Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Assateague Beach Permit on City Vehicle

I must agree with Albero and others on this one.

First of all, Assateague Island is divided into two parts. There is a State Park and a Federal Park. Now I have been a member of the Assateague Mobile Sports Fisherman Association, (A.M.S.A.), for over twenty years. A main focus of A.M.S.A. and the parks is the preservation of the beaches. I have never heard of anyone having a “permit” to remove sand in any quantity whatsoever from the island, other than what ends up on your feet and in your bathing suit.

And another question---Why pay for a beach permit (in excess of $100.00) to rob sand from a protected area. There are far to many legitimate companies that could easily provide a stockpile of sand for the city. Not to mention the fuel and manpower required garnering this resource.

What about a courtesy request from Ocean City for sand? Of course they also are constantly in a replenishment process, but a few pick-up loads is not that much to ask for. I may be wrong, but at the present time the two park services are not engaged in replenishment to the beaches. How about some of the public and private beaches in the county along the Nanticoke River? And once again, there are many local companies that can provide sand quickly and efficiently.

Sorry---to many “Easy-Outs” here to convince me at this point a Federal Park Permit is needed for this city vehicle to obtain sand. Oh yes! That permit sticker is for the Federal Park. Their rules and regulations are far more stringent than the State. Also, I have never heard of the Federal Park Service issuing "free" permits to anyone.

Still---there is another side to this story. A side I anxiously await to hear. The burden of proof will be in legitimate records and proof positive of correspondence of such agreements. If it cannot be provided, than doubt shall forever shadow the issue.

19 comments:

John R said...

This is the stuff Joe does that is so good. GOD he drives me nuts. Just when you wanna punch him in the face, here he comes out with a great story.
And the PetsMart thing too shouldnt be overlooked either.
UUGHHHHHHH!

o w grant said...

Facts? Facts?
We don't need no stinkin' facts!

I wish I could say that you just can't make this stuff up, but then Joe goes and proves me wrong - again.

joe albero said...

Good work Joe.

Anonymous said...

can I ask a question? I understand yall want to jump on the JJ bandwagon.......but has anyone actually CALLED THE CITY TO FIND OUT THEIR SIDE OF THE STORY? It might behoove someone to do so.

Soapbox said...

I wouldn’t say I was jumping on his bandwagon. I will say that fair is fair and this is something that needs to be looked into. The person that should delve into this is Albero. He is the one who broke the story; he is the one who should get all the facts. Since I am not a city resident I do feel I have a right to call and question anyone. By the same token I do not expect anyone from the city to feel obligated to heed my comments.
So, I guess it’s a wash.

joe albero said...

Oh, trust me, I've been working on it. You know, it's an interesting thing how so many challenge me about two sides of a story and I will seriously ask that you hear me out for just a second here.

When it comes to Press Conferences, I am not invited. So much so, when I attended one at the SPD, Chief Webster personally threw me out.

Whenever I try to access any City information I am asked to fill out a PIA form and they have 30 days to get back with me.

Do any of you actually think the Mayor will speak to me? Do you realize they are now enforcing a rule that NO ONE is allowed to say anything to anyone without it going through the Mayor or John Pick first. The Fire Department has already passed that and they have stated ANYONE who does so will be terminated.

As I can understand and respect where many of you would like to see a COMPLETE story from me, in many cases it is impossible and that is also why I have a Blog and not an On Line Newspaper.

I am working on getting more information but as you can see, they're NOT going to make it easy for me to do so for at least 30 days. Now do you understand?

Anonymous said...

The problem as I see it here is Joe has made his bed with this unrelenting assault on the people, not the politcs and policies of Salisbury. Therefore he get no consideration, no repsect and very little first hand information. He made that bed, he has to lay in it.
As for the permit, it is ludicrous for a city truck to have a Beach permit. I do agree with Joe here but this good point is lost in all the smear and hate.

Soapbox said...

I understand completly Albero. I rspectfully defer to the comment above this one and will add this. If you had started this entire BLOG of yours on a civil note with the people you have to deal with for information, possibly you would not be in this quandry now.

Anonymous said...

OK I called the City of Salisbury. I explained who I was, and why I was calling and added that they could hang up if they wanted. I'm not telling you all which department and or who I spoke with. I was told the "sticker" was done as a joke, has been removed and the employee was reprimanded,.
I told the person, I thought it was a great joke because it caught JJ hook line and sinker. I wished them a great day and hung up.

