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.
>> Welcome to Open Agenda. I'm your host,
Joe White. I'm joined today with our
executive producer, Joe Venosa, and
we're going to discuss some of the
agendas and meetings coming up in the
county that we think will interest you.
So, at Open Agenda, we are celebrating
our hundth episode. And uh who knew 18
months ago this is where we would be?
>> Syndication, baby. [laughter] Dr.
Joinosa, I want to ask you uh you were
one of the original members. We came
down here for training.
>> Uh we had to learn how to do this and we
also had to learn how to how to project
the story that we were seeing when we
were attending the council meetings and
listen to the county executive.
>> What's what's different now than 18
months ago that you would have never
have imagined? Well, I think
absolutely we have figured out a a
method to our work that I think now is
quite efficient. I think we when we
began, you know, we were thrown into, as
you said, the studio, we're learning all
different things. Xavier here at PAC 14
and Tom and all the other staff were,
you know, guiding us like little
kindergarteners about, you know, how to
work the microphones and, you know,
>> not in what to say, but how to say what
we wanted to say.
>> How to say what we want to say. And and
so we've gone from that to, you know, I
think doing something that we not only
have a consistency, but we have a flow
and and we have a a great plan. And more
importantly, we're able to do now in
much more efficient ways what we set out
to do, which is provide to the public in
a very open and transparent way what's
going on in Wcomako County and perhaps
how things affect Wcomako County, even
if they come from other places like the
state or even the federal government.
and and I think we've provided that
service in a way that is now much more
as I said efficient and um in real time
you know within a few days of events we
can respond rather quickly and I'm very
proud of that and I'm very proud of what
we've been able to do and I'm proud that
we have also I think shown the
importance of public access television
right that any citizen who really wants
to come and actually try to do something
about what's going on in their community
whether it's from a political or
religious angle, a civic angle,
whatever, you can do that. So, I'm very
grateful for that.
>> Now, Jim, we always had seen you at the
county council meetings. Uh, you always
had great prepared statements about
anything from budgeting to SWAT
analysis.
>> He was the oneman open agenda at the
meetings before it ever
>> he was before it was a show. It was it
was it was Jim. Uh, you you started
being a regular contributor to the show
u early in 2025.
Uh, What what has changed since you have
come that maybe has surprised you?
>> Well, I think one of the biggest things
that has surprised me is
we used to have a topic to talk about.
Now, we have to decide what topic we're
going to talk about because there are so
many coming down the line and so much
going on in this county that uh you
realize that people just aren't aware
of, you know, and uh I I think that
besides our viewership growing and more
people watching us and talking about us
[clears throat] that I think we've also
created [snorts] more viewership for
Pack 14, for the county council meetings
that that we're let people know what's
going on and they're starting to follow
it up. And I think one of one of the
biggest attributes that open agenda has
and we've talked about it numerous times
is that
we may address our opinions
occasionally,
but usually when we address our opinions
or state something, we have the
documentation to follow up on it that
this is what was actually said. this is
when it was said and who said it. And
you don't take my word for it. Go back
and and look at it yourself.
>> And to that point, and I want to say one
thing and then I want to turn it on on
the host. Uh you've been incredibly
effective and efficient, Joe, at taking
the actual footage of what [laughter]
the elected officials say and do at
meetings and then simply show it again.
>> Yes.
>> And I think that really is commendable.
Not only that, you're kind of going and
you're doing the true historians's craft
of the the research of the documents and
you're really kind of an archavist of
local issues. Um, but you're getting the
people, [clears throat] whether we agree
or not with them, you're getting the
people to make
>> our point for us by just having them
make their point.
>> Yeah.
>> Right. And I think that's the ultimate
kind of transparency.
>> We invite people to come in here and
talk about their things. I mean, we have
council members that come in here and
talk. We have city council members that
come in and talk. We try to get people
who are involved in things to come in
here and explain it in their own words,
not our words. Let them explain. And I
think that's one of the the biggest
developments that have happened over the
past year.
>> One of uh there's two folks who really
had a lot of of motivation behind how
I've approached my part of this is uh
the late Mr. Rick SE who was a a history
teacher at Y High actually was never my
history teacher uh but was a a tennis
coach to my wife uh was a family friend
uh passed away way too early
>> but he he would just walk around and say
primary source primary source that's all
like I don't already
>> yeah uh primary source so never believe
what somebody else tells you including
me
>> the other one was a radio host in
Baltimore on WB Ron Smith and uh Ron
Smith uh the He was like the voice of
reason and uh you know he was somewhat
of a conservative similar to myself but
he used to have Ben Carden on all the
time and and it would just get some
people so fired up but he would let Ben
Carden you know a a Democrat senator or
he was a a congressman and then he
became a senator while he was appearing
on the Ron Smith show and but he but Ron
Smith always let him say what he wanted
to say and I'm always really proud. We
bring a lot of folks in here that
politically I don't necessarily agree
with,
>> but I get more out of listening to them
and maybe commentating much later for a
much smaller period of time by having to
listen to them. And every once in a
while,
>> they change my mind on something.
