parking garage. Do you really believe that those folks from Newtown are going to walk across US 50 and then schlep their groceries back on foot?
OK, I’ll agree that one convenience store might succeed under the Ireton plan.
It’s MAGIC!
The notion that this will re-vitalize downtown, much less Salisbury’s local economy is too ridiculous for real comment. Downtown CAN be salvaged. It CAN be re-vitalized. It just won’t happen by throwing subsidies at a few developers.
You need a solution that drives traffic. Business people will then be willing to invest their own capital. Look at Joe Albero’s plan. It not only makes sense, it offers a REAL, free-market driven solution for downtown as well as a plan for the city’s entire economy.
Subsidizing residential development was a failure during the real estate boom! Salisbury borrowed millions of dollars that were handed over to a select group of residential developers. What did that yield? Temporary construction jobs. Subsidizing retail doesn’t yield jobs that pay a living wage.
The key is to allow development without unnecessary government interference. The key is show potential employers – not just downtown, but throughout Salisbury – that the city will treat businesses, and residents, like valued customers.
Why can’t Jimmy Ireton learn from past mistakes; both his own and his predecessor’s?
WANTED: Pabulum, Pandering, and NO QUESTIONS
Sunday’s Daily Times provided one of the most disturbing editorials I have read in a long time. Tom Claybaugh, Susan Parker, et al, have the chutzpah to rip their shirts and lament low voter turnout in city elections and then turn right around and call on candidates to shovel sh## rather than talk about real issues:
We do not want to hear anything from any candidate about what someone else has done or failed to do, might do, has said, really meant instead of did say or, worst of all, is thinking or intending to do.
It’s little wonder voters are so disengaged.
Voters don’t vote because they feel that little or nothing will change. Yes, there is a certain amount of civic disengagement; but ultimately people will turn out IF they feel that their vote means something.
Jim Ireton has had almost four years to accomplish something, yet the Daily Times won’t examine his record and doesn’t want candidates OR citizens questioning it. When Ireton announced his run for re-election he claimed that he had kept his promises. At the top of his list – not increasing taxes. Where is the front page expose on the FACT that Ireton not only proposed a tax hike, he tried to veto the FY 2013 budget BECAUSE it didn’t include his tax hike? and … The list goes on.
DT readers, and all other Salisbury citizens, deserve a newspaper that asks ALL CANDIDATES tough question. Candidates need to ask tough questions about their respective opponents’ records and proposals. Citizens should do the same. Unfortunately, Claybaugh & Co. simply want to feed voters pabulum about their chosen candidates, pander to the lowest common denominator, and most importantly – avoid asking their favored few any TOUGH QUESTIONS.
Let’s hope the reporting side of the shop didn’t get the memo.
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