Can we stick to the issues, please?

Well, time will tell if yesterday's post at Salisbury News will cost Joe Albero $100 or not. He's offering this as a reward to any eagle-eye photographer who catches Debbie Comegys making an obscene gesture. (And he has such a nice picture of the particular gesture on his site.)

Now I'll note that I've observed Mrs. Comegys' behavior at a couple of the forums and yes, she comes across sort of rudely. I didn't personally witness the pen incident at the SWAC forum but it sounds like something not outside her pattern of behavior.

But - why is she becoming an issue? Debbie Comegys isn't running for City Council. She disrupted one forum. I understand that Joe Albero is a Tim Spies supporter and, to be charitable, isn't among those who'd like to see Gary Comegys reelected to his post. I suppose Gary's spousal choice could be construed as one of a number of character issues Gary Comegys seems to have (which have been covered by several local bloggers), but then I'm certainly no expert advisor at marriage here either.

I get along reasonably well with Joe; in fact, I was one of the well-wishers the other night at his birthday party. We also comment on each others' websites, we're linked to one another, and he'll point to articles of mine he likes and I'll do the same for his site. Both of us know that we each have different blogging styles and things that are important to me may not be so to him and vice versa. However, I have to say to Joe that this whole Debbie Comegys reward brouhaha just serves as too much of a sideshow and detracts from what needs to be a serious discussion regarding the direction the city of Salisbury should head toward in the next decade.

Now I know Joe's a well-meaning kind of guy. He's abrasive to some, but on the whole I have no issues with him personally. I've also seen the sort of good he's done in uncovering a few of the issues that this campaign has revolved around. So why let a personal vendetta of sorts get in the way of that, and also make the blogs a distracting and polarizing issue themselves?

That's just my two cents on this whole situation. It leaves me $99.98 short of Joe Albero's offer but I think it's more valuable to the citizens of Salisbury in the long run.