Open agenda Episode 8
Show Transcript
Disclaimer: The following transcript was auto-generated and may contain spelling or contextual errors.
you're watching open Agenda here's our
host Joe
White hi welcome to open Agenda I'm your
host Joe White I'm joined with our
executive producer Joe venosa thanks for
being here today Joe afternoon Joe so uh
we're going to get to some of the
business coming up at the next County
council meeting but before we do that uh
do want to make one announcement that
there is a airport commission meeting
this is their first one they've had in a
couple months on Monday September 9th uh
it's at 3:00 P.M at the airport terminal
Conference Center uh I think one of the
interesting things coming up we've we've
heard at some of the County Council
meetings is there is about to be a
ribbon cutting so to speak uh out of uh
the airport for the new Runway extension
this is something they've been working
on for several years with grants uh this
is not something new but it's starting
to actually come to fruition um and my
understand it's actually been about
three or four year process to get to
this point it has been a long time and a
lot of steps in that process uh they're
also going to do another ribbon cutting
out there for the new mechanic school
that they've started uh which has been
in the process for about the last 18
months um it's it's in conjunction with
the with the college and uh they're
going to actually be able to train
mechanics out there which is pretty
exciting busy week for ribbons well it's
not I think the the ribbon cutting is
coming in a couple months but you know
if you go to airport commission next
week uh you'll probably get the updates
there uh the County council meeting is
on Tuesday September 3rd it's a 6 6 PM
meeting at room 301 in the government
building uh I looked on their agenda uh
there's a couple hearings coming up
nothing uh you know really controversial
anything one of them's a a you know land
preservation easement that they're
moving probably for a development uh one
is to allow the county executive to
accept this last donation or uh Grant
from the FAA for the runway extension
and then uh one that has you know they
kind of alluded to it and I think we're
going to get more information
at this next meeting is the library
Reserve fund is going to donate
$571,000 plus do uh for uh for the
Parsonsburg Branch Library Renovations
it's only a partial funding um at the
last meeting they actually have been
asking for some additional funds to
start the design process of the new
library at the ward Museum uh this is a
good chance for the public to come out
and get a sense of what's the libraries
plan cuz 330,000 there 570,000 there the
these are not small numbers no it adds
up yeah um so I want to discuss with you
uh something that actually came up at
the August 20th meeting and we're going
to discuss this further in the show uh
you know obviously in the last two years
last year plus there's been uh quite a
large uh vocal uh disconnect with with
some of the public in the county
executive's office when it comes to M us
and special events and that sort of
thing and really started to see it come
to a hit at the last County council
meeting uh it was a little disturbing uh
in some ways um and uh one of one of the
gentleman that has spoken out several
times at the County Council meetings
Mike Michael Goldberg uh he is a
resident of the Shadow Hills
neighborhood uh he has spoken at several
meetings uh not always about the county
EX executive or Charter Amendment a but
some of the other topics that have come
up in the community whether it was the
new parks and wreck regulations I I
heard him speak
there
uh the the the gist of this legal
maneuver that happened U from uh the
engineer from the executive's office
comes from a disagreement over a
campaign donation that was um you know
in the campaign Finance forms it says
that Ean sha Undercover itself has
donated $3500 to the Friends the Julie G
orano campaign now that's public record
correct it's been denied by her office
and by uh the proprietor of Eastern
Shore undercover several times several
times on the radio M um Michael Goldberg
has done his own research he's the one
who has pulled the campaign Finance
forms I've seen them he's shown them to
me uh it shows the $3,500 donation and
it even even the sheriff showed it oh
yeah that's correct that's correct so
after the meeting as we were leaving
actually I was just in front of him um
uh he handed a a piece of paper to um
the engineer she later filed charges of
um of U assault she she she filed a
police report saying that she had been
assaulted with this piece of
paper um you know we you and I we we
have definitely we've we've come in
contact with that we're we're were not
really welcome with our opinions right I
think anybody who any anybody in this
County who has offered a contrarian
opinion that someone in the executive's
office or the sort of upper levels uh is
against has generally gone after or
targeted citizens and unfortunately I
think you're seeing it at one of its
most extreme iterations lately with Mr
Goldberg so the interesting thing is
pack 14 actually caught this
right uh We've we've seen the video and
we're going to show the video oh we are
going to show the video yeah um it the
interesting thing is uh this interaction
happened on a Tuesday the the the the
the police charge didn't come out till a
Wednesday and the when you watch the
video there's actually a a time where it
