Question of the Day
So who do think are the best Delaware legislators of the 2011 General Assembly session? The worst? Be specific here. It is not enough to say that you think Tony Deluca is an anti-progressive hack. You have to point to something specific, like the double dipping revelations during this session.
And no, I didn’t just take Tony Deluca out of the running. You can nominate Tony Deluca again for the worst legislator for other reasons as well. Or best legislator if you wish. It is worth noting that good legislation was passed by the Senate, and Deluca was very effective is getting elected Pro Tem over Senator Katz, and then in exacting revenge for the horrible transgression of daring to vote against him. In pure Machiavellian terms, Deluca was very effective.
I gotta give my vote to Speaker Gilligan. And to everyone who worked to give us a Democratic majority in the House. Who would have believed we’d get so much progressive legislation passed?
Dave Sokola’s got my vote. He showed courage even before January by coming down to Dover, even though he had just undergone serious surgery, in order to help challenge DeLuca for leadership.
His calm and resolute stewardship of the civil unions bill should serve as an inspiration for other legislators. His classy and heartfelt remarks following the bill’s passage show that he is one of very few legislators with a firm sense of reality and his own place in it.
As his reward, DeLuca punished him by placing him in a district with Liane Sorenson.
If you share my admiration for what Dave Sokola did this year, and has done in a career that has been as progressive as that of any legislator in Dover, get out your checkbook and send him a contribution, and plan now to volunteer for his campaign next year. He deserves it.
And, we need him.
McDowell, Hall-Long, and Katz going awol on that drunken firearms bill and allowing it to fail by one vote was pretty lame.
As to the worst, on the Democratic side it has to be so-called Senate Majority Leader Patti Blevins.
The contrast between her and Dave Sokola, both initially elected in the same year, could not be more apparent. While Sokola has been principled in all that he has done, Blevins is nothing more than a legislative careerist, often getting jobs outside the legislature that play on nothing but her legislative access.
This year, she, of course, aligned herself with the odious Tony DeLuca, placing power and position above principle; delayed bill after bill, including some modest lobbying reform; and sponsored and pushed through SB 146, the single worst piece of legislation this session, despite entreaties from the AG’s office. A bill that places over $170 million of BC/BSD reserves at risk, aka in the hands of Karen Weldin Stewart. Oh, and she threw Dave Sokola under the bus while protecting her overwhelmingly Democratic district. She is the new Nancy Cook.
While there were several other (un)worthy candidates, Blevins is the poster Baby Boomer for amorality and self-centered self-entitlement amongst this years crop.
The General Assembly would be a better place without her. Just as it is without Nancy Cook.
John Kowalko…the name speaks for itself!…He’s brought new life to the assembly and is a major factor is helping Delaware become a TRUE BLUE state rather than just a party made up of a bunch of Blue DAWGS….
I second the vote for Kowalko! the way he stood up for what he really believed and stood firm in the face of pressure. The way he always does the right thing, no matter what. the way he stood strong on HB75 to bring down the Delaware Way and put an end to double dipping!….wait…what?
MY vote Rep.Williams
Third the vote for Kowalko.
I agree with El Somnambulo that Sokola(and Katz) are real heros and deserve their page in profiles in courage. They will both face tough elections and deserve a maximum level of support from all those that care about good government. One thathasn’t received recognition is AG Beau Biden who took on Delucca, Blevins Blue Cross,Bob Byrd, Dave Swayze and Karen Weldin Stewart and her lobbyist Mike Haughton whom wrote the shameful blue cross legislation. I also agree that Blevins wins worst legislator hands down. I diagree with his comparisopn of her with Nancy Cook. Nancy did have some redeeming values. Adkins or Charlie West might be more approriate comparisons. Of course her primary concern has been to create a job for herself and get a job for her daughter
Sokola is my Senator now… I’m not in his new district but I will still contribute and volunteer (once he announces). I’ll be in Katz’s new district; I’m withholding judgment on whether to work/contribute for Katz until I learn more (and hear good things!).
