How Developers And Their Lawyers Deliver ‘Bundles Of Joy’ To Elected County Officials: Part 2

Filed in Delaware, Featured by on November 29, 2022

So, what, you may ask, happens at one of these bundling events?  Let’s take a look at just one of them.  This one held on behalf of arguably and verifiably the most consistently corrupt member of County Council.  We’re talking Bill Bell.  The guy who has collected fully 79% of his $$’s from developers.  We’re talking a single date. In this case, June 24, 2019.  Which, not coincidentally, came about one month after Kevin Caneco filed his committee to challenge Bell in a primary.  Just take a look at who came to Bell’s rescue, all drowning him in checks on that same day:

 

6/24/2019 Apex Engineering Inc. APEX Bundle $600.00 D
6/24/2019 Dale Walley Tucker $100.00 D Relative of Shawn Tucker
6/24/2019 Jefferey M. Bross Bross/Duffield $500.00 D https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-bross-3bab2813/
6/24/2019 David Cantera Cantera $400.00 D MIDDLETOWN COMMONS MANAGEMENT, LLC
6/24/2019 R.R.M. Carpenter III Carpenter Family $100.00 D Carpenter Family Developing their Estate in the Brandywine Hundred
6/24/2019 RRM Carpenter IV Carpenter Family $100.00 D Carpenter Family Developing their Estate in the Brandywine Hundred
6/24/2019 David Carpenter Carpenter Family $100.00 D Family Developing Estate in Brandywine Hundred, Wagoners Row Development, along scenic byway
6/24/2019 Keith Carpenter Carpenter Family $100.00 D Family Developing Estate in Brandywine Hundred, Wagoners Row Development, along scenic byway
6/24/2019 Lucinda Carpenter Carpenter Family $100.00 D Family Developing Estate in Brandywine Hundred, Wagoners Row Development, along scenic byway
6/24/2019 C CDA Engineering CDA $600.00 D https://www.cdaengineering.com/
6/24/2019 DE Leager $500.00 D Paving Contractor
6/24/2019 Drake Cattermole DC Squared $100.00 D https://dcsquaredmanagement.com/
6/24/2019 Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP Drinker Briddle & Reath $600.00 D https://www.faegredrinker.com/en
6/24/2019 John Papili DSM $500.00 D DSM Commercial – https://dsmre.com/who-we-are/
6/24/2019 James Wittig DSM $500.00 D DSM Commericail
6/24/2019 Wittig, Robert DSM $500.00 D DSM Commericail
6/24/2019 Brian DiSabatino EDIS $600.00 D https://www.ediscompany.com/team-member/brian-disabatino/
6/24/2019 Fusco Property Managment Fusco $300.00 D https://www.fuscomanagement.com/
6/24/2019 Fusco Property Managment Fusco $300.00 D https://www.fuscomanagement.com/
6/24/2019 Lorraine Ferrara Greggo & Ferrara $600.00 D Greggo & Ferrara Construction
6/24/2019 Nickolas Ferrara Greggo & Ferrara $600.00 D Greggo & Ferrrara
6/24/2019 Francis Julian Julian/Eastern States $600.00 D http://www.easternstatesgroup.com/about-us/
6/24/2019 Richard Julian Julian/Eastern States $300.00 D http://www.easternstatesgroup.com/about-us/
6/24/2019 Amelia Wyant Julian/Eastern States $300.00 D President of Eastern States Group, Residential and commercial real estate.
6/24/2019 Dev Sitaram Karins & Assoc. $300.00 D https://www.linkedin.com/in/dev-sitaram-907b2b11/
6/24/2019 Michael Marris Maris $200.00 D Traffice & Highway Construction for Development – http://www.mma-engineers.com/
6/24/2019 Gregory Pettinaro Pettinaro $600.00 D https://pettinaro.com/
6/24/2019 Tracey Crowley Rev Trust Pettinaro $600.00 D Pettinaro
6/24/2019 Verino Pettinaro  Trust Pettinaro $600.00 D Pettinaro Construction
6/24/2019 Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLp Saul Ewing $600.00 D https://www.saul.com/
6/24/2019 Joseph Setting Settings $300.00 D Settings Properites Inc. Provides services for residentail and commericial propertetys
6/24/2019 Tarabicos & Grosso LLP Tarabicos $500.00 D https://tarabicosgrosso.com/
6/24/2019 Geoffrey Grosso Tarabicos $400.00 D https://tarabicosgrosso.com/our-people/
6/24/2019 Larry Tarabicos Tarabicos $600.00 D https://tarabicosgrosso.com/our-people/
6/24/2019 Michael Hoffman Tarabicos $600.00 D https://tarabicosgrosso.com/our-people/michael-j-hoffman/
6/24/2019 Scott Matthews Tarabicos $200.00 D https://tarabicosgrosso.com/our-people/scott-l-matthews/
6/24/2019 Michele W. Tucker Tucker $500.00 D Asssociated with Shawn Tucker
6/24/2019 Thomas McGonigle Tucker $200.00 D https://btlaw.com/people/thomas-mcgonigle
6/24/2019 Shawn Tucker Tucker $500.00 D Land Use Development Attorney – https://btlaw.com/people/shawn-tucker
6/24/2019 Eileen Walley Tucker $100.00 D Relative of Shawn Tucker
6/24/2019 Keith Adams $300.00 D Co-Owner at Cross Nailed Construction, LLC.
6/24/2019 Richard Woodin $300.00 D https://www.woodinassociates.com/#
6/24/2019 Alexis Waltier $150.00
6/24/2019 David Roberts $150.00
6/24/2019 E Thomas Harvey $100.00
6/24/2019 James Boyle $150.00
6/24/2019 Joseph Bryant $150.00
6/24/2019 Karen Barlow $100.00
6/24/2019 Leon F. Machulski $100.00
6/24/2019 TM Arcaro $200.00
6/24/2019 Wm Bazzelle $150.00

