A 2nd Chance To Make A 1st Impression
Paul Clark has come in for a lot of criticism during his tenure as New Castle County Council President for being too friendly to the developer community. With the election of Chris Coons to the U.S. Senate, Paul Clark has the opportunity to raise his profile in the county and make a first impression on most voters. So what does he do?
New Castle County Council President Paul Clark has tapped Vince Meconi and Mark Brainard – two controversial figures in the Minner administration – to assist his transition into the county’s executive office.
Gov. Ruth Ann Minner appointed Meconi secretary of the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services in 2001. He spent the last two years of her administration staving off bipartisan calls to resign after The News Journal detailed allegations of abuse and neglect at the Delaware Psychiatric Center under his watch.
In January, Meconi finished a consulting job for Gov. Jack Markell, assisting the governor with federal economic stimulus programs, a spokesman said. Meconi did not return a call seeking comment.
The News Journal reported in May that Brainard, Minner’s former chief of staff, helped orchestrate a 66-year “sweetheart” land deal in Milford for N.K.S. Distributors Inc. that the Department of Justice is now trying to undo and the Federal Highway Administration is investigating.
So I guess our first impression was pretty much right, then? It’s going to be a long 2 years in New Castle County government, I think.
Tags: New Castle County Council, New Castle County Executive
I can’t imagine what he was thinking with these appointments. That they aren’t in the development community so they are good picks? Meconi has baggage (IMHO unfairly so) and Clark should have seen that, no matter how much he wanted Vince’s experience base. Though, to my knowledge, VM has never been in county government. Brainard has been a “go-to” guy for a long time on campaigns and transitions, but I can’t imagine that Clark didn’t see him as somewhat tainted. Not just because of the NKS deal, but I think Brainard is somewhat uniformly seen as having been a failure in the Minner administration as CoS. This is Clark’s problem — bull-headedness and bad-decision making. It will be a long 2 years (and hopefully no more).
What I find truly bizarre is that a loud percentage of people (mainly TNJ) are obsessed with these two guys. They have no problem dragging Meconi and Brainard through the mud with NO reasoning behind it. Instead of standing up to the News Journal’s FOX News-like style of reporting, everyone seems to accept these two as what the News Journal has labeled them. Meconi’s name has been tarnished through no fault of his own. He acted within his legal boundaries in the Department of Health and Social Services, and an independent commission was formed to investiage any and ALL wrong-doing at DE’s Psychiatric Center. As CoS, did Brainard REALLY have the legal power to LEASE state-owned land? Didn’t know a chief of staff had that much power. It’s a disgrace that more people aren’t standing up to the CLEAR one-sided agenda TNJ has taken.
Thank you for your perspective, Anthony. What I’m really asking is why Paul Clark would put them so prominently on his transition team. Like it or not, these 2 officials have been identified as controversial and are tied very closely to the unloved Minner administration.
Knowing the News Journal, I’d be willing to wager that they were aware of more individuals on Clark’s team and decided to sensationalize the two picks they had sensationalized in the past. Why else put it on the front page? Is it really that much of a scandal to warrant being put on the paper’s front page?
The thing that strikes me about the Clark transition team pick is the utter tone deafness of the thing. The one thing that lots of folks mistrust about Clark is what often looks like insularity and dedication to doing the business of the special interests rather than that of people who vote. Deciding to include people who represent some of the height of that kind of thing from the Minner administration certainly does not communicate that Clark gives a damn that people are increasingly mistrustful of him.
Yes, Cassandra. Hopefully the party will disavow these characteristics when choosing for the special.
“Meconi’s name has been tarnished through no fault of his own. He acted within his legal boundaries in the Department of Health and Social Services, and an independent commission was formed to investiage any and ALL wrong-doing at DE’s Psychiatric Center.”
If it weren’t for the correct spelling and syntax, I’d think Ruth Ann Minner wrote this post. Meconi fronted the administration’s stonewalling of the incompetence at the facility. To be fair, that was merely a continuation of 30 years of bipartisan state policy. But the takeaway is that Meconi is a blindly loyal functionary.
“As CoS, did Brainard REALLY have the legal power to LEASE state-owned land? Didn’t know a chief of staff had that much power.”
If he lacked the legal power to effect what he did, it’s an even better reason for a federal investigation. Again, Brainard is a fixer for whomever hires him, as well as a giant leech on the body politic (as well as completely unqualified for his current $125,000 taxpayer-funded job).
Is blaming the News Journal really the best you can do? Did it work for Christine O’Donnell?
“Yes, Cassandra. Hopefully the party will disavow these characteristics when choosing for the special.”
who is this directed at? neither of the names I have heard for the special have any connection to Clark…
Not directed at anyone. I’m saying, “Well, we’re stuck now, because succession is prescribed by law. However, we have the chance to do better.” 🙂
“Meconi fronted the administration’s stonewalling of the incompetence at the facility.”
Really? Stonewalling? So the administration refused to comment on the ongoing investigation by the DHSS. How is that different from any other administration on ANY level of government?