Actually, I think any of my YMCA Youth in Government kids did a better job than any of the 62 adults up in Dover.
What I don’t understand is why Patti Blevins is so close to Karen Weldin Stewart since her campaign manager – not me – a different Joe C., has been beating up on Blevins for getting Matt Denn to hire her daughter.
Best – Mike Barbieri, not only because he is my friend but he has worked very hard, and quietly, to push good legislation such as juvenile expungement. He also has not yet drunk the kool aid in that place.
Worst – John Atkins. I can’t even give a specific but has anyone listened to that idiot when he talks?
If Beau Biden actually HAD stood up to Tony DeLuca, he might deserve some consideration…in another thread.
But he didn’t. He wrote perhaps the most contorted opinion imaginable to keep DeLuca from having to divulge records which would have proven, once and for all, whether DeLuca was a double-dipper.
Until he stops protecting the Delaware Way, and instead goes after the likes of DeLuca and Cathcart, among others, he is not even worthy of my vote the next time he runs for office.
BTW, like AQC, I really respect Mike Barbieri as well. It’s a foregone conclusion that he’ll finish in my MVP (Most Valuable Progressive) list at year’s end.
Senator Blevins, really Mr. Cass?
A certain other JoeC is denying that he was (until being banned) sockpuppeting as a KWS supporter in that series of disgusting and insulting rants.
OTOH, if he WAS the sockpuppet then she sure as hell wouldn’t have him as campaign manager!
As outrageous as those threads were, it was almost impossible bot to believe that it was an actual KWS supporter but I have had the sinking feeling that the person who was writing those things wasn’t a plant of one of her opponents and that it was the real JoeyC –but that would be something only the DL geeks could answer.
Anyone nominating Patti Blevins as worst legislator either doesn’t know her very well, ignores her legislative record, or holds some personal grudge against her. She is by far one of the most progressive minded- legislators in Dover. I don’t think it’s a popularity contest for her. It’s called being a leader while still sticking true to your philosophies. I think Blevins does it best, and more quitely than most other legislators. I just don’t get the Blevins haters.
Senator Patti “Progressive-Minded Leader” Blevins on why the Senate wasn’t able to debate the DSU scholarship program:
“We’re tired.”
Yep. That’s my kind of leadership. Woo-hoo. Go Patti. Rah-rah.
P.S. How’d your daughter get a job as an assistant to Matt Denn straight out of college? Strictly on the merits, was it?
“I just don’t get the Blevins haters.”
Maybe we don’t like people who have used their legislative positions to get jobs for themselves and their offspring.
Further background: Patti Blevins’ daughter was hired by Insurance Commissioner Matt Denn in 2005 when Blevins was chairwoman of the Senate Insurance Committee – and her daughter still a student at Wilmington College. That’s according to her public LinkedIn page.
Julia Blevins is a perfectly fine, competent person who does a great job. But you can’t tell me with a straight face that she would have been hired if her mother had been a Family Dollar cashier instead of the insurance committee chair.
Matt Denn is also a perfectly fine, competent person who does a great job. But he’s part of the buddy-buddy, scratch-my-back Delaware political system, too. (He’s probably thanking his stars he got out of the Minner administration before the Tigani/land deal stuff came about.)
That’s the kind of bullshit crap game that some of us prefer our progressives not to play.
I have to agree with Somnambulo on Belvins, he nailed it…get over it ann…Belvins when directly to the trough after her election! The progressives should work hard to get rid of this greedy legislator!
I have grown to like Matt Denn after observing the positive populist changes he has made as chair of the Criminal Justice Commission. That said, it shouldn’t go unnoticed that he does use elected office as a perk-job generator for party faithful.
