Campbell's Statement As Provided to the Daily Times

In reference to a legal memorandum drafted by City Attorney Paul Wilbur at the Mayor’s request and concerning my testimony in Civil Case C07-0068 - Silverstrim, et al. for Judicial Review of the Decision of the Salisbury Housing Board of Adjustments and Appeals, my testimony concerned only personal events that occurred prior to my election to the City Council.

The only item that I could have testified to, in connection to my position as a member of the City Council, was a document written by the President of the Housing Board in his official capacity and sent to the Mayor in her official capacity, that the City refused to authenticate prior to trial. Upon my arrival in the court to authenticate the document, the City then decided to stipulate to the authenticity of this document. So my testimony to authenticate that document was not necessary and was not given.

At no time did I waive my legislative immunity. Further, Mr. Paul Wilbur was present as Council for the City of Salisbury at this hearing. Had there been any question of my testimony or legislative immunity, it was incumbent upon Mr. Wilbur in his capacity as City Council to advise me of my legal rights. Mr. Wilbur never counseled me as a member of City Council not to testify to personal events that occurred prior to my election to City Council, as the events testified to had no bearing on my official legislative status. When asked how I had voted on specific matters I referred to the meeting minutes provided and responded.

The Honorable Donald C. Davis pointed out how the laws were written to protect the landlords in his opinion from the bench:

----------"Some of the problems that have been identified and the shortcomings that are identified with the manner in which the building official and the Board handled the case are, I think, inherent in the language of the Statute itself. . . . I think it could well be argued that the language in a number of these provisions in the Statute sort of favors the landlords in that it requires the landlord to provide the minimum necessary to show that he or she is entitled to the authorization but does not require the landlord to show or to attest that the facts are such that he may not be, or she may not be entitled."

"The burden of disproving anything that the landlord would say in the way of showing that the bare minimum requirements have been satisfied is placed on the opponents. And it is indeed true that in these cases, just the nature of the situation is such that the only person who had ready access to the evidence that would disprove it is the landlord him or herself. . . .But wisely or unwisely the City by enacting this ordinance as it did has placed the burden on the neighbors, not the landlord."

Another question an investigative reporter should ask, is how a confidential legal memorandum drafted by the City Attorney wound up in the hands of a reporter. Who disclosed this information? Has this jeopardized the City's interests more than anything I could have testified to?

Seeking Volunteers for Environmental Solutions For Waverly Storm Drain Project and Others By Councilwoman Debbie Campbell

As many already know, the vote on the Waverly Storm Drain project was a particularly difficult one for me, as well as for Councilwoman Cohen. We are supportive of the project to move storm water out of residents' yards, but believe concerns we raised about moving the problem to another area of the floodplain, the blank-check opportunity for change orders to be paid by city taxpayers, and the adverse impact to our already endangered river are valid issues to be addressed.

It is possible to be environmentally responsible to our river at the same time we devise relief for property owners. This should not need to be an "either/or" choice.

To the end of finding solutions on this issue, I have continued to pursue ways of treating storm water released into the Wicomico and its tributaries. I have done quite a bit of research and was able to make contact with the Center for Watershed Protection. They have expressed interest in assisting with retrofit proposals and have shared a link to their recently released Urban Storm water Retrofit Practices manual, which will provide you with much more information on the retrofitting process – everything from scoping (e.g. to address problems such as downstream flooding, water quality, etc.) to site assessment to concept design.

The manual is available for download, free of charge, from their website. Center for Watershed Protection

If you scroll about halfway down their home page, you will see a link for the manual – just click on it and the download process will begin. I’d recommend that you take a look at Chapter 1, which provides some basics about storm water retrofitting. Chapters 2 and 3 get into some of the technical details, describing the locations where retrofitting can be accomplished (Ch. 2) and the storm water management practices that can be used (Ch. 3). Chapter 4 provides details about identifying storm water retrofit opportunities – this describes the protocol that one would follow to actually come up with a concept and design for a storm water retrofit.

