City Council Approves Policy Change in Capacity Fee Payments



Muir Boda

 
One of the issues that has been an obstacle for businesses coming to Salisbury is the issue of capacity fees. Specifically the fact that businesses were required to pay in full and up front. It appears this issue has been resolved with the option of a payment plan.


Public Works Director Theresa Gardner recently proposed this change after listening to the business community and particularly one business owner who is bringing a brewery to Salisbury. I applaud Director Gardner, Mayor Jim Ireton and the City Council for making the change in policy that will most certainly help with economic development in Salisbury.

Mayor Ireton and City Administrator John Pick also commented on the issue of updating our municipal code. Mayor Ireton requested all department heads look at the code that pertained to their department and see where we could make improvements. The comment was made that the department heads did such a thorough job that it may take some time to put everything together “in bite size chunks” as Mr. Pick put it.

It will be interesting to see what ideas and suggestions have come up in this process. It is most likely that the new City Council will address most of these over the next couple of years. I hope to be a part of that discussion.

For now, this is a good change in policy based on common sense and the willingness of City officials to listen to the business community and make a change. This is a good thing.

Muir Boda
Candidate for Salisbury City Council
http://www.boda4salisbury.com/

Crime is Down, Calls for Service Up



Muir Boda

 As Mayor Ireton has pointed out, Part One crime is down in Salisbury and that is a good thing. Especially given the fact we had an interim Police Chief for most of the year in Ivan Barkley, who did an excellent job stepping up to the plate. What is interesting is the fact that calls for service were up 9.8% in 2010.


So far in January of 2011 SPD has over 3,500 calls for service and that is trending down from last January, which saw 4,600 calls for service. There are several things to take into consideration when crunching all these numbers. It does not include when someone files charges at the commissioners office. It does not include arrests made by other agencies in the city, including Salisbury University Police, whose 2010 statistics are not yet available.

When analyzing the gradual rise in crime over the past 10 years, we must not be satisfied until we can make drastic reductions. The current level of criminal activity is unacceptable and looking at SPD’s 10 year comparison will tell that story.

What we must understand is that we are talking about people’s lives, not numbers. Many are living in fear from what they see, hear and experience and that lingers much longer than the drop in crime rates. It will take time to change those perceptions and feelings. Working together, not against each other is the key.

Many of us are looking forward to what Mayor Ireton will put forth in the next phase of Safe Streets. If elected, I pledge to work with Mayor Ireton on his initiatives. We may not always agree on the details but we do agree that we want our Police Department to have the tools and direction they require as they combat crime in our city.

In the end, we all want Salisbury to be a better place to live, work and play for our family, friends and our future generations.


Muir Boda
Candidate for Salisbury City Council
http://www.boda4salisbury.com/

Authority: Muir Boda for Salisbury, Deborah Anderson, Treasurer

How Would I Vote? - The Fire Boat

As the issue stands now, I would not vote in favor of this boat. Mainly because the boat that is being considered would be better suited for Crisfield. Even though it is Stimulus money, I do not think it fiscally responsible to accept grant funds that are borrowed.

I do not disagree that we need a new fire boat and one that is suitable to our situation. We are the second busiest port in Maryland and there is quite bit of fuel that travels up our river. However, I believe there are other options that cost less and we should be looking at those.

How Would I Vote? - The Old Firehouse

Despite the controversy surrounding this issue I would have voted for the sale.




I believe Palmer Gillis’ intentions are honroable and that he did not attempt to deceive anyone. There are strict requirements in this deal and everyone must understand that an educational component is required. Failure to adhere to the requirements will result in the building being forfeited back to the city.

The other aspect of this issue is that renovation costs could be between $500,000 to $1,000,000. There are very few who have the resources available to pull that off and Palmer is one of those few. He has a proven track record here in Salisbury and I hope we can all give him a chance to accomplish something that we all will benefit from.

Muir Boda announces candidacy for Salisbury City Council

The City of Salisbury stands at a crossroads in her rich and storied history. There are tough choices that lie ahead and they need to be made now. Continually putting off issues has brought us to this point, where gangs are controlling our streets, businesses refuse to come to Salisbury and personality issues hang over us like a dark cloud.


On one hand we can continue down the path we have been steadily going for years. Economic stagnation, rising crime rates, gang problems and an assault on property rights which is fueled by name calling, personal vendettas and an outright refusal of elected officials willing to address the issues that this city faces. We have alienated the business community, neighborhoods and our law enforcement community. Leadership and responsibility have been sucked up into the black hole of gridlock, making our government ineffective on major issues.

On the other hand we have a choice of electing leaders who are willing to put aside personal differences and egos to help move our city forward. We need leaders to reach out to our disenfranchised neighborhoods, embrace our business community and encourage everyone to join together and resist the gang violence and crime that is destroying our city.