goes to the block screen that kind of
announces the end of the legislative
session and then the video comes back uh
so it looks like the video over then
there's eight more seconds yep just so
happens in a lucky turn of events um
that this 8 seconds was called
y the everything that's in this
affidavit is refuted by the video
evidence and it's not even close correct
um neither one of us have ever abused
anyone or assaulted anyone in public and
we would both admonish anyone who abuses
anyone especially women children right
corre correct so false accusations
really kind of undermine the whole
presence of that yeah uh false
accusations but also with the power and
reach of a government Authority and I
think there in lies the big concern that
many of us have is that if uh a
particular employee who is a open and
notable uh friend and Ally of our
current County Executive if they're
willing to file false charges and file a
false report what else are they willing
to do to Citizens like us well yesterday
and in court uh Mr Goldberg was
exonerated actually uh even after
pleading from their own attorney uh the
the charges were were were R vacated and
they're dismissed they're it's over um
but for seven days Mr Goldberg was
unable and uh it he was unable to enter
the County Government building yeah it
seems like this is an effort to silence
someone who speaks out against this
branch of government right no doubt and
unfortunately I could easily foresee
similar tactics uh being applied in the
very near future against other citizens
as this particular chter Amendment
campaign intensifies as as some citizens
especially Shadow Hills have talked
about there's there's been some vocal
intimidation you know over the phone
absolutely absolutely yeah and and
documented yeah and we we've really
tried to to to proceed above board but I
I do think that this is this is actually
becoming something that we we need to
address head on and show the evidence I
think there's a real concern and and the
situation with Mr Goldberg illustrates
it to some extent but I think there's a
real concern that this County Executive
and some of the people around her are
perhaps willing to do far more which
people should frankly be very worried
about because citizens should not fear
their government but when their
government for personal and political um
capital and interests are targeting
people because of their beliefs because
they might represent a contrarian
opinion that's a very dangerous place to
be when we come back we're going to hear
from Michael Goldberg's attorney shortly
after the court appearance that vacated
the charges and then in our last segment
I'm going to invite Michael Goldberg
into the studio and we're going to have
a chance to speak with him about exactly
what's happened and what he's been able
to do so please stick with us and we'll
be right
back roaring Point Park located about 30
Mi west of Salsbury off of Nanticoke
Road offers one of the best swimming
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you'll find about 3/4 of a mile of sandy
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beach can get a bit skinny when tides
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roaring Park is free to all and dogs are
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the point for which the park is named is
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of the beach from wind and waves
although the water is shallow on both
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abundant Wildlife can be found at
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you can see the fishing Bay Wildlife
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marshes roaring point is a particularly
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your boat is small enough you can pull
it right up onto the Sandy Beach larger
boats often drop anchor just a few feet
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still deep enough to remain afloat
without digging your propeller into the
Sand by late May the water at roaring
point is usually warm and comfortable
making it a great place to plant your
beach chair right in the river to keep
you cool while minnows nibble at your
toes you can also fish and crab directly
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the summer heat becomes too oppressive
it's easy to return to the beach anchor
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relax at roaring Point Park or just come
to take a pleasant walk on the beach for
more information please visit the W
Comico County recreation parks and
tourism
website welcome back to open Agenda I'm
your host Joe White just after court on
Wednesday August 28th I had a chance to
sit down with Andrew McDonald who's the
attorney for Michael Goldberg we were
just in court and the temporary peace
order had just been lifted so now I'd
like to introduce Andrew McDonald and
let's see what he has to
say uh thank you for joining me Mr
McDonald you're welcome and you just
successfully uh defended Mike Goldberg
in District Court uh with his case
against Heather Langford is that correct
I did so can you can you talk about how
what what judgment was just rendered
Heather Langford had petitioned the
District Court of Maryland uh for a
peace order against Mr Goldberg she was
asking for the court to order Mr
Goldberg to have no contact with her of
there specific statutory grounds that
had to be met for a peace order to be