>> Well, you said it earlier. You know, you
can you can learn and gain a lot from
people that you might think you disagree
with and maybe you still will, but you
still gain things out of it. I mean I
think you know it's like you know you
have a background in agriculture
biodiversity the diversity of opinion
and thought also matters and viewpoint
diversity matters because it enriches
it.
>> Yeah. Uh I went to one of your lectures
and uh I'm sorry. Yeah. No, it was
great. You broke down uh Garveyism.
>> Yeah.
>> And web de boy.
>> Yep. And you know, history has kind of
maybe lumped those guys together in a
way,
>> but they they could not have been more
different in their in their real time.
>> In the real time. Yeah.
>> And you broke down the differences there
uh now 100 years ago. It was just
interesting to go back and you put us in
that moment and I'm hoping that that
show is what this is. Um and on a much
smaller scale, but but important to all
of us. So,
>> welcome back. We're here with Josh
Hastings, county council member, uh,
Wakamaku County. Welcome, Josh.
>> Thank you.
>> Thanks for Thanks for coming out.
>> Yeah.
>> So, uh, at the last meeting, uh, which
was on June 20th, uh, one of the most
interesting things was the advancement
of the land preservation uh, in Wakcomo
County. Could you talk a little bit
about that and how that came about?
>> Yes. So, um, first of all, my it's my
day job. Um, I think most people
probably don't probably think this.
Council members are we all that's our
full-time job. No, we uh it's a small
amount of our time. Um smallish uh but
uh yeah, so the world that I work in is
land preservation. That means trying to
make sure we're protecting critical
farmland, critical habitat, um hunting
grounds, um parks, and and an open space
is truly amazing. I didn't think we'd
get here. I hoped we'd get here. Uh we
had obstacles all along the way, you
know, uh from last minute amendments at
the bill hearing to but we got it
despite the last minute amendments and
changes. We got it through and and now
it's on to the next step. Now that we
cracked the door open, we just might as
well walk on through.
>> And you decided not to walk directly to
your truck because you just felt a
little bit weirded out that they were so
insistent on knowing your name.
>> Absolutely. So they're already talking
about me. I've only gone to one meeting
to express my concerns about the
constitutionality of something said by
the county executive. I come to find out
she doesn't even show up to the meetings
because it's too bad for her emotional
health to have people talking bad about
her.
>> I mean, the county executive said at the
work session that this is a costneutral
proposition. I mean, she said it twice.
um a lot of uh misinformation that is
out there is the cost that the county
will bear. So the way that we have
worked this out with the sheriff's
office and with corrections, it's
basically budget neutral. It is not
costing the taxpayers anything. C it is
it is budget neutral.
>> Uh do you feel like that's
>> I'll say all sorts of things doesn't
make them true. Sure. Uh obviously uh
you know the the real challenge is that
uh it's going to require the use of
county employees and our assets and in
doing so if there's time off for
trainings or things like that it's going
to cost the county. As it stands right
now with uh the sheriff um and his
deputies being removed um out of this
equation at this point in time per this
guidance, um what we are looking at and
what we are concerned about even more is
um that I I've kind of caught wind that
the general assembly might end up um
taking out the fact that correctional
officers may do this and changing state
law. So, what I would like to do in this
is potentially table this until we get
through session. Um, and if we get
through, excuse me, if we get through
session and um, there have been no
changes and correctional officers have
the ability to do it, I would revisit
that with uh, the director uh, of
corrections at that point in time.
>> I'm interested to hear well what Dr.
Venosa has to say. I noticed that night
we had a a sheriff that was frustrated
at the table, a county executive that
was very subdued and an attorney that
was very sheepish.
>> Bob, you you have a unique level of
experience because at one time you were
the county the the attorney for the
county council and uh you attend you're
you're one of the you're a glut for
punishment. You attend most city council
meetings and county council meetings. uh
what what has what has been the biggest
surprise to you about your participation
on the show?
>> Well, I let me back up just a second. I
I think we have to give a lot of credit
to Pack 14. I g I've been living in
small towns most of my life and I've
never seen less mainstream media than we
have here
>> right now.