Now I KNOW JJ will say this is a "cover up". Actually I don't think so and frankly I don't care. It makes him look like a fool, and proves if you're nice, you get your questions answered.

Soapbox said...

To be quite honest, this a far more believable story than the one about trips to the beach to get sand for horseshoe pits. Was it an inside joke between co-workers, or was it done intentionally to try to trap Albero? There’s no telling and it really doesn’t matter. What started out more than likely as a harmless prank has stirred up the BLOGS for nothing and has caused at least one reprimand.

I see the issue as dead.

joe albero said...

You go and believe whatever you like. That's what's cool about the Blogs. However, don't think I'm not LMAO at each one of you who believes that. The thing was expired and had been on there for more than a year with a sticker the same exact size underneath it. You go figure it out. Yeah, it was put on as a joke. Actually, I think the joke is on anyone that believes that story. Then again, many of you still support this woman as Mayor, so go figure.

joe albero said...

By the way, nobody pays $90.00 for a sticker for a prank. Nice try.

TomCat said...

Joe Albero, you have to give the "anti" bloggers credit for not being closed minded. If you will read the comments on my blog (4 times more than were left on your blog) you will quickly find what you have done to alienate so many. I'm still not sure john r is who he says he is. "GOD, he drives me nuts" Joe Albero, do you really need to pat yourself on the back! "Good Boy Joe, Good Boy" 8==8 There's your bone!

Soapbox said...

No, I don’t suppose anyone would pay $90. for a sticker just for a prank. However that permit is expired and the stickers can be removed in one piece with the use of a hairdryer and a little patience. Someone very well could have removed it from another vehicle and placed it on the city unit as a prank. I am saying that’s what happened, but it’s possible.

In any event the issue has supposedly been resolved. The thing to do now is follow up and see if that is true. Albero—several people, including myself, were on your side for this issue. Why must you continue to try and find fault with anything other than your own train of thought?

joe albero said...

soapbox,

With all due respect, "I" am the one who took the pictures 1 foot from the bumper. "I" am the one that saw the other sticker, (the exact same size) under the final one I took a picture of and at 45 years old I can assure you I have enough experience to confidently state that sticker was not placed there as a joke. Now I am NOT trying to make this all about me but I can assure you this was no prank. Someone simply got snagged and FOR ONCE IN THEIR LIVES the City needs to FINALLY be accountable. We're 99% compliant with the MDE. We're at 80% capacity. We are not extracting sewage into the river at the Zoo. The liner is guaranteed at the WWTP for 20 years. Shall I go on?

TomCat said...

Please don't go on Joe, but you will . . . like the Energizer Bunny!

Anonymous said...

I believe Joe on this one. Trying to remove these stickers and replace them is difficult at best.

Questions????
1. Was the truck, is the truck assigned to one individual who was abusing the system by using it on w/e jaunts to the beach? Guaranteed that has stopped now!

2. Was the truck, in fact used to collect sand? It's a stupid idea, but giving some of what I have seen coming out of the City in recent years it's not unlikely!

3. Has the issue been resolved? Since the sticker is out of date and a new one is not affixed then I would say yes. At least the attention brought by Joe will probably stop any further surf fishing from going on with the tax payers dime.

Let's all move on to the next fiasco!

Inside Looking Out said...

Interesting perspectives on this. I will say and believe me, it is NOT in defense of anyone in the city. If ANY of you have EVER tried to peel off those stickers then you would in fact know that it takes ALOT of the old ones with it, not just the one on top!! As for it "being a joke played on someone", who knows, i've heard of worse jokes being played on personnel in the city. As for the story that it's used to get sand from Assateage, that one does smell.

joe albero said...

Spending $90.00 per sticker as a joke is simply out of the question for someone on a City salary.

No matter what is said, everyone knows what really was going on here. Sure, a select few might want to argue for the City's sake but we all know the reality here.

In the past, (before Blogs) there was only the Daily Times, (print wise) and they would never run a story like this and you know what, to this day they still haven't! It tells you why, (convincingly) everyone calls it the Tilghman Times.

They were snagged, the stickers are gone and no one will ever pull that kind of crap again. End of story.