I have also identified some potential sources for grant funding for at least some of the implementation. At a recent meeting, the city administration presented a list of projects to fund with some unspent bond proceeds. I suggested that retrofit of the Waverly system be added, but only Councilwoman Cohen supported my suggestion, so it died due to lack of support by the council. Therefore, I have been pursuing other funding options.

The work on this particular issue may have yielded a resource for solutions that will be much more far-reaching and could benefit the river and our community beyond what I had anticipated. This could be a "silver lining" in the debate and offers a great opportunity for us to effect city-wide storm water treatment options for existing release points to our river.

Because city staff resources are limited and because projects have an additional level of success when citizens are involved early in the process, I am asking for citizen volunteers to work with me or independently on developing these resources into a set of options for the city to consider for implementation. Please contact me right away so that incorporating a filtration method into the Waverly Storm Drain project can be addressed as soon as possible, with the added benefit of developing resources and sound policy options for the rest of the city's waterway release points.

Campbell Shares Funding Resource for Nonprofits

Councilwoman Debbie Campbell recognizes the efforts and value of nonprofits
working to improve Salisbury, so she passes along word of this valuable resource.

Thanks to the Foundation Center, many funding opportunities with the potential to benefit local groups are described in one easy resource listing. Many are nationally available, while others are limited to certain geographic areas or by other criteria.

To name just a few nationally available programs accepting Requests for Proposals (RFPs) right now are:

1.) "Project Ignition" provides grants for students to develop safe driving messages for students in grades 9 - 12.

2.) ***Target Corporation's Local Store Grants provide funding for literacy, arts and family violence prevention initiatives.

3.) ***Patagonia, the famous outdoor gear and clothing company, is offering funds to 501(c)(3) nonprofits or those with a comparable sponsor that work to protect and preserve the environment, with small grassroots organizations especially targeted.


To learn more about these many exciting opportunities, visit the Foundation Center's RFP resource page at Foundation Center. If you would like to subscribe to their wonderful RFP Bulletin, go to RFP Bulletin

Audio Files of Council Meetings Now Available on On Your Side

While we celebrate seeing audio files of council meetings starting to appear on the city website, our own tech volunteer did some experimenting of her own. The result is, On Your Side is able to offer downloads of audio files as well.

Please be patient when downloading audio files from either site. Even on DSL and cable, these large files can take a while to open or save to your computer. We hope you enjoy the increased accessibility to city government information this provides.

Kudos for Council Meeting Audio Online

Thanks go to Salisbury City Clerk Brenda Colegrove and Asst. City Clerk Kim Nichols for their work in getting the audio of the March 24 City Council Meeting on the city's website. You'll find the link to it on the right hand side of the home page, City Website under the column "Announcements."

At our Feb. 21 public input meeting, citizens requested online audio access to meetings. Mrs. Colegrove, who was in attendance to take minutes for part of that meeting, informed us then that she was working with City Administrator John Pick to make that happen. To all involved, thank you for making this information easily accessible to the public.

Mayor's State of the City Address Is Mon., Mar. 31

Mayor Tilghman will deliver her annual State of the City address in a live broadcast on PAC 14 on Monday, March 31st, at Noon, in the Council Chambers, Rm. 301 of the Government Office Building, N. Division St. Salisbury.

2ND OPEN GOVT. FORUM STIMULATES CITIZEN INITIATIVES

Salisbury City Council members Debbie Campbell and Terry Cohen held their second public input meeting Tuesday night on the topic of increasing transparency in city government. After a brief recap of developments from the previous such forum held in February, participants were introduced to citizen-driven initiatives on budget oversight and governmental accountability taking place in other locales.

Following the presentations, attendees were given an opportunity to toss out questions about a wide variety of topics. Then they broke into work groups where they defined projects of interest. These included collection of public safety data, a spending affordability analysis for short- and long-term planning, and access to line item financial data of the city, to name a few.