>> Pack 14's helping that. Now, of course,
they don't do investigative reporting
and that's kind of why we have open
agenda, I think, because we can do it.
you you were one of the original members
that came in to get the training to to
learn how to shoot a a public access
show like Open Agenda. Uh obviously your
your involvement started with Safari at
the Quarry, but over the course of the
last 18 months, you've become involved
in many other aspects of city and county
government. What has surprised you about
your role with with the show? [snorts]
>> That's a that's a good question. And I I
know my role has grown and when I
initially started I was you know
strictly behind the camera you know and
um uh started doing some of the research
and then you know finally you know one
day after I I got my foot out of my
mouth you actually put me in front of
the camera and uh uh I've really enjoyed
you know every aspect of doing this.
>> I I just feel that what we're doing at
Open Agenda is so important. There is
such anformational void of news in
Wcomakico County. Um, and we are filling
that vacuum that has been left by uh by
the mainstream media. Open agenda has
done for me. It's given me an outlet uh
to help inform others and to encourage
everybody in Wcomakico County who
watches us to start paying attention
because I found out the hard way how
local government really could have
messed up my life and the you know the
quiet enjoyment of my home.
So, Joe Scafino, I want to ask you um
you your involvement with the show has
started in 2025. Uh you're you're a
parillegal, correct?
>> Among other things.
>> Yes. You're a former uh council member,
correct? By from Pennsylvania.
>> Yes.
>> And you have served on committees
locally since you've moved here,
correct?
>> Yes. And um so your your involvement
with the show, a lot of times you come
in and give us uh some some legal
background, but also maybe some
contrarian background to something that
happened with the city government or the
county government. Correct.
>> Yes. You know, if I don't have the
answer, I know the right questions to
ask to get the answer. So yeah.
>> So how's your involvement in the show
changed how you look at what what we're
doing in county government, city
government in this area?
Well, it's it's been very informative.
You know, it I wasn't my first four
years. I really didn't pay much
attention. And then I started watching
you guys
>> and then I started attending meetings
and I've come to learn that we've got a
pretty dysfunctional county and city
government. So, um I intend to help
change that over the next two elections.
So, we were all at the county council
meeting on Tuesday night. Um, we we were
there to really get more information
about the the MOA with ICE, but one of
the other subjects that came up from the
meeting three weeks ago, the the second
meeting in September was the the Bible
passages, and there were five of them
that Councilman James Wyn read. I
brought I brought something important
here today that we've got some people in
this audience and in this council that
are trying to figure out what is going
on in the world. Why is this happening?
Why the craziness, right? I hear it up
here. And I'm telling you, it's because
people were falling away from the word,
from Christ.
And it's actually everything's right
here. The answers, this is truth. You've
got the beginning, you've got the
present, and you've got the ending
written right here. And I just I just
want everybody to really think about
this. I know not everyone here's a
Christian, and that's okay. I'll pray
for you. And you know, there's only one
way. There's only one way,
and that's that's through Jesus Christ
as your Lord and Savior.
>> Hello everybody. My name is uh Colin
Mcvers. I'm a student at Salsbury
University. There's been some
controversy lately around uh a county
councilman for reading scripture a
couple weeks ago. I don't really think
there's any problem with this either.
I've heard that there groups that are
going to be coming after him for reading
a little, you know, the Bible during a
meeting. I mean, we had a case with the
Supreme Court, Greece versus, uh, town
of Greece versus, uh, Galloway, uh, many
years ago, which essentially, you know,
decided that prayer and religious
activities being done by a county
councilman or or an elected official is
does not violate the First Amendment.
>> He characterized it as saying any kind
of prayer by the council was okay. And
that's not the case at all. that doesn't
even involve prayer being led by the
council.
>> Okay.
>> That particular case involved chaplain
coming in or clergymen coming in being
invited by a town uh board uh to make
invocations.
>> In the studio with us now, Mr. Bob
Taylor. Thank you for sticking around.
>> And we also have Miss Lynette Kenny from
Hein. And uh I I appreciate you coming
in today. You're part of a of a group
out that way. And and I want to ask you
what what is the name of that group and
what are you working towards and working
against?
>> We we're an ad hoc group and we're
called the neighborhood action group and
we call ourselves NAG for short.
>> Okay.
>> And we we just wanted to have a name to
um to to kind of symbolize what we're
doing in the neighborhood. So
>> And what are you doing? We formed um
back in 2019 when we found out about the
the daff tank coming to our neighborhood
and we formed to go out and did petition
and tried to see what we could do to get
it stopped.