I believe a three pronged approach to reducing crime is needed from a City standpoint. Strengthening economic opportunity, providing law enforcement with the tools they need to succeed and challenging our faith based community to step up and support our civic organizations in reaching out to those who need and are crying for help. All of these are intertwined and cannot fully succeed without the other.

The economic situation we face is dire and we need to make changes now. We need to create an environment that is conducive to business and it begins with a welcoming attitude. We need to approach our business community with an attitude of – what can we do for you? One way I believe we can help businesses, is by creating a streamlined process into one office for purposes of doing business in the city. This will reduce confusion and set clear expectations and fix a process that currently drives business away.

There are many more issues that we face and I believe they should be approached with common sense, integrity and a servant’s heart. Public servants are just that, servants. Not Lords or masters, they are here to serve the citizens, taxpayers and all who enter into our boundaries for peaceful purposes.

We have much work to do and I believe it is our duty to pass on this great city better than we received her. We are obligated to make her stronger, safer and more beautiful for the generations to come after us. Leaving her deep in debt, rundown from violence and with less opportunity is not only wrong but I believe immoral.

Join me as we work to restore dignity and pride in Salisbury. We must return civility to our debates and respect to the council chamber. That is where we must begin, that is where I intend to begin.



Muir Boda
Candidate for Salisbury City Council
http://www.boda4salisbury.com/
(410)603-3347
boda4council@gmail.com

Quote of the Day, Maybe Year

"Dramatics abounded Monday in Salisbury: Dramatic talk, dramatic allegations, dramatic innuendoes, dramatic declarations. Everything but dramatic action."

Daily Times Editorial Board

Click here to read the entire Editorial

Expansion of My Position on City Elections: Part 1

There were some good discussions Monday Evening at the Salisbury City Council meeting on a wide range of issues. It was also good to finally see an even wider variety of concerned citizens speaking up. One individual, Bob Taylor who is a local attorney, spoke in response to my editorial in Sunday’s Daily Times, though he did not mention me specifically.

Mr. Taylor slightly disagreed with my reason on moving the elections to November, as he felt local candidates will “get lost in the shuffle” as voters juggle national, state, and local issues. Mr. Taylor eluded he would rather have a low voter turnout elect candidates than a larger turnout where all the voters may not have a complete grasp on the important local issues. I’ll touch on that viewpoint later.

Tuesday followed with an article in the Daily Times by Laura D'Alessandro in response to my editorial in Sunday’s paper. It was a very good article with a wide range of viewpoints. Harry Basehart a political science professor from Salisbury University had a similar opinion to Mr. Taylor. Professor Basehart said in the article, “There's no doubt that if we elected the mayor and council members at the same time we have state elections, the turnout would increase but the downside is people will focus on local issues and local candidates, while they're also trying to focus on state candidates and state issues."

I certainly understand where they both are coming and I don’t totally disagree with them. I just felt we needed to bring this issue to the forefront, as this was one of the constant questions citizens were asking me during the campaign. Certainly there are other issues, crime, taxes, the WWTP, among other that are important, as is the important step in how and when we choose the individuals who will be making those decisions.

Now where I disagree with Mr. Taylor and Mr. Basehart is the assumption that voters cannot handle the Municipal elections at the same time as the Gubernatorial elections. I believe the voting population is smarter than most people think. Many abstain from voting but pay attention. Many don’t pay attention and vote. Some vote for a name they recognize, there are those that always vote against incumbents, and you always have Mickey Mouse receiving a few write-ins. That is Democracy.

I believe there are more advantages to moving the election to November. First, it is the traditional time to vote, we are programmed to vote in November. Second, in Salisbury the ones that go south for the winter will not be gone yet. When they return in the spring, many have missed the primary and are not up to speed on all the candidates. Third, the transition of power will not be in the middle of the budget session for a new mayor or council. They will be able to assimilate into their positions better if elected in the fall and avoid a “baptism by fire.”

Hopefully this debate will continue. My next post will be about creating voting districts within the city.

The Health Insurance Solution (For Salisbury City Council Members)

This became a hot issue when former Salisbury Mayor Barrie P. Tilghman did not place it in the FY10 budget. Three City Council members have selected to use the Health Insurance and one member has decided to opt out when open enrollment comes up September 1, 2009. Historically this has been offered to City Council Members however it is not included in the City Charter as a part of the compensation package for Council Members and the Mayor.

This issue needs to be properly addressed by codifying the compensation for Elected Officials to include health insurance, life insurance, and retirement in the City Charter. Once it is set, then a decision needs to be looked into whether or not to grandfather in Council Members who currently receive these benefits. My answer would be yes, to grandfather them in. No matter what their position was when running for public office on the issue.