“We were pleased to see a number of new faces during this meeting,” Campbell said, noting that some previous participants also came while others who could not attend noted their desire to stay involved. “These citizens are ready to roll up their sleeves and make a positive contribution,” Campbell added.

Further details from the meeting will be forthcoming on this website within the next day or two. For more information, contact council members Debbie Campbell at 410-860-0893 or Terry Cohen at 410-845-0296.

CAMPBELL, COHEN TO HOLD 2ND OPEN GOVT. PUBLIC INPUT MEETING

At the request of participants in their first public input meeting on increasing transparency in Salisbury City Council, council members Debbie Campbell and Terry Cohen will hold their second public input meeting Tuesday, March 25, 6:30-8:30 p.m. in Meeting Room 1 (basement) of the Wicomico County Free Library.

This second forum will be mostly workgroup-style to enable participants to have a more focused experience in developing their particular areas of interest. The first meeting, held in February at Las Palmas Restaurant, provided a long list of citizens’ questions and ideas about public accessibility to records and information, opportunities for communication by the city with its constituents, and disclosure of who is doing business with the city, to name a few topics.

A recap of the previous input meeting, held Feb. 21, can be viewed on this blog at the following link: Previous Meeting Recap

Light refreshments will be served. The meeting is free and open to the public. For more information, email or call either Councilwoman Debbie Campbell at 410-860-0893 or Councilwoman Terry Cohen at 410-845-0296.

Budget Amendment Requests of $318,765 To Be Considered by Council March 24

At the March 24 legislative session of the Salisbury City Council, the council will be asked to amend the budget to allow for another $318,675 in expenditures (the total as of March 18, subject to change). As of the night of March 19, the briefing book for the meeting is available for download from the city’s website at: Briefing Book

However, no information on the budget amendment ordinance is included in the online briefing packet as of the March 19 posting. Below is a list of the changes to the budget requested by the draft ordinance:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SALISBURY, MARYLAND that the City’s Fiscal Year 2008 General Fund, Water Fund, Sewer Fund, Marina Fund and Parking Authority Fund budgets be and are hereby, amended as follows:

1) Increase the current surplus account for the General Fund (01000-469810) by $257,267
2) Increase the other miscellaneous account for the General Fund (01000-456911) by $7,350
3) Increase Internal Services by $44,962
4) Increase City Attorney by $88,750
5) Increase Municipal Buildings by $58,125
6) Increase Fire by $5,300
7) Increase Public Works – Recreation & Culture by $16,600
8) Increase Debt Service & Other Uses by $50,880
9) Increase the current surplus account for the Water Fund (60100-469810) by $22,248
10) Increase the Water Fund expenses by $22,248
11) Increase the current surplus account for the Sewer Fund (60100-469810) by $29,762
12) Increase the Sewer Fund expenses by $29,762
13) Increase the Transfer from General Fund for the Marina Fund (60300-469110) by $3,330
14) Increase the Marina Fund expenses by $3,330
15) Increase the current surplus for the Parking Authority Fund (10100-469810) by $2,138
16) Increase the Parking Authority Fund expenses by $2,138

The budget amendment is scheduled last in the agenda before public comments (but is subject to change). Citizens are encouraged to attend the meeting, to be held at 6 p.m., in Council Chambers, Room 301, on the third floor of the Government Office Building, N. Division St., in downtown Salisbury. Those who cannot attend can watch it on cable television’s PAC14 channel. Those without cable but with computers can watch it on PAC14’s streaming video at
Pac 14

Councilwomen Debbie Campbell and Terry Cohen will continue to inquire about issues concerning these budget requests and fiscal process as a whole. At the March 17, 2008, work session, the council majority (Louise Smith, Gary Comegys and Shanie Shields) declined to advance Campbell’s charter change recommendation to tighten language concerning the transfer of public monies, which was similar to that of state law.