Both of you have been great contributors
to the show and uh Trish, I want to
start with you. You you uh we we met you
going to [snorts] county council
meetings. Uh obviously I think you you
speak very firmly and articulately about
any of the subjects you've brought up
but you have brought here a different
perspective of of someone coming from
Fruitland
>> who's not engaged directly with the city
of Salsbury but obviously impacted
Salsbury.
>> What has drawn you to want to
participate with the show uh with your
civic engagement you've already had?
>> You know pretty random. I wandered into
a a county council meeting because a
friend invited me to go and this was a
year ago this past summer and um I
thought it'd be interesting. I really
had no idea what type of topics were
covered but Mr. Mike Goldberg happened
to deliver public comment that day and
it was the first I had heard of this
developing uh situation with uh Safari
at the quarry and I couldn't believe
what I was hearing and I started
attending more of the council meetings
and learning more.
>> Um Michael, your most of your
involvement revolves around the city
government. [clears throat]
>> Mhm. Um, you have brought great
perspective about county topics by
someone who really is deeply involved
with the city side of things. What has
drawn you to want to participate with
the show?
>> Um,
honestly like wanting to have a sincere
discussion about the issues to go to to
start with facts and then everybody has
opinions, right? But it's like but
everyone wants to be seen and heard and
given space. On this show, I really feel
like people do that. I don't think that
it's about uh consensus. We're not a
democratic body and that in that aspect
where everybody has to come to the same
perspective and that's extremely
valuable to me as the kind of person
that I am who's very driven sometimes
especially like how passionate I can get
about an opinion. It's good for me to
have other people with other interests,
other perspectives around me who are
willing to push that helps me grow as a
person. Do both of you find that not
living in an echo chamber of any
political party, political dogma, or
even just one perspective has enhanced
your ability to understand some of the
issues that are maybe not even the main
reason why you showed up in the first
place?
>> 100%. I gained so much from listening to
the to all sides of an argument or or a
position. Um, it benefits me personally
and it's very dangerous to get stuck in
an echo chamber or in a bubble or in a
news bubble. It's kind of this um
emotional loop when you get in that echo
chamber for people and it's like I
always tell people you can be right and
you can be alone. I mean what does that
do for you? I mean really at the end of
the day what does that produce? And I
really am a person who um years ago I
started working on collaboration
politically and artistically and it's
the people who can communicate. It's the
people willing to hear you out you know
and you just start reciprocating with
people.
get everybody all upset about breaking
the revenue cap. And then when she came
in to present her budget,
she enjoyed sitting there watching the
look on the council's face when she said
she had had a balanced budget and had
fully funded the board of ed plus given
the board of ed more money. Her words
exactly bait and switch.
>> You look up transparency on in the
dictionary. baiting switches
>> is not under is not the definition of
transparency.
>> What I don't understand is you were so
kind to the state's attorney as she sat
here and told you we're hiring these
people. We need to do this. I'm asking
for the same kindness.
>> You keep saying we weren't we're not
kind to you. What?
>> You're not kind to me. You're not kind
to me.
>> Starting January 1st, the total revenue
from Verizon's $1.7 million.
>> But they're going to pay us. So
>> they're going to pay you. Yes. Out of
that, I project about $300,000 of
expenses.
>> A million4
would be the the net revenue to the
county against So, you're you're going
to go in with about a $2.2 million
purchase price on a
>> they asked to purchase this building for
a little over $3.6 million.
The selling point is this rental income
that we were supposed to receive from
Verizon for the next 18 months as a
county, about 1.4 4 million. Well, 1.7
million minus about 300,000 in operating
costs down to about 1.4. We're finding
out now that they they need the in the
budget they requested $2.75 million
uh in renovations and the money from the
lease just went into the general fund
and has been spent.
And we want to take this show to update
everyone on the social media aspect. Uh
we we covered that with you a couple
weeks ago and uh we had some other folks
who were there who who are going to
report on exactly what was said, but um
you know, we we really watched the
exchange uh amongst the the council and
talking about the the the social media
post by the teacher um and the county
executive's reaction to that because our
county executive has definitely used
social media as a weapon. um whether you
agree with her or not
>> on on on the the the the nature of of
that teacher's post and and look at the
very least it's in really poor taste. Um
so Dr. Vidosa, I want to ask you what
what actually transpired from the the
comment that the teacher made and and
the the reaction from the county
executive.
>> Sure. So, my understanding is the day of
the assassination, a local teacher
posted on Facebook a meme that basically
mocked uh this public figures
assassination.
