The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1949-05-19

OF parking tickets mas gone HUE
too far when there is talk of giving
tickets to members of the State Po-
lice and the like.
Knowing Commissioner Ellinger as
1 do, l just don't believe he ever
issued such an order, and unless l
miss my guess the whole matter will
be clarified by him, probably before
this comment hits the street.
After furry of special meetings
of the Mayor and Council, things
seem to have quieted down a bit
and know of no meetings scheduled
for this week, at least.
l was very glad to find that the
Board of Public Works was dis
tributing the city's insurance around
with the various companies, instead
of piling it all into one, and I hope
the same practice will be followed
by the Mayor and Council with the
Fidelity Bonds, the premiums for
which are being paid for by the city
administration.
**s
1t seems to me that what the City
Hall needs more than anything else,
is a good public relations man.
On top of the statements emanat-
ing from the City Hall that give the
impression that the city is in pretty
bad shape financially, comes the
to say the least of it-untactful man.
ner in which the question of the
control of the Municipal Stadium
was handled.
Certainly the city has right to
know just exactly where it stands
as regards to the Municipal Stadium,
but by the same token the members
of the Field Athletic Association have
a right to be heard on the subject
before any action is taken, and one
would certainly have expected that
the Associations Attorney would
have been consulted-but he wasn't.
Judge Joseph D. Mish, Chief
Judge of the Sixth Circuit Court,
the attorney for the Hagerstown
Field Athletic Association, serves,
as do the other members of the as
ISOLATION, without pay or remunera-
ton of any sort. 1t would have been
much more dignified on the part of
the Mayor and City Attorney to
have called for a consultation with
the entire membership of the Field
Athletic Association instead of just
calling on ]. V. Jamison, Jr., the
president, and then after a brief
conversation with him, busting the
thing wide open as they did We'd
nesday morning.
No one is more jealous than 1 am
of the rights and privileges of the
members of the City Council, and
of course it's been known for a long
time that Councilman Jennings has
been dissatisfied with Mr. Sterling's
contract with the Field Athletic AS
ISOLATION. But it must not be over
looked that Mr.. Jennings is an in
terested party, since he sponsored
athletic clubs. himself and has al
ways wanted to use the stadium for
his own games.
This special meeting of the Mayor
and Council on Wednesday morn
ing was obviously cut and dried,
since, after more than an hour was
spent in kicking the stadium matter
around, Councilman Jennings Of
fered motion which he read from
typewriter sheet that was OBJ
viously prepared in advance; just
as obviously prepared by an attor-
ney, and which he had in his pos
session at the time the special meet
ing was called to order.
Mr.. Sterling pays the city the
sum of $3.50 for the rental of the
Baseball Park during the baseball
season, plus an additional, rent pro-
vidihg the attendance goes beyond
a certain mark.
I know nothing about Mr.. Ster-
ling's business, of course, but il
wouldn't surprise me in the least
If this whole mess doesn't wind ur
by driving organized baseball out
OF Hagerstown, and that's something
I'd hate to see.
Something else that apparently
the Mayor and Council know moth.
ing about, are the facts surrounding
the taking over of the Municipal.
Stadium by the Hagerstown Fielc
Athletic Association, and these facts
would have been brought out very
clearly had the Mayor and Council
been courteous enough to call the
entire Field Athletic Association in.
to conference before taking the
drastic action that they did.
Briefly, here are some of the facts