Also declined by the council majority was Cohen’s request for the council to review and approve minutes of work sessions and other non-legislative meetings for which the Open Meetings Act requires (OMA) minutes to be taken. However, the OMA does not require these minutes to be approved by the public body. Cohen noted that since minutes of these meetings are open to public inspection, approving them would be a “best practice” to ensure that information available for public inspection would accurately reflect the representations and actions of council members. She said she also spoke with a member of the Maryland Attorney General’s office who said they should be approved by the public body.

Cohen also requested, in accordance with the City Council Rules of Order, that an item be added for to the March 24 agenda for the council to have the city clerk’s office add work session and other non-legislative meetings’ minutes to the city website. Cohen’s requested item was not added to the agenda.

UPDATE

Council President Louise Smith responded today (March 20) to Cohen's request for an agenda item March 24 to add work session and non-legislative meeting minutes to city website. Smith said she'd move the request to the pending list for available future work sessions.

Budget Account Deficits Still Pose Problems

Councilwomen Debbie Campbell and Terry Cohen were featured in Part 2 of WMDT’s news coverage of the city’s budget problems aired Thursday, March 13, at 6 and 11 p.m. To read the written version, click on this link: Salisbury City Budget Problems?

On behalf of the Tilghman administration, City Administrator John Pick maintained the following in the WMDT interview:

"We've got the ability to move money from one account to another with the approval of the mayor," Pick said.

Campbell and Cohen pointed out that the administration is not consistently doing what Pick said. Based on Cohen’s review of documents and a meeting with administrative staff, checks are being cut to vendors without the proper advance authorization to “move money” between accounts that Pick references. In at least one case, money was never moved between accounts within a department. Money was simply paid out from one account to cover the expenses of another.

Whether appropriations occur at a “line-item” level or a program “level” is still debatable. However, when money is not properly transferred and tracked between accounts, the likelihood increases that necessary items may have funding pulled.

“You wind up with an unrealistic picture of what financial resources you have to work with at any given point in time,” Cohen said. “That kind of poor financial management can result in priorities not being achieved, necessary maintenance not being done, and the purpose of appropriations not being served.”

Campbell referred back to the cautions issued by the audit communications released approximately six weeks ago.

“The audit said our internal financial controls are weak. We had an unusually large number of adjustments. Over $10 million was not properly accounted for. Our financial information is untimely, inaccurate and unreliable. The audit said there was more than a remote chance that errors or fraud could go undetected,” Campbell explained.

On the issue of the report Campbell and Cohen are seeking to have “dumped” directly from the financial system so that the council can be assured of seeing the numbers in their raw form, Council President Louise Smith reversed her former position of support of Campbell and Cohen’s request at this time after discussions with the administration.

Account Overdrafts, Obstructed Access Top Story on WMDT

Council members Debbie Campbell and Terry Cohen were featured tonight on WMDT Channel 47's 6 p.m. newscast. They addressed issues re: the still-unresolved deficits in city financial accounts, most notably the $45,000 over expenditure in insurance accounts. Neither transfer approvals by the mayor nor budget amendment approvals were obtained from the city council prior to cutting the insurance payment checks.

While the city administration has maintained that these appropriations are not specified in the budget ordinance and that the budget ordinance determines appropriations, Campbell and Cohen referenced numerous sections of the charter, state law, portions of the budget ordinance, quarterly reports, and the approved budget book to demonstrate why the budget ordinance does not excuse the administration for over expending accounts.

The report sought by but denied to Campbell and mentioned in the WMDT newscast is the expense portion of the "Next Year/Current Year Budget Analysis" which is provided to the council at budget time. The revenue portion of the report had already been provided to the council. While the report contains three columns of information relative to the budget, for which planning is still in progress, the bulk of the report is comparisons of current and previous year expenditures against budgeted amounts.