Ms. Blevins is the obvious target but don’t forget Vince Meconi and the lesser discussed Denn employee, Raina Allen. Her hubby, Tony Allen, flies high over my radar as one of the more influential upper middle class blacks in our state who rose through the ranks of Charles Cawley’s MBNA probably because he once worked for Joe Biden. As now BoA Executive, Allen endorsed Matt Denn for Lt. Gov., is a UD Trustee, presides over the Wilmington Urban League, Public Allies Delaware and Wilmington’s Hope Commission, is a director of the DE Community Fndn and Laffey-Hugh Fndn, was a member of Jack Markell’s transition team and was even floated as a candidate for President of Del State.
http://archives.desu.edu/president/docs/Dr.%20Tony%20Allen%20profile.pdf
Just sayin. If we want to start picking on whose wife, husband, kid, uncle or best friend or respected blogger even landed a job in government, don’t stop with Matt Denn hires. 🙂
I like Matt Denn as well. Not sure of the Meconi reference, though. Minner, Markell, and Paul Clark, yes. Must’ve missed the Meconi/Denn thing, although I’m not saying that they don’t have a connection. Just not aware of it.
Not sure what the Raina Allen point is, either. Unless otherwise demonstrated, I have to assume she’s qualified. Unless your point is that the only thing that qualifies her is that she’s someone’s spouse. And I hope that’s not your point.
Nancy willing’s usually sharp mind has been clouded by her obvious bias to defend Karen Weldin Stewart. Matt Denn and other public officials are at the mercy 0f the whim,caprice and vindictiveness of the legislature.So if Patti or Tony ask them take care of a friend or relative, for the most part they do it if they can. While that behavior is hardly flattering, the pressure is understandable.What is reprehensible and indefensible is for a public official to use the public trust for their personal economic benefit. Blevins, Delucca, Keely,Viola,Nancy WAgner, Cathcart et al have corrupted the system to the point that we have good people like Nancy willing winking.
Matt Denn and other public officials are at the mercy 0f the whim,caprice and vindictiveness of the legislature.So if Patti or Tony ask them take care of a friend or relative, for the most part they do it if they can.
Oh, bullshit. Stop making excuses.
If Insurance Commissioner Denn can’t stand up to a bullying legislator, what reason do we have to think he’d do so as Governor Denn?
Matt Denn was not all that as the Insurance Commissioner. Ask anyone who works there, he didnt even know all the staffs name, nor did he address them when he entered the job site. Matt Denn did nothing to help a single payer process in Delaware (as he is just as stubborn and corporate supporting of a for profit system. Lets not push any more Peter Principle people into the highest job of this state. My question is why Denn thought he had the right to take all the files when he left office…oh yes he did. Those are public files and should have stayed in the IC office. Denn has no right to any of them. Give em back Matt.
ElSom, I am surprised you missed that Denn hired Vince Meconi to oversee the ARRA stimulus funds as they were allocated throughout the state. It was a really big fucking deal in the blogging world at the time so a google should reveal some of the stories.
As for Raina, the whole idea of hiring someone for a state job is rarely that of raw qualifications but usually about who knows who. I absolutely believe that she was placed in her job because of/at hubby’s request.
It gets really sticky when the job is not bid or the RFP is so specific as to qualify a pre-selected candidate [- hence the recent scandal wherein Minner/Markell stooge Lee Ann Walling all but pre-selected herself into the highest ever paying merit position at DNREC –as an outgoing Minner appointee who claimed that she was working for Jack Markell’s gubernatorial bid and so uncomfortable in the Minner/Carney quarters, Minner sent her over to John Hughes office where he allowed her to write the stipulations for her eventual permanent merit position.]
Nancy: As usual, you’re wrong on Meconi/Denn.
“Meconi was hired as a casual-seasonal employee of the Office of the Governor.”
http://www.delawarefoiawatch.com/090831_Markell_FOIA_Response_Meconi.pdf
Last time I checked, Jack Markell was the governor, not Matt Denn.