For those scoring at home, or, just reading the blog, at least 42 of these 51 contributions came from the development community.  BTW, ‘D’=Developer

This particular Bundling Party was only one of several for various council members.  Based on the number of contributions posted on the same day, here are the other dates of bundling parties:

Date Number of Contributions Made
24-JUN-19 51
24-MAR-16 47
30-APR-18 47
20-FEB-20 39
25-MAR-12 38
07-APR-16 38
28-APR-16 38
15-JAN-20 38
06-MAY-15 36
25-APR-18 34
08-JAN-20 34
20-MAR-18 31
06-APR-22 31
14-APR-16 30

If you’d like, I can find out who the beneficiaries were for these bundling parties. However, my Research Assistant is making noises about going to work for a development law firm, and she’s threatening to spill the beans on all my predilections and peccadilloes.  Even the, um, foot thing.  Can’t have that.

So, kids, there you have it.  As of now, a significant number of county council members, and the NCC Executive, have largely been bought and paid for by those who do business with the County.

Now that you know, what are you we gonna do about it?

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  1. puck says:

    I’m always impressed by how cheap it is to buy a Delaware politician. But then I realize, these aren’t actual bribes, they are statements. The money is a mere token to let the candidate know “You’re our boy, and don’t you forget it.” And if they ever forget it, the next bundling party will be for an opponent.

    • jason330 says:

      That’s a good point. It isn’t as if any of the bundle recipients has an actual base of voters they can turn to or fall back on. Their only constituency is the development community. If the money dried up, they’ be dead men and women walking.

  2. These articles understate the degree to which the developers try to buy Council.

    Went back to look at the contributors to Bob Weiner, Bill Powers and Ken Woods in their most recent races. These weren’t included in the statistics. All three, ESPECIALLY Woods and Powers, were essentially funded by the developers.

  3. mouse says:

    Where did you find this info? I would like to do the same for crooked crony cabals in Sussex

    • If you’ve got the time and/or a research assistant, start with the campaign finance reports for the members of Suxco County Council. Especially for those who had primaries and/or general election opponents. Why don’t you give me a name and I’ll help research it for you?

      In the past couple of years, I’ve gotten better at researching those reports and understanding what they mean. Still learning more all the time, though.

      I also recommend the required lobbyists filings with the so-called Public Integrity Commission. Used properly, you can pretty much see who is carrying out their public duties with integrity, and which ones, like Deb Heffernan, are carrying out the agendas of their campaign contributors.

  4. Nancy Willing says:

    Ken Woods has announced a run for NCC Council President for 2024 and that is BAD news.

    No thanks.

    • He’s REALLY bought and paid for.

      But then, so is KHN.

      Jeez!

      • Alby says:

        Yes, but at least KHN is a complete incompetent. That minimizes the damage she can cause.

        Let’s face it, Janet Kilpatrick actually runs the show, no matter what her title says. Just like she ran Roger Roy’s office once upon a time.

        • Nancy Willing says:

          For sure.

          The sole Republican on the council, Janet is in charge, wields her power with an odious amount of bullying and she works hand in glove with Meyer for Land Use objectives etc. as she did with Clark and the Coonsies on staff.

          She even frothed and screamed about the ultimate and total powers of the Exectutive Office to run our county as he pleases at an early 2022 council committee meeting where Cartier, Carter, Hollins, Durham, and scant others were fighting for the council to have a say in how the NCC COVID funds would be spent.

          Meyer’s staff sends over outlines of their wish list of expenditures and demands council rubberstamp them. Council who expressed wishes otherwise were harassed.

          There even was a threat text sent to Cartier that scared him so badly it succeeded in stopping the effort he was leading to control some of the ARPA funds and maybe spend them on expensive county responsibilities that are severely underfunded like parks maintenance. Or getting ahead of sewer repairs.

          The text threat was from an unknown source but the fact that an extortive threat text was sent to Cartier has been corroborated by several people.

          • With due respect, we’re talking about who gets to decide how to disburse a slush fund, a slush fund that Meyer appropriated for himself.

            It was Meyer’s way of buying chits for his run for Governor using Other People’s Money.

            Which is in no way a defense of Kilpatrick, who is every bit the bully who has been described here.