>> Um,
>> attributing it to Donald Trump and his
cover up of
>> of the Epste. Yeah, it so it was kind of
basically saying, okay, you have to take
one for the team because I'm getting bad
media coverage over the Epstein
connection. So, I I think we all would
agree it was pretty bad taste and
certainly not well timed. Um, but here's
the thing. the county executive as the
head of the Wakcomo County government
publicly stated that this teacher should
be forced to resign. I guess that would
be fired then. I don't know cuz if you
force somebody to resign
>> it is fired at least in baseball.
>> At least in baseball. Yeah. Um so she
[clears throat] she wants this teacher
fired and also stated though that that
in part because he was inciting
violence. It is beyond reckless. It's
embarrassing. It's a disaster as far as
I'm concerned.
>> In this week's episode, been some time
with a a local farmer and some residents
of the Canterbury area neighborhoods to
talk about the biodeiesel refinery
that's going to come before the board of
appeals at the end of March. In the
studio with me is Joe Diggs and Rhonda.
Ladies, thank you for for joining me.
>> Thank you. Thanks for having us.
>> Yes, indeed. So I want to ask each of
you uh when did you come become aware
that this uh refinery was on near your
properties?
>> It was around June I started noticing
some building
>> well let's discuss the specifics of
that. So this building that he's erected
is 193 feet from the property line of
his neighbors. His neighbor's wellhead
is 25 ft from that line.
>> Oh wow. So the building and the
industry, the plant, which he calls it a
plant, is less than 225 ft from a
neighbor's wellhead. One of the things
that I think has come out of this for me
is it's really important for us to
understand local and county civics to be
involved in the process to understand
who's responsible for what decisions.
How did we get to this place? Um, and
I'm hopeful that because we're able to
get on platforms like this and have a
voice that it this will be bigger than
Canterbury, Log Cabin Road, you know,
Hickory Mill because it's if if he is
granted the ability to complete and run
this plant. His plans are to put five
more in this immediate area.
>> Oh, so come into a neighborhood near
you.
>> Yeah.
You all covered extensively last week uh
the the same main topic that was just at
the county council meeting this past
Tuesday, February 4th, which is the
NAACP and the ACLU's lawsuit against the
county and the board of ed.
>> Uh talk a little bit about, you know,
just exactly how the the meeting went
and and there was a public comment
section, too, right?
>> Yeah, sure. So, um the meeting featured
a pretty extensive presentation by Mr.
Kevin Karpinsky, the attorney for the
county, and he went over uh not only the
essence of the case and the history
behind it, but the specific nature of
why the 1965 Voting Rights Act was
violated according to this particular
situation. Uh plaintiffs also alleged a
claim under uh 42USC section 1983
uh that the current 52 composition also
violated the equal protection clause of
the United States Constitution
that I want to talk about the city
council meeting on Monday the 13th.
Right.
>> Yeah. Yeah. Cuz we're getting snowed
regardless.
>> Yes, it it does feel like it, doesn't
it? Um, so look, this is going to be the
second reading of the text amendment for
to change the zoning density in the
downtown business district from 40 units
per acre to 80.
>> Uh, this is not a new subject. This is
this started about two years ago with
>> with an appeal to to get an amend an
exception.
>> The exception was thrown out even by a
judge. M
>> um
but but the public voice has really does
not seem to be resonating with the
elected leaders. Is that would you say
that's accurate?
>> I would say the public voice is not only
being uh not registering but it's being
suppressed in many ways.
>> Well, how how how do you say? Well, one
of the things that's most concerning,
apart from the fact that there are
various elected officials that have what
many people would feel are conflicts of
interests regarding some of these
particular pieces of legislation or
amendments, is the fact that even the
very basic ability of citizens to
participate in their local city
government uh has been increasingly
marginalized in
>> Well, well, let's talk about these
conflicts because
>> in the studio with us now is
Councilwoman April Jackson from the
first district in Salsbury. Thanks for
joining us.
>> Thank you for having me.
>> Michael Anker, thanks for sticking
around. Appreciate having you here.
>> Thank you for having me.
>> So, we want to talk about affordable
housing and the transparency of the city
council business.
>> Uh, welcome everybody. My name is Steve
Miller. I'm the director of wreck and
parks and tourism for Wcomo County.
Thanks for coming out today. Um, we are
joined by Secretary Kur from DNR. So, we
appreciate you taking the time to be in
Wcomo County. Um, while the secretary
was in town, the conversations of
partnership parks has come up. And so
what we're doing today is just making
three stops. These are just real quick.
I wouldn't even call them tours. They're
just site visits at three locations.
