In Which We Find Paul Clark Crossing His Fingers Behind His Back
Yesterday, commenter jpconnerjr linked to the NJ article about Paul Clark showily rolling out his “firewall” that is supposed to resolve the potential conflict of interest issues inherent in having the NCCo County executive married to the favorite land use attorneys of NCCo developers. This “firewall” consists of:
- Ordering his staff to “exclude him from all land-use cases handled by his wife’s law firm, Saul Ewing LLP ” (according to the NJ).
- Appointing a political appointee (in this case, the NCCo Attorney, but currently Acting Chief Admin Officer, Gregg Wilson) to make land use decisions in those cases where Saul Ewing are involved.
When I read this, I wondered how Paul Clark thought that he would fool ANYBODY with any of this. The problems here are many:
- The Chief Admin Officer is appointed by the County Executive — Mr. Wilson may in fact be a really honorable guy, but that is not the point. If you are eliminating a conflict of interest on the one hand, *looking* like you may be creating another isn’t exactly the solution.
- Wendy Danner, who was the council’s staff attorney, has been appointed as county solicitor. Ms. Danner is a former Saul Ewing employee. She take a position that has been vacant for some months, but wonder if there is some work to ensure that Ms. Danner is not providing advise or opinions on issues involving Saul Ewing.
- This one is the biggest one to me — this completely ignores potential conflict of interest in the development of land use (and associated) *policy*, which seems to be the place where there is longer term impact for the county.
Land use may be one of the biggest things that the county has to manage and one of the big things that impacts county finances, long term economic development potential and over all quality of life for residents (among other things). A policy stance that continues to whittle away at code and plans in favor of viewing every square inch of NCCo as a place to squeeze in one more building is a policy stance that has its thumb on the scale for developers and for their attorneys — not for residents. To be a real firewall — Paul Clark would need to step away from the policy apparatus involved with land use development in NCCo and maybe leave that completely to the County Council for the duration.
Whatever the long term solution is, this so-called “firewall” as detailed in the NJ isn’t even a proper fig leaf. And Paul Clark should task his transition team with the real task that needs to be done for him — and that is separate him from all county business (decisions, policy-making, departmental mission-setting and so on) that intertwine with Saul Ewing business interests for the next two years.
Tags: NCCo, Paul Clark
This is toatal crapola! The ONLY way to deal with this is that either he quits or she does. Odds on that happening????? TOTAL BULLSHIT!
Cass makes a great point: the transition team should have one major directive and that is to figure out how to remove Mr. Clark completely from any activity that coincides with Saul Ewing.
From what I hear, he isn’t listening to any of his close friends about his conflicting interests as executive. I also hear that he is poised to give Stephanie Hansen and hubby Chris Roberts a public sewer for their lands now outside of the service area. I am wondering who recommended to Chad Livengood that he get quotes from Stephanie Hansen on how ‘there’s really nothing to see here folks’ about Clark’s new job.
I also understand that one of the first things Clark intends to do is can the current Chairman of the NCC Planning Board, one of the few non-sheep serving.
I’m in that new sewer area. I don’t know how you can make some nefarious conspiracy out of it.
Nancy:
Please pay your school taxes and then you will some standing to make comments about other people. The kids of your district are owed over 3 grand by you.
She has plenty of standing to make comments about other people. Whether true or not, an ad hominem attack against Nancy has no bearing on the validity of the criticisms of the cronyism she decries.
Ad dollar-em?
http://www.nccde.org/parcel/Details/Default.aspx?ParcelKey=141618
No, ad hominem. The attack is on her as an attempt to silence her. The reason is obvious: The things she brought up are indefensible to those who seek to discredit her.
If you could somehow show a link between her owing back taxes and her attacks on politicians who have been gaming the system for years, you might have a point beyond personal nastiness. C’mon, there’s a first time for everything.
Clark is low life; attacks on him are shooting fish in a barrel. Last year at this time, Nancy was screaming similarly about Coons. Sometimes she’s right; sometimes she’s crazy Eileen. Either way, when she cheats the schools out of $3,000, she’s showing her own scuzzy side.
Instead of just responsibly managing the government until 2012 to make the case he should actually be elected exec, already the rumor mill is churning with what he intends to do. Hopefully much of this is empty rumor-mongering, but I hope people are paying close attention nonetheless.
….uhm, for all those smear-mongers out there, I have been making my regularly scheduled back-payments to the county which are catching me up for both county and school taxes in full by the end of the year, FYI. Please do call down to the county finance dept. if you don’t believe me – I am sure they’ll tell you what is on the note attached to my file and report to you what my payment schedule is and how I’m in perfect compliance.
And Belinsky, I am hardly cheating anyone out of anything when the penalties for late payments are fiscal and supposedly head to their coffers – think of it as a bonus payment on me. I was not wrong about Coons either, but then your head is never far enough up out of that ass of yoursa to ‘get it’. How typical of the smarmy High DEM brown nosers to get bent out of shape when one of ‘theirs’ get called out.
Jason, so all of a sudden you are all about bad planning and wasting public resources because it might benefit you personally?
The comments about Clark’s alleged intentions to reward his DEM pals Chris and Stephanie with hundreds of millions in public infrastructure (welfare) funding for their plans (with Jerry Heisler’s Reybold Homes) to develop the lands outside the sewer service area is a big story.
I am finding for the most part, anyone who prides themselves on never being late on payments and prides themselves on their responsibility, tends to work in some industry that is heavily dependent on taxpayer dollars or has actually been bailed out.
Will Paul Clark dismiss Vic Singer from his position on the Planning Board? Whether or not he does will indicate whose interests Clark is vying for, not that it is in any doubt. From his lips to your ears: developers are his constituents ‘too’ and no, they don’t like the pesky old retired rocket scientist with the powerful brain and the presumptive independence of mind.
Vic Singer has consistently demonstrated reasoned arguments against NCC Council legislation that has come before the board for consideration during Clark’s tenure as President. Vic’s contributed an amazing record of why Clark et al’s policies are problematic and it all can be examined in the notes and minutes of the Planning Board – hopefully online….all ignored by Council, natch.
Also, should Vic be driven out of this position, he will also lose his seat on the watchdog commission that has oversight over the Coastal Zone Act.
It would be a real tragedy to lose Vic from that council as well as from the Planning Board but it would be good for ‘business as usual’ and it looks like the High DEMs of Delaware (including the governor) are going to try to keep screwing the citizens out of their rights to a decent level of quality of life –as dictated in state statute none-the-less.
SEE: http://clncc.blogspot.com/2010/11/under-attack-delawares-coastal-zone-act.html for one of Vic’s recent posts about what Markell’s administration is doing to you behind your back.
Will Clark have his pay prorated based on the time he cannot spend doing his job?
Clark has already made a public pretense that land use is the least thing the county does. ‘Silly’ man.