“Matt Denn was not all that as the Insurance Commissioner.”
Yet he managed to keep BC/BS independent.
“Ask anyone who works there, he didnt even know all the staffs name, nor did he address them when he entered the job site.”
Oh, the humanity!
“Matt Denn did nothing to help a single payer process in Delaware”
So you want an elected insurance commissioner whose position is that insurance should be phased out and handled by the state instead of private companies. Good luck with that. I’d love to see single payer, but no amount of pissing up a rainpipe will achieve it.
Matt might not have hired Meconi but Meconi worked for Denn in his office because Denn was responsible for oversight of the ARRA funds and gave that oversight to Meconi. So, Markell hired Meconi….didn’t I just suggest we look beyond Denn….
They would all rather forget it now with the problems that arose in green jobs funding etc. no doubt.
Nancy wrote: Denn hired Vince Meconi
Just admit when you’re wrong, willya?
Quibble ye where ye may. I was wrong.
I love that anon thinks Matt Denn took “files” with him when he left… As if the whole IC office is powered by big stacks of paper. These days, files are on servers, and copies of those files are backed up to other places in case of disaster.
If KWS forgot her password and can’t log on to the server, that isn’t Matt Denn’s fault.
Back it up. Nancy! That’s not my post. I stand that Crane wins the primary, that KWS is enriching herself on our dime, that Joe (rhymes with connor) is posting complete bullshit and I haven’t multed here in a year. xoxoxo
When someone told KWS that they were having problems with the office’s server she said, “Tell me about it. I ordered a Diet Coke twenty minutes ago.”
“I don’t care who you are; that there’s funny!”
The latest in employment political hijinx is the move of Helene Keely’s sister,one of ruthann’s friends, who was an executive secretary in the governor’s office to a secretarial position in the dept of labor. Delucca insisted that his boss, Sec of Labor Mcmahon find a spot for her. Earlier Helene got Minner to hire her husband at DEDO but he was to dumb to keep the job when Allen Levine took over. One big happy family.
And when it comes to supporting those progressives placed in districts of sensible republicans, try not to be too negative. Keep in mind, these events are huge challenges to the republicans too.
They have their supporters, and they are nice people, and they have a list of those they’ve helped and can call on for support……
But, never forget, Republicans have no new ideas. They’ve all been tried from 2000 to 2008…
If you think they worked, ….then you just told us your income level.
“Matt Denn was not all that as the Insurance Commissioner”
I wouldn’t know about that, but I do know Denn’s been aware since before the 2004 (yes, 2004) primary that Karen Weldin Stewart is a crook and a liar. Finding her working as a minimum wage retail clerk and pointing out her fake resume helped him win the IC’s office. That he had the facts but didn’t do anything about them after the CRI report or after the recent DOI audit makes Denn questionable in my book. Or maybe he still will. Yeah, sure he will…..
@JGH’s sperm donor “Or maybe he still will. Yeah, sure he will…..”
what the hell does that mean?!?
I suspect it means that democratically-elected Democratic Lt. Governors should point out that incompetent democratically-elected Democratic Insurance Commissioners aren’t fit to hold their offices. I guess that if Denn started with IC, he could move on to other elected officials that he thinks are incompetent. That sounds like a winning strategy.
It explains why every elected Republican is on the record as finding fault with the Cathcart-Wagner cover-up.
Let’s not forget our history! Blevins began her political career when she was elected as Mayor of Elsmere, as a “reform candidate by beating mayor John Mitchell jr., the father of Rep. Mitchell-13 District. In 1990, Blevins was elected to the Delaware Senate, again as a “reform” candidate.
Blevins immediately went to work creating jobs for herself, and later for her daughter and her son. At least Blevins created three jobs for Delawareans and continues to show us the true meaning of “reform”. She couldn’t hold a candle to the former Mayor Mitchell. Perhaps his son should run for senate!