This show is going to be about what's in
the briefing book for tomorrow night's
county council meeting at 6 o'clock. Uh
we felt compelled to do this because
there's over 170 pages, a lot of
information and there's contradictory
information from the county executive in
this. Um Mike, I want to go through the
timeline that Jim has prepared and the
notes that you have prepared. I want to
give everybody just the facts and then I
want to take a break and come back and
do some analysis of those facts because
it's it's nearly impossible to comment
on it while you're trying to go through
the timeline. But there's a lot of lot
of things that have have have been I
would say restated that weren't facts in
July. They're now all of a sudden are
supposed to be fact in October.
>> Public monies are for the public's
interest, not for private development.
And you can conflate per private
interest with a outcome that can
theoretically,
you know, benefit the public, but that's
not actually using what that those
public monies are for.
>> In the studio with us now is Dr. Micah
Staer from Wakcom County Public Schools.
Thanks for coming out.
>> Thank you. Thanks for having me.
>> Dr. Joe, thanks for sticking around.
>> Thank you. So, uh, I wanted to get a
feel for your role and and there's a lot
of folks who know who you are or at
least they think they know what you do,
but I want to ask you, what exactly is
your role with the Wakamaku County
Public Schools?
>> Absolutely. So, the Wakamu County Board
of Education has two employees. One's a
clerical assistant and the other is
myself. Okay. Uh so uh in my role as
superintendent of schools, I'm
responsible for the 2500 employees that
we have. We're the third largest
employer in Wcomamaku County.
>> Okay.
>> Uh we also have 30 schools and programs.
In the studio with us now is Dr. Jason
Arrington from Wakcom County. Thank you
for coming out.
>> Thanks.
>> Mr. Jim Atkins from Mardella.
>> Good morning. So, you're newly elect
newly appointed onto the the dispensary
board, right? Correct. In Wcom County.
>> Yes. Just starting this past um July
kind of thing.
>> What does that board do and how does it
differ from the board of licensed
commissioners?
>> In the studio with me today is
Councilman Joe Holloway from the fifth
district, Wakcom County.
>> How you doing today?
>> Thanks for being here. Hello,
>> Mr. Mike Goldberg. Thanks for coming out
from Delmare.
>> Good day. So, uh,
we had the the the county executive's
legislative breakfast last Friday, which
was
>> Welcome back to Open Agenda. In the
studio with us now is the president and
CEO of Wakcom County Habitat for
Humanity, Molly Hilligos.
>> Thanks for having me.
>> Thanks for coming.
>> Hi, everybody.
>> Mike Langford. Thanks for enjoy joining
us today as well.
>> Thanks for having me. We've seen you out
in the public a lot and we've heard some
some of the programs that are involved
with Habitat in the news lately, but I
really wanted to find out from the
source exactly some of the programs, how
they work, and some of the challenges
you see coming up ahead.
Welcome back to Open Agenda. In the
studio with me now is Miss Monica
Brooks, president of the NAACP of
Wakcomo County. Good morning.
>> Thanks for coming out. Thank you. I know
that there's more to what you do and and
uh talking to you, you you actually got
started back in 2014 as a co-founder of
another organization. Can you talk about
that?
>> Absolutely. So um back in 201 might have
been 13 actually two 13 or 14 um we
discovered that they someone had a great
idea to put 13 mega-ized poultry houses
on top of the Paleo Channel which is our
source of water. if you're in Salsbury
and the areas around.
In the studio with us now is Miss
Shaneie Shields, Councilwoman from
District 1, Makamako County. Thank you
for coming out.
>> I'm glad to have be here. Run my mouth.
>> One, I want to discuss the liquor bills.
Uh the the the zombie liquor bills that
are never undead. They've come back to
life once again. And uh you were very
articulate at the last meeting. You just
flat out said, "I'm just not going to
support them." And I wanted to ask you
why why why do you feel so strongly
about that?
>> I feel strongly about it because I think
we have other issues number one.
>> Okay.
>> To talk about besides liquor.
>> Okay.
>> In the studio with us now is MueL Dalene
from Delmare. Thank you. So Muel, I want
to ask you, I've seen you at many county
council meetings. Uh what got you
involved and and and why did you get
started going? So my husband and my
family, we moved to Wakamako County and
when we were buying our house, we had
heard about Connley Mill Park. Um we had
kind of researched it. We knew this was
coming and we wanted to be close to it,
be a part of it. Um when last year's
events of Safari decor came up and we
found out that the park had been removed
from the capital improvement program and
the tri county council economic
development strategy. Uh we decided we
wanted to um help form an advocacy group
to protect the original vision for
Conley Mill Park.