issued by a court any citizen can
petition for a peace order but it's up
to a judge to decide whether there are
sufficient grounds for for a peace order
to be ordered so she filed the petition
and she swore under oath that to certain
allegations in that petition and a peace
order case was opened against Mr
Goldberg Mr Goldberg hired me to
represent him to defend him in that
peace order petition and I did in fact
represent him and defend him against
that
successfully so uh the the incident in
question uh occurred on Tuesday August
20th at the WAMU County Government
government building is that correct
that's correct that was the allegation
and it was uh at shortly after the
County council meeting uh concluded but
before the work session that was
scheduled right after uh started is that
correct correct so uh in the allegation
the the allegation was that there was an
assault uh using a piece of paper uh and
in the in the documents it was stated
that the the paper was thrown at uh Miss
Langford and um it it actually hit her
is that is that
accurate one thing I wanted to make
clear is that the peace order is a civil
proceeding it's not a criminal
allegation uh but miss Langford did
allege an assault which can be a
criminal allegation but there were no
criminal charges filed in this case by
any law enforcement agency okay uh just
to make sure that that's clear um Miss
Nord did allege in her written petition
under oath that Mr Goldberg at a County
County council meeting frisbee threw a
document a piece of paper at her which
struck her notebook and struck her in
the chest and she uh described that as
being threatening and an assault so she
attempted to use that as a basis to get
a court to order a peace order so uh was
there video evidence that was uh
obtained from Pac 14 that showed the
interaction with Miss lingford and Mr
Goldberg yes there was video evidence
that video was recorded by pack 14 it's
public record of a County council
meeting this was a public forum attended
by the public for the purpose of the
public making statements to County
government um to pursue whatever agenda
that they were interested in and Miss
lford was there as a representative of
the county Executives office as I
understand it she was there to speak
um Mr Goldberg was there to speak and um
Mr Goldberg did in fact speak at the
hearing what the video recorded by pack
14 actually shows is Mr Goldberg um
exiting the council chambers walking
past Miss Langford and gently placing a
piece of paper on top of documents that
were in her lap and walking out of the
council chambers he did not throw the
document at her it did not striker in
the chest it was not assaultive Behavior
intended to be threatening or or to
cause harm it's clear in the video that
all he was doing was passing a document
to a county official who was there
supposedly doing County Business there
were actually two other County Employees
Seated on either side of Miss Langford
and they had actually no reaction to the
actions of Mr Goldberg in real time is
that correct that's correct the the
video shows no startled re actions by
the people sitting beside Miss Langford
in the video you can see council members
um seated there in the room doing
business no startled reactions by anyone
in the room by the council members by
the attorney representing the County
Council um there's no indication that
anything unored happened whatsoever so
after this interaction uh Miss Langford
uh elected to file this uh report
uh stating the assault and uh in that
time uh Mr Illuminati who is a a paid
lawyer by the by the citizens of raicu
County uh represented her is that is
that correct Andrew Luminati did
represent Miss Langford he entered his
appearance in writing on the record and
he appeared on her behalf um in court uh
now is there is there knowledge of
whether or not he was representing her
on a personal level or as a County
employee Andrew Luminati did not state
in his entry of appearance whether he
was representing the county or there in
his status as a county attorney the
video at times actually looks like it
goes and is about to be cut uh 8 seconds
prior to the end of the video there's a
a a block screen that pack 14 puts up
announcing the end of the legislative
session um after that it actually comes
back and shows eight more seconds of
video which which is actually shows the
interaction between Mr Goldberg and Miss
Langford is it possible that um the the
anyone who viewed that tape may have
thought that was the end of the video
and and didn't finish watching the last
8 seconds that's very possible that is a
correct statement that the block screen
does come up in between the County
council meeting and the incident where
Mr Goldberg was exiting the chambers and
laid the paper on Miss langford's lap
and a person could see that block screen
come up and think that was the end of
the video but thankfully it was not U
because the end 8 Seconds of the video
is what shows that Miss linford's
allegation of assault of cond conduct by
Mr Goldberg was false in your opinion do
you feel like uh without that 8 seconds
that at the end that there may have been
a different outcome at this hearing is
it likely well that's possible then it
would have simply been a credibility
battle between Miss Langford claiming
that this happened in this way and Mr
Goldberg testifying that it did not
happen in that way there would not have
been definitive video evidence uh that
would have proven that Mr Goldberg did
not act in an assaultive way you
