Todd Paris, Attorney and Candidate for Salisbury’s City Council
♦ One of the questions I asked this week at the City Council’s “candidate meeting” was about whether Paul Woodson told the rest of City Council about Northstate Communication’s interest in acquiring Fibrant a year or so back and if the Mayor walked out of negotiations without even asking for a price.
I directed the question to Mayor Woodson, however the City manager said he had stepped out earlier. Fibrant’s Jon Sofley did volunteer to answer my questions. He confirmed the meeting did occur but called it “exploratory.” He did not know that night if Woodson had told anyone. The public sure didn’t know.
Northstate Communications is a leading Fiber to the Home FTTH provider and their most recent financial reports indicate more than enough assets to purchase Fibrant. They could have wrote a check that night for enough money to pay off the debt, refund the $7.6 million plus to the water and sewer fund and have the knowledge and resources to properly run and market this Fibrant. Of course, we would have to “open the books” and let them see if it would be a good purchase. Non-disclosure agreements could have protected the city from any adverse findings, if any, they might uncover.
Is anyone asking City Council what they knew and when they knew it? Judging by their response at the meeting, I question whether the rest of City Council was even told about the NorthState meeting.
By the way, incumbent apologists have attacked me for asking “hard questions” at this “purely informational” meeting. City Hall invited me by letter, to come and ask questions. I do know that in the last two such meetings that no challengers asked questions and that all incumbents were re-elected. If challengers do not ask hard questions and question bad decisions they might as well fill out the forms to apply for city boards and committees that we were presented with that night.
Why are some folks mad? I think the purpose of this meeting is to: bring challengers in, convince them that under the city manager system, that they don’t really have the power to change anything, invite them to join various boards and committees instead, impress upon them that “negative campaigning does not work in the city” and give them a little “hug” along with their free city tote bag and water bottle, and get the incumbents reelected. I guess I just didn’t play “nice.”
Oh by the way, I consider Scott Maddox and Mark Lewis, who have served on council before, to be neo-incumbents, who already have “the nod.”
Candidate Jeff Watson drew my attention to the fact that City Manager Bailey in his opening remarks stated that there were two slots open on Council. There are five slots open, unless the challengers do not challenge. By the way, I left my city water bottle and tote bag under my chair.