>> Salsbury city council had their meeting
u Monday uh September 9th.
>> They did. They did. And you we're going
to bring in u Kevin Lindsay later. We're
going to talk about closed primaries and
and open primaries and maybe baseball,
too.
>> Yeah. Yeah.
>> Uh but before we get there, there there
was there was some other business at
this city council meeting.
>> Well, speaking of closed primaries and
closed things, let's talk about closed
sessions because what happened um
yesterday was very interesting. So,
typically the council goes into closed
session, you know, if they have to
before the legislative session and then
maybe they go to a work session. Um,
usually they're ready by 6:00.
>> Okay?
>> Uh, actually sometimes they're ready
about 10 15 minutes prior. The doors
open, the community the community can
come in. Well, they didn't open those
doors until about 6:35.
>> Okay?
>> And there were a lot of and a lot of
people talked literally when the doors
opened and afterward about what
occurred. And by all accounts, by
several accounts, there was a lot of
tensions, a lot of back and forth about
some of the big debates they're having
right now.
>> Well, I thought it was odd, too. There
was only three council members there,
right?
>> Yes. So, I can't explain council member
Gregory's absence. That's not a new
thing. She
>> She wasn't at the last one, either.
>> Yeah, she's not around much, it seems.
But, uh, we're what I was told by
several people was that council member
Dowy, uh, left.
>> Okay.
>> Walked out. He was there was in the
close session at some point. Um
allegedly
>> got upset, left.
>> Okay.
>> Um and then uh Vice President Angela
Blake had to chair the uh rest of the
meeting, which is interesting because
with only three sitting members,
although they had a quorum, they
actually couldn't uh vote on the second
reading for several resolutions. When an
elected official knowingly and
intentionally violates the rule of law
meant for us all, it is something deeply
unethical and ought to bar them from the
ability to serve public office in the
future. Mr. Deshawn Dowy has
misrepresented himself to such an extent
that he has lied to the city election
board, the city of Salsbury incorporated
municipality, his fellow council
members, his constituents of district 2,
and every resident of the city of
Salsbury, over 30,000 people who
actually live here.
>> In the studio with me is Mr. Kevin
Lindseay from Salsbury.
>> How you doing?
>> This idea that there's going to going to
be a closed primary for the next city uh
elections which are in 2027.
>> You've posted some information and I
want to find out a little bit more about
just what you're hearing.
>> So, uh I have a contact that stated that
the city council, which they ultimately
have control over, wants to change the
charter to a primary. So, if you're
going to create a closed primary system,
as I said, you're not just going to get
the more extreme candidates or maybe the
candidates that are backed by the party
people with the money, but you're just
going to get fewer people to participate
in the process.
>> So, Bob, I you're here today to talk
about some of the lawsuits regarding the
marine and landing development project
on the west side of the Wakamako River
downtown. And also, there's also a
lawsuit pending for lot 10. And there's
a lot to break down there. Yeah, I want
to find out more just about how that's
going to break down and what the time
frames what people can expect.
>> The reason why that was leaked to the
media was because this is my own
personal belief. I believe that they're
using that as a threat to get what they
want. Uh but both the company that is
suing for the Marina Landing um property
and Memphis Capital both have some
financial problems. Uh Memphis Capital
has a lean uh due to unpaid furniture in
the Ross building.
>> Okay. And then of course the uh issue
with uh the company in Marina Landing.
They're I believe I believe they're
Baltimore based company.
>> They need more of those big checks from
Mayor Jake Day.
>> For all the discussion with all this
other stuff in the end regular people
are are going to have to pay 6% more for
their water and sewer. And a lot of that
is basically because and you can watch
city council meeting where they say
this. It's to pay the debt service. A
lot of that debt we acrewed. Why?
Because we subsidized a lot of high-end
projects that have yet to come to
fruition.
In the studio with us is Councilman Dave
Andis. Thank you for coming out.
>> Thanks for having me.
>> You're the newest member of the county
council, but in some ways you're also
the oldest member of the county council,
right? I never thought about it in in
that uh in that way but yes uh 25 years
ago I was also by appointment served for
two years 2000 2001 and uh so 25 years
ago and I'll have to say there's been a
lot of there's a lot of contrast between
when I was on the first time and what
I'm uh seeing right now.
>> We'll talk about the county fair. Um it
great weekend for it, right?
>> It was fantastic. You know, to me, this
is one of the best things that Wcomamo
County has to offer.