represented Mr Goldberg uh last week uh
on uh at the at an initial hearing to uh
when when the judge initial uh release
the initial U peace order was there any
correspondence or any opinion that you
you gave directly to Mr Illuminati based
off of the evidence you had a week ago
for the temporary peace order hearing uh
I appeared in court Mr Illuminati
appeared in court with Miss Langford
representing her and I brought the 8C
clip from the end of the pack 14 video
to Mr Illuminati's attention
um which in my opinion clearly showed
that Mr Goldberg did not throw a piece
of paper striking Miss Langford in the
chest it was it at that time that it
became clear that this was not an
assault uh on Miss Langford by Mr
Goldberg well it was always clear to me
having viewed that last 8 Seconds of the
video that there was no assault all I
can say is that I brought that very
clear evidence to Mr Illuminati's
attention
what impact that had on him or Miss
Langford I can't answer that question
during the 7-Day period between the
temporary order and today's uh dismissal
uh was Mr Goldberg allowed in the uh
County Government building he would not
have been allowed in the County
Government building uh if jul if Miss
Langford was present in the building
because under the temporary peace order
he was required to have have no contact
with her so if there was a public
hearing about an issue totally unrelated
to this with the County government would
Mr Goldberg's ability to be present and
speak at that public hearing have been
eliminated at that time yes so is there
is there anything else that um that you
would like to add about Mr Goldberg's
case I'm glad that I was successful in
defending Mr Goldberg in this peace
order hearing because Mr Goldberg was
engaged in political speech in an open
form at a County council meeting as is
his right as a citizen of w Comico
County our constitution protects his
first amendment right um to speak to
government officials and to make his
opinions known and he was at that County
council meeting to speak on a political
issue and to be critical of the county
Executives office which he has the right
to do and I was dismayed to see that um
this peace order was brought against him
by a County employee um which had a
chilling effect on his ability to speak
freely on a political topic it's very
important for that free speech to be
preserved and by prevailing in this
peace order hearing we've taken a step
toward preserving Mr Goldberg's right to
free speech and every County Citizens
right to free speech at County Council
meetings I think it's very well said and
thank you for for defending our ability
to be critical of our government
officials whether they the executive or
the County Council um that's a that's a
that's a major uh uh part of democracy
and and we do we do hope to exercise
that to the full ability thank you very
much for joining me today and uh you
have a great
afternoon thank you Mr McDonald thanks
for taking the time to sit down with us
and explain a lot more about the case
when we come back we're actually going
to have Michael Goldberg here in the
studio with us and I'd like for him to
get a chance to discuss just how it made
him feel and what some of his goals and
missions are as we move towards this
election referendum in November stay
with us we'll be right
back thanks for joining us back here at
open Agenda I'm joined today with uh in
our studio with Mike Goldberg uh thanks
for joining us Mike yeah thanks for
having me Joe so uh just had a chance to
uh meet with your lawyer right after
after the court appearance yesterday in
District Court in W Comico County uh
Andrew McDonald did a nice job of
explaining the the the charges that were
filed uh the peace order the temporary
peace order that was given and then the
fact that it was rescinded and and um
vated yesterday um you were in court
yourself weren't you yes sir so uh I
mean how did it feel to have to be there
yesterday well it uh it didn't feel good
of course you know being out in the
public eye and a Sou like that it's an
uncomfortable feeling particularly when
you know that you have been you know
accused of something that you provably
never occurred we we we got a chance to
watch the video and see that you did
hand um and and placed a piece of paper
uh what did that piece of paper say it
was a one-page printout from the
campaign Finance disclosure report which
clearly uh revealed that uh Eastern
Shore undercover had in fact made a 35
$500 contribution to friends to elect
Julie G orano which is the political
action committee for her election so and
and this is the same donation that
sheriff Lewis referenced in his work
session on August 6 isn't it yeah it is
indeed uh and you were at that session I
was and and since then we've we've heard
um you know one one of the people that
has um has a a position with the
executive's office is is Earl Campbell
from were undercover he and she said as
much that he gets out information from
the county uh he's been on the radio
quite a bit lately and he's discussed
this you know donation um and you've
listened to these interviews I mean what
what has been his response on the radio
thanks for joining us have a great week
thus far I have not really heard much on
this particular topic okay uh but he has
clearly denied uh as well as the county
executive have denied or tried to U work
around the fact that this campaign
donation was made so I mean why have you
gotten involved in going to County
