By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonline.com
No sooner had the City of Bowie budget proposal hit the city council table Thursday did the fireworks begin as Councilor Arlene Bishop told City Manager Bert Cunningham he was wrong to send out an email indicating employee salaries were “confidential” when they are “public records.”
The city council met for a noon called meeting Thursday with the budget leading the agenda.
Cunningham, on the job for just a few months, handed out copies of his notes on the budget telling the panel “two rookies put it together.” He noted Carrie Moore, finance director had done a wonderful job and a judgment of his work would have to come later.
“We’ve already found some things that are going to change. Please study it, and I expect a lot of changes. This is your opportunity to set the path for the city during the next year,” Cunningham said.
As the council looked at the notes, Bishop asked since when have salaries become confidential information as she held up papers and looked directly at Cunningham. She said he sent an email with the salary information and said it was confidential.

The city manager said he just didn’t want her to “disseminate it to everyone in the world,” because it is the personal information of the employees.

Read the full story in the weekend News.