>> We we are looking forward in September
that there's going to be a a meeting
down at Westside Community Center to
talk about with Tipkin, but in the
meantime, Delegate Chris Adams and Tom
Hutchson came out and you covered that.
[clears throat]
>> So, uh, and Jim Atkins was down there as
well.
I think the message should be that if
you're getting your information from any
blog site, not not one particular one,
but any buy or beware
>> and if the only way you're you're making
a decision about which way you feel
about the board of education funding in
this instance
>> is you need to go get your own
information. Go to primary source.
>> Right now, those dynamics in Annapolis
are led by the budget issues. Mhm.
>> So, I think it's going to be interesting
to see what actual legislative
priorities
uh the county fully gets behind first
and then can our delegation deliver any
of those based on what we're facing.
>> In the studio with me now is uh Randy
Taylor, Mayor Salsbury,
>> figure out how to incentivize again
housing going forward without
compromising our tax base or our
revenue. Um, you know, right now, um,
for an example, uh, just to give people
within the city that are on the payroll
a 2% raise is a $750,000 compensation.
>> Wow.
>> And that requires $75 million in new
assessments to go onto the books to
collect our rate in order to just break
even. And that doesn't really cover much
else. We want to talk a little bit about
the planning and zoning meeting uh that
happened last week, the results of that.
Uh the the city council had a meeting
this week. Unfortunately, there wasn't
any votes taken based off of the
recommendations that came from planning
and zoning. We want to lay some of the
groundwork. We want to explain some of
the the details and this it's a couple
layers and and I think if we take our
time, I think we can get through that,
maybe help bring anybody who's kind of
new to this topic up to speed.
Essentially, if you watch it, it seems
that the votes and the discussion and
the meeting format were predetermined uh
in the sense that it was very scripted.
There were no real opportunities to
really debate and and analyze the issue.
And I think a lot of us in the community
and again for for clarity, you know, we
all have our bias and view. I think most
of us are not against density. Uh the
issue is how it's being done in this
way. the fact that there seems to be a
lot of ethical concerns and conflicts of
interest at play with certain um members
of the planning and zoning board with
local developers.
>> In this episode, we're actually going to
take a look back at the property tax
credit that's been offered to the
volunteer fire departments in Wakamako
County. With me in studio is Mr. Jim
Atkins from Mardella. Volunteer
firefighters have a a program which the
state gives them called LOSAP which
allows them to get a state tax credit,
income tax credit at the end of the year
if they do a certain amount of
participation.
For many years, some of the chiefs in
the county have propositioned the county
and tried to get a property tax credit
for the firefighters, the volunteers in
as a recruitment and retention program.
>> We do know that trying to get all the
information sometimes for from every
single department in an exact number is
very very difficult. So, pretty much the
crux of what Mr. Benson helped us put
together figure out what that total
number might be. I think it was about
750,000 we thought might be the total
impact sort of fashioned a bill in
reference to that on a prrated basis. So
uh that would be the maximum and there's
a certain particular amount that would
be benefited uh in relief of property
taxes first year, second year and third
year for each volunteer
>> comes from a disagreement over a
campaign donation that was um you know
in the campaign finance forms it says
that Eastern Shore Undercover itself has
donated
>> $3,500 to the friends to Julie Gordano
>> 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 on the
radio.
>> 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
>> even even the sheriff showed it.
>> What the video recorded by PAC 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 strike her
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.
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.
>> Well, thanks for watching this episode
of An Agenda. [laughter] We'll be back
next week with another new episode.
>> Love the chicken.
>> And I'm pretty sure I have some
influential people backing me. But if
for some reason this passes in November,
I'll go back to teaching in 26, but I
will run for county council along with a
slate and I will win because no one
works harder than I do.
>> Look, these shows are going to start
getting longer.
>> They're just giving a laugh track, man.
>> A laugh track and uh maybe uh maybe an
episode a day at this rate. There's just
so much to work with these days with all
the shenanigans.
Quite a treat to say that we’ve reached our 100th episode here at Open Agenda. It’s been an incredibly fun and productive journey since we began just over 18 months ago in July 2024!
Just for fun, join us for a walk down Memory Lane as we highlight some of the notable stories we've covered over the past year and a half.
Thanks to all of our contributors as well as to the staff at PAC 14 for supporting all local producers and their passionate defense of the 1st Amendment…even when a few Wicomico-based politicians have tried to violate it. Also thanks to the loyal viewers that we serve.
We hope you enjoy this retrospective of our past episodes and major topics covered.
Best wishes to all for a happy and safe Thanksgiving, and we hope you will continue to tune in and be informed.
Here’s to the next 100 😉