Unlike the report actually received, this report reflects a data dump directly from the city's financial system, thereby ensuring no modifications that might yield inaccuracies. Both Campbell and Cohen suggested to the city administrator that the "in-progress columns" could be caveatted by a simple cover memo or physically cut off the report requested if the administration felt so strongly about it being in the hands of council members.

For the written report of the WMDT newscast, go to:
City Council Talks Budget Concerns

A second segment of the story will air Thursday night on the 6 p.m. newscast.

Councilwoman Campbell Convenes Highly Successful Affordable Housing Resources Forum

On Thursday, March 6, Councilwoman Debbie Campbell convened a panel of state experts to discuss access to resources for the development and preservation of affordable single-family and multifamily housing. The audience included developers, construction industry professionals and local non-profit partner representatives. Topics included state programs that provide:

* grants and loans for development of new affordable single-family and multifamily housing;
* grants and loans that make home ownership affordable;
* grants and loans for the renovation and preservation of existing rental units;
* funding for energy efficiency and lead paint abatement in owner occupied and rental properties; and
* grants available to income-qualified seniors so that they can make modifications needed to remain in their homes.

Examples of “green” construction and some of the resources available to encourage environmentally friendly construction were also discussed. All employers who attended were encouraged to sign up for the State's "Live Near Your Work" program. Through this program, the state matches employer contribution dollar for dollar, and the current list of participating employers includes businesses of all sizes from very small and mid-size to the very large.

Participants brought their own “brown bag” lunches to council chambers in the Government Office Building in downtown Salisbury and enjoyed a casual atmosphere while listening intently. There was an active and instructive free-flowing dialog between presenters and participants that maximized the value of the information, Campbell observed.

PowerPoint(R) presentations on the various topics will be available. Campbell is making arrangements to have copies of the meeting handouts available at the joint city/county planning office.

Based on the sizable attendance, the scope of questions raised and comments from participants regarding the usefulness and quality of the information presented, the session was evaluated as a “resounding success.” Future sessions on foreclosure prevention, local resources for home ownership, and “green” construction and development are planned for the near future.

To view the Power Point presentations: (Adobe Acrobat Reader required)

Multifamily property financing tools

Single-family loans and grants for owner occupied and rental properties

Special Loan Program for homeowners - seniors grants

Overexpenditures of Accounts Identified During Council Work Session

At this week’s Monday night Salisbury City Council work session, year-to-date reports for FY08 were shared by the director of Internal Services-Finance, Mrs. Oland. Councilwoman Campbell raised the question about figures indicating that several accounts showed an over expenditure above what was budgeted/appropriated by council. Most notable was the second quarter report showing an over expenditure of 72% in one insurance account and another over expended by 14%.

After Mrs. Oland and City Administrator John Pick both confirmed these expenses above budget, as well as other over expenditures noted in a year-to-date report ending January 30, Councilwoman Cohen raised the issue that over expenditure is forbidden by the City Charter. She also asked what would be done about it, and Mr. Pick replied that the administration would come before council requesting a budget amendment.

These after-the-fact remedies remind the public of change orders for contractual services or goods that were essentially already obtained prior to coming before council for approval. Both Councilwomen Campbell and Cohen are taking action to research the issue of the over expenditures which have now come to light.

Consensus Reached to Post Minutes of Commissions, Boards and Committees Online

We'd like to thank the council for reaching consensus in tonight's work session to have the administration post the minutes of the city's commissions, boards and committees on the city website as soon as possibly feasible. We hope to stimulate more citizen interest and participation in these entities by enabling people to easily see what business these groups conduct.

We appreciate the people who took the time to attend our Feb. 21 public input on increasing transparency in Salisbury city government and made suggestions like these to help further that goal. Please mark your calendars for the follow up public input meeting on transparency, to be held work group-style on Tuesday, March 25, 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. in Meeting Room 1 (in the basement) of the Wicomico County Library.