Some Revisionist Pseudo-History From Tom Carper
I simply could not let this piece of self-aggrandizement from Tom Carper pass following the death of Russell W. Peterson. The News-Journal article noting Peterson’s passing and his many accomplishments featured this quote from Carper:
“Just after his 75th birthday, Gov. Peterson came to see me in the governor’s office and said, ‘We ought to do something about the riverfront along the Christina River.’ I said, ‘Will you help me?’ He said, ‘You bet!’ And he did. The rest is history. At an age when most people are ready to push back and take life easy, Russ Peterson just kept picking up speed. He married his wife, June, who proved to be the wind beneath his wings. Her love and enthusiasm enabled him to pack more into the last 15 years of his life than anyone I’ve ever known. What a giant. God knows I’ll miss him. We all will.”
An out-of-context reading of this would suggest that Peterson and Carper were like Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. You know, “Hey, let’s put on a show!”
There is nothing in the article to suggest that this quote misrepresents the origins of the revitalization of Wilmington’s riverfront. Yet that’s exactly what it does.
I know. I wrote the resolution, a Senate Concurrent Resolution, at Sen. Robert Marshall’s request, urging the Governor to set up a Rivers Task Force. And the Governor enthusiastically embraced and supported this project. The governor in question? Michael N. Castle. I have no doubt that Sen. Marshall and Gov. Castle had discussed this in advance, and that Marshall knew he could count on the Governor’s support before he passed the bill.
That’s right. Gov. Castle established the Rivers Task Force. He appointed Gov. Peterson and Dr. Trabant as co-chairs, he made his DNREC staff available to the task force. Anyone who wants to diss public employees would do well to exclude the incredible people from DNREC and the City of Wilmington who provided extraordinary assistance to these projects.
This does not in any way denigrate the contributions of the Carper Administration. The Governor and his staff fully supported the project and were instrumental in moving it forward.
But, the implication by former Governor Carper that Governor Carper was the catalyst, along with Peterson, for this project, is demonstrably untrue, and I think that history should accurately reflect what really happened. I will leave it to history to judge whether Carper’s misstatement was inadvertent or deliberate. Too bad that Ed Freel is likely working on that ‘definitive’ history as we speak.
Tags: Mike Castle; Tom Carper; Bob Marshall; El Somnambulo; Steve Tanzer, Russ Peterson;
HA!
Awesome!
Of course there will never be another El Som, but I would love to see some more first-hand witnesses enter the blogging world. I suppose though that most of them have caught the corporate brass ring and aren’t talking.
Update: Tommywonk was there too:
http://www.tommywonk.com/2011/02/russell-w-peterson.html
Not surprised at all by the Carperbagger. He buttered up Wilmington just as hard as he could while Governor (kept the new courthouse in town among other things). And the voters repaid him when he ran against an aging Roth. Now he’s claiming credit for Wilmo work that wasn’t actually his.
I’m old enough to remember when Tom Carper dug the C&D Canal with a shovel. That was right after he invented the letter “H.” Before that everyone used the backwards “F”
Could be early stages of Alzheimers or the plates of different constituencies spinning too fast for him in his head.
Mine came in right after you jason330.GOOD ONE!
Ha ha, Jason, good one. It was actually dug by Pete du Pont, of course.
Oopsie! I don’t doubt that Peterson discussed the Wilmington Riverfront with Peterson.
Think it’s where I first met Tommywonk. He was one of the dedicated public servants to whom I referred.
Pete duPont never would have claimed to put a shovel to anything. It’s why he has so many butlers, servants, groundskeepers, etc. So that he can keep thinking of those ‘common-sense kitchen table’ solutions for your average Joe Sixpack.
Pete du Pont thinks the estate tax is a kitchen-table issue. Because for him, it is.
75th birthday was in 1992 when Castle was governor. Carper was running so i am sure he was briefed. Point El.
More proof the carpetbagger just outright lies! Maybe ole Tom has been watching too much Faux…thinking people dont have memories or dates..
The task force was already up and running by 1992. Castle’s DNREC Secretary, Toby Clark, was very much involved in the work, as were many DNREC employees.
There are still a lot of people around who were involved in this project, and they can certainly confirm that this began during the Castle Administration. It’s not even a debatable point.
The more I think about it (I know, I know, ‘Stop Thinking’), the more this bothers me.
I bumped into someone at work yesterday who was one of the key staff people who moved this project forward (yet another Only in Delaware moment). He told me that there WAS a meeting in Carper’s office after he became Governor, a meeting at which this staff person was present. The purpose of the meeting was to ensure that momentum for this huge undertaking continue with the new Administration. Carper at first demurred, according to this person. But Russ was quite persistent, and eventually brought Carper around.
Contrast that with “I said, ‘Will you help me?’ He said ‘You bet!’, which is what Carper said.
It’s hard to reach any conclusion other than Carper sought to get an undeserved ‘rub’ from Peterson’s death. Per usual, it was all about Carper. Not about the truth. Or Peterson, for that matter. Pretty low, IMHO.
With all respect, El S, when Castle left office, the Riverfront remained basically bombed-out, w/ nothing new except Judy Johnson Field, which opened several weeks later.
The heavy lifting, planning and investment – indeed, all major decisions and initiatives that created the Riverfront – occurred after Castle was in Washington.
When Castle became governor, the train station had already been renovated, and Delaware Theatre Company had arranged its relocation to Water Street, where they, Mitchell Associates and Moeckel Carbonell vainly waited for years for company, while Duckin’ Dan plotted supermarkets on Rock Manor and Castle ignored the City.
Giving credit to Castle for the Riverfront development reminds me of Rizzo’s apologists claiming credit for Philadelphia’s post-1980 renaissance.
You miss the point, Bo (sorry, Bo Belinsky is one of the great unforgettable characters in sports lore, and I hope it’s the inspiration for your monicker).
I specifically referenced Carper claiming credit for starting the project, which is demonstrably untrue. Of COURSE most of the heavy lifting was done after 1992, as the project had only started then.
However, a significant portion of that heavy lifting was done by the people that Castle put in place, most importantly, Russ Peterson.
As I said right from the beginning, I wasn’t denigrating the effort of the Carper Administration, rather the unfounded and inaccurate claim by Carper that this whole thing started when Carper and Peterson got together. It simply isn’t true.
The Castle administration did minimal lifting, El. The Castle administration did little for the City, in this or any other project.
When Tom Carper announced for the Senate in July 2000, the upstate event was held at the Riverfront, near a weedy slope about to be developed [near the dance floor outside Conley Ward]. Featured speaker was Russ Peterson, who expressed his delight at how Gov. Carper’s administration had made his dream for the Riverfront into a reality.
Thanks for the fedora on my name. Had considered Holtzman, Latman and Rogovin.
You’re welcome.
In this case, though, you’re wrong about Castle’s lack of involvement. You probably had to be part of it to get it, but there was quite a whirlwind of activity during that first year. It was exciting to be a part of it.
My point, for the last time, though, is that Carper misrepresented his role in the creation of this project. He did it in a quote discussing the passing of Russ Peterson. If that were allowed to go unchallenged, it would incorrectly rewrite history. That’s why I wrote this article in the first place. Nothing more, nothing less.