“If he lacked the legal power to effect what he did, it’s an even better reason for a federal investigation.”
My point is DelDOT was involved in this “deal” as was representatives from the AG’s office and clearly the Governor was too, so how can anyone blame this “deal” on the ONLY player with NO legal power?
“(as well as completely unqualified for his current $125,000 taxpayer-funded job).”
No evidence? Christine O’Donnell was unqualified for the US Senate for many many reasons. You didn’t list any reasons whatsoever.
“Is blaming the News Journal really the best you can do?”
Hardly, I blame the entire state government. The General Assembly takes its cue from TNJ as does the AG’s office. If our government is being run because of the reports coming from ONE newspaper, then that paper needs to be held accountable for its actions (or inactions).
I don’t think its fair to say that Vince Meconi has a record of doing the business of special interests. Blindly loyal functionary — there’s an argument for that.
Sorry, Anthony, but you’ve just undermined your own position. If the GA and the AG’s office take their cues from the NJ, the GA would have forced Minner to fire them both, and the AG’s office would have launched investigations as well.
“The General Assembly takes its cue from TNJ as does the AG’s office.”
Oh, my. This is screamingly funny.
“how can anyone blame this “deal” on the ONLY player with NO legal power?”
Nobody is blaming him. They’re holding him accountable for his role in it. Are you pretending he had no role in it?
“You didn’t list any reasons whatsoever.”
I’m sorry. I thought that, since you’re an apologist for the political hack, you knew the background of the political hack. Graduate of those bastions of higher education, DelTech and Wilmington College. Graduate of Widener Law but couldn’t pass the bar. No background whatsoever in education. Real reason for hiring him — connections to the Dover power grid.
“So the administration refused to comment on the ongoing investigation by the DHSS.”
Believe it or not, an internal investigation is not a serious way of addressing the problems. It is exactly what I refer to as “stonewalling.” You are aware, I hope, that an internal investigation of prison health care found nothing compared with what the feds found.
Do you actually believe this bullshit you’re typing?
“The one thing that lots of folks mistrust about Clark is what often looks like insularity and dedication to doing the business of the special interests rather than that of people who vote.”
He is on the record defending his decisions by noting that developers also are his constituents.
Common wisdom is assuming that Clark is getting people who can get him in favor with the General Assembly and Governor’s office via these two.
Meconi is a Carper man from the get go. Meconi helped Carper win his his first race for Treasurer and obviously is friendly with Markell and Denn.
Brainard evidently helped DeLuca get into office as well which gives him the in with the rain maker of the General Assembly.
from the google:
DSU scholarships win approval
Wednesday Sep 29 | The Daily Times
http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20109290338
… quickly came under fire from DSU supporters and some fellow Democrats. When SEED passed in 2006, then-Gov. Ruth Ann Minner’s chief of staff was Mark Brainard, DeLuca’s former campaign manager and current DelTech administrator.
I found this little ditty yesterday on Dana Garrett’s blog. It is a letter that Mark Brainard wrote to Penrose Hollins which BLAMES the News Journal for the mess Vince Meconi found himself in. Makes you wonder if Anthony is Mark. 🙂
Friday, November 25, 2005
It Must Be Thanksgiving: Governor Minner Thinks about Inmate Healthcare
http://delawarewatch.blogspot.com/2005/11/it-must-be-thanksgiving-governor.html
Politicians rarely admit any wrongdoing or neglect when they’ve been caught red-handed. Usually, they lie about it, blame others and make prolonged and painstaking efforts to show that the allegations against them are wrong and politically motivated. But there is one thing that can be said about lying politicians. They care enough about public perception to lie about their actions. A politician’s lie implicitly acknowledges the existence of a public trust and a responsibility to address it.But there is another kind of politician, the rarest kind of all, one that cares little about public perception. They exert little or no effort to publicly lie about their negligence and misdeeds. A scandal can loom, it can cause considerable public outcry and debate, yet for the most part the politician remains silent and unmoved.
For weeks Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner has made virtually no public comment about the Delaware prisoner health care scandal. However, she did respond to a letter by NCC Councilman Penrose Hollins. She managed to blame the messenger:
Until Wednesday, Minner’s primary response was to attack the newspaper’s series, claiming the stories contained factual errors and misrepresentations.
Mark Brainard, Minner’s chief of staff, said in a letter to New Castle County Councilman Penrose Hollins, who had questioned the governor about inmate care, that “there isn’t time or space in this response to convey to you the level of irresponsible, one-sided, and shoddy reporting that produced this series.” (link)
Nice timing, Anthony. You were defending Meconi yesterday over the psych hospital situation. Today the Feds released their report. As was easily predicted, the Feds found far more wrong than did the internal report compiled under your boy Vince Meconi. Care to comment?
heh, nice timing Paul Clark! I imagine that the WNJ had the heads up that the report was coming out and that’s why they front-paged the Meconi-Clark angle. They love the shit out of being the ones to stir up this pot.