My personal view is I do not feel health insurance should be offered to City Council members in it's current form. I believe it should be offered as it is to City Employees. They are offered several stages, the basic which is covered by the city and then higher levels where the employee is required to pay for a portion of the premium.

That is where I stand on the issue and hopefully the Council and Mayor with proper advice can come to a solution that is both ethical and legal. We certainly do not need to have this to deal with in the future.

UPDATE: This has become an issue that has sky rocketed into the stratosphere. By Monday morning this is going to be national news. Jonathan Taylor, owner of Views of a Salisbury Grinch, has filed an ethics complaint against City Councilwomen Terry Cohen and Debbie Campbell.

More Sacrifices Requested of Salisbury Citizens

In the FY10 budget for the City of Salisbury, taxpayers are asked to make some more sacrifices from their pocketbook. In the wake of a 1% sales tax increase and a sales tax expansion last year for the State of Maryland, now Salisburians are being asked to dig deeper.

The increases come in two forms, the first coming through an increase in the Water and Sewer fees. The second coming from the City Government not reducing the property tax rate percentile to offset the increase in the Phase in Assessment of Real Property Taxes. Businesses take the bigger hit as they pay 70% of taxes in the City.

Thankfully we have a revenue cap on the County Government as County Executive Rick Pollitt openly desires to make changes in the revenue cap to significantly raise revenues. City taxpayers are already paying enough and are quickly running out of pockets for the government to dip in to.

Interesting City Council Meeting Tonight

Tonight's Salisbury City Council Meeting was very interesting and the hot issue was Health Insurance for the City Council. Unfortunately, Councilwoman Debbie Campbell was not present to contribute to the discussion due to being under the weather.

Here is how the voting went on the agenda.

Adoption of Agenda - Passed Unanimously (4-0)

Consent Agenda - Passed Unanimously (4-0)
May 11, 2009 Minutes

• Resolution No. 1785 - appointment of Melanie L. Perreault to the Historic District Commission.
• Resolution No. 1786 - appointment of Muir Boda (yours truly) to the Recycling Advisory Committee.
• Resolution No. 1787 - reappointment of City Councilwoman Debbie Campbell as Council member on the PAC-14 Board of Directors.

Award of Bids - Passed Unanimously (4-0)

• American Paving Corporation awarded contract to "furnish, deliver, and apply bituminous concrete paving on variety of city streets" for $175,898.50. There is also a clause that may require more or less funds depending on market price of asphalt.

FY10 Budget -

• Resolution No. 1779 - adoption of water and sewer rates. This increased water and sewer rates. Passed Unanimously (4-0).

• Ordinance No. 2078 for 2nd reading - adoption of FY10 budget. Passed Unanimously (4-0).

• To break this out a little, there was discussion on exhibit A and the ordinance stated "AND BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED by the Salisbury City Council that these summary amounts shall be spent under the limitations of the attached list herein known as the FY 10 Budget Items Adjusted by Council Exhibit Awhether the amounts are added deleted reduced or increased."

This is the Council's changes to the Mayor's Proposed Budget. The Council had reached consensus on every item with the exception of Health Insurance for the City Council at a cost of $21,429.00 that was not in the submitted budget by former Mayor Barrie Tilghman. On Friday, May 22, 2009, Mayor Ireton said he was going to submit corrections to the budget by adding this item back. He was citing historical precedent by previous Mayors who had added items back into budgets.

City Council Vice-President Gary Comegys offered an amendment that would officially place this item in the budget. By voting "NO" Council Members would be removing Health Insurance from the budget. Mr. Comegys and Mrs. Shields voted "AYE" and Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Cohen voted "NAY", the amendment failed because there was a tie. If City Councilwoman Campbell had been present and voted "NAY", they would have removed Health Insurance from Exhibit A.

Over thirty minutes of discussion on this issue, they finally voted and passed the FY10 Budget, with City Council Health Insurance. The other issue that rose out of this is there was no reduction in the Tax Rate Percentile to offset the increase of the Phase In Assessment property value, essentially raising property taxes.

• Resolution No. 1784 - Passed Unanimously (4-0). Approved the transfer of several small pieces of land to SHA for some work that needs to be done on the Rt. 13 Bridge that crosses Rt. 50. One piece will be transferred back to the city once the work is done.

City Councilwoman Terry Cohen offered an amendment to switch from a Program/Performance Budget to a Line Item Budget. There was no second so the motion failed.

Mrs. Cohen also made another motion that did get seconded and passed. It changed a particular Resolution into an Ordinance, I didn't catch the number. It did pass unanimously.

I have several concerns about the FY10 budget and a couple of other issues, the health insurance is one, that I will post about later this week.