Council meetings anyway why why do you
show up well it began uh late this
winter when uh the Safari at the Quarry
off-road events uh had been contracted
for with a uh private uh event promoter
upon finding out that these events were
going to take place on a quarry site A
234 acre Quarry site immediately
adjacent to my uh sub division uh we
became very concerned and uh we didn't
find out about this from the county
executive uh we found out about it on
Facebook it was completely hidden from
us uh there was no public hearing no
public comment period and uh no
conversations whatsoever well Mr
Goldberg we're going to have a public
hearing this this Tuesday just about
relocating Forest conservation land so
you're saying there's not been a public
hearing about an event held on County
property next to a subdivision a large
sub division that that unfortunately is
correct that that would be the opposite
of transparent wouldn't you say I I
would agree yeah I mean if we're going
to sit there and have a a hearing and
and it's public uh knowledge ahead of
time about Forest conservation and FAA
grants that have already really been
awarded I mean sure shouldn't we have
them for Other M written well I think we
should have them for allus especially
when there are potential Community
impacts in this case the uh theou or
contract provided for multiple events
that were specifically named with no
limitations on the number of additional
events that could that could take place
the problem is and I can tell you from
my background in commercial real estate
that when you have recurring disruptive
events it can have a profound impact on
property values as with most people my
wife and I our biggest investment is our
home and uh we certainly cannot afford
especially at our age to have that value
diminished so I mean and this could
happen in other parts of the county if
this practice was followed this this
happened in your neck of the woods but
uh there's really no telling that this
wouldn't come to a a neighborhood near
you it could happen absolutely anywhere
and it doesn't have to be the same type
event uh it could be another type of
disruptive uh event that will impact the
quiet enjoyment of homes and property
values and general safety I was at the
County council meeting last winter when
you all showed up and I remember
thinking where where did I mean where
did all these people come from
that was when I found out about the
Safari of the Quarry and that was also
when the County Council found out about
it too right that's correct yeah so uh
during the this eight days of the
temporary peace order uh what
limitations were were put on you well I
couldn't be anywhere near where this
particular County employee was which uh
essentially meant I could not enter the
county office building uh thankfully
during this past week there was no
County council meeting where I do speak
out frequently and
vociferously uh so I can educate the
public on the problems that we're
dealing with with respect to the uh the
conduct of the county Executives office
well and exercise your Democratic right
to petition your government and speak
with them right it's First Amendment
right of free political speech you know
it's interesting too I you know
obviously uh we've heard you speak at
the County Council meetings about your
support for Charter Amendment a uh the
the rebuke to that is uh this trans this
this ER of transparency but um I mean
you know here we are sitting talking
about a an erroneous charge that was uh
dismissed yesterday um how do you feel
about the uh transparency coming out of
the uh the executive's office what
transparency there there is none it's
well known that uh the deals are made
behind closed doors with respect to the
county executive uh conversely when
you're dealing with a council
everything's out in public for everybody
to see it's on pack 14 you can certainly
you attend the uh the County Council
meetings and everything other than
Personnel issues or uh you know legal
issues are dealt with in front of
everybody it's absolute transparency
have you ever tried to intimidate or
Heckle anybody from speaking out against
in at these public hearings and these
public comments against something that
maybe went against your views of course
not I mean I don't have to agree with
something somebody on an issue we can be
political foes but I will defend to the
death their right to exercise their
first amendment rights have you been
heckled at these events at times oh my
God yes many times they have shouted me
down uh just uh because I'm speaking on
an issue that they disagree with it's uh
uh the conduct uh behavior that some
people are exhibiting in the County
council chambers is is pretty sad so um
are you going to continue to speak speak
your mind abs absolutely okay are you
intimidated I am not intimidated at all
okay well we're going to continue to
follow this uh in the public forum uh
understanding that the County Council is
still looking into your case obviously
uh Andrew McDonald has uh stated very
much that there are some legal concerns
about how your case was brought up the
validity of it and uh and and how it was
handled so uh uh will you keep us
informed of course I will well thanks
for coming in today thanks for speaking
with us that's all for this episode
we'll be back next week and we will
discuss the matters of the County
council meeting held on
Tuesday I know what I'm doing man
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