I haven’t seen much from the son either Anon!
Anon is on to something. Blevins has created three jobs. She’s got the credentials to seek the Republican nomination for president.
Blevins is the epitome of The Delaware Way. She & Carper and the Bidens need to be given the heave-ho!
You can agitate for a heave-ho all you want, but unless you want to vote for a Republican, you’ve got to have a Democratic alternative. The favorites here, Kowalko and Peterson, always seem to wimp out when it comes to actually putting their electoral careers on the line. So who’s your candidate?
Speaking from a county watchdog position, those of us in the Civic League for New Castle County are eternally grateful for Senator Blevins’ tenacity and courage this year in bringing new legislation forward that has helped reform DelDOT regulations regarding traffic congestion prevention.
Blevins has also partnered with Rep. Hudson in a series of state-level reforms where the rubber meets the road (or the storm water breaches the retaining pond walls) mostly in response to Pam Scott-Paul Clarky’s Stoltz redevelopment boondoggles.
I appreciated Blevins leadership in answer to some pretty serious glitches in Paul Clark’s land use law that stood to over-ride quality of life as defined in State Code (not to mention further flooding the hell out of Elsemere). So I guess I do put Blevins and Hudson at the top of my best legislator lists.
Also w Blevins, as majority leader, lest we forget, it would seem civil unions and medical marijuana would not have happened this past spring without her leadership. Whether you like her or not, that has to be fact. She has always been an advocate for the gay and lesbian community and surely they reached out to her as much as to the lead sponsor to ensure support from the Senate. Same for the med pot bill. And, Blevins took no glory away from the sponsors of those two bills, Sokola and Henry. Some statements here just don’t add up and these basic facts just conveniently don’t get mentioned. Good to hear from Nancy who has at least paid visits to Leg Hall in the past 5 years and can actually talk to people and find out what’s going on, what their motivations are. Otherwise, it’s all pure BS.
“it would seem civil unions and medical marijuana would not have happened this past spring without her leadership. Whether you like her or not, that has to be fact.”
Based on what? We’re supposed to jump for joy whenever she doesn’t block legislation we like?
“Good to hear from Nancy who has at least paid visits to Leg Hall in the past 5 years and can actually talk to people and find out what’s going on, what their motivations are. Otherwise, it’s all pure BS.”
Yes, it’s always good to hear from people peddling soft soap for their own personal reasons. It’s especially good to hear from someone whom, while I respect, was also up-front about WHY she likes Blevins: Blevins has supported causes important to Nancy.
That’s fine, but I don’t base my judgments on any personal interest. I judge legislators by how much they cater to their OWN personal interests — and it’s clear that Patti Blevins wouldn’t be able to earn a living without a legislative office as a job-hunting aid. She has been sucking the public teat for what, two decades now? And every “job” she has held in that time was essentially given to her so she could lobby for her employer in the legistature.
That’s the truth. The BS is what you’re selling. Take your manure wagon and park it at Patti’s house.
Geezer, Geezer – so predictable. Just cuz the opinion differs from your own does not make it wrong but out comes your whip. I was giving Nancy credit for her specific examples, and I was giving my own example. I think Blevins role as Majority Leader has been a significant positive in the General Assembly because of the passage of a number of key issues that simply wouldn’t have occurred 4+ years ago. Many people are glad Blevins is in this role and think she deserves it after close to 20 years of taking on, and having success with, issues that were not always popular or easy to move through the legislative process.
No one likes (or gives any credence to) the bully on the schoolyard. I wish others who enjoy coming to this site would start standing up to this. It’s not a positive for this blog. Seems like Delaware Dem has been attempting to control this of late, and that’s a step in the right direction. Speak about the issues. There’s no need for personal venom.
Ok, Let’s light this candle!..Who would enjoy examining Delaware’s “help Blevin’s with a job hot line’.
According to the 990 forms , filed with the State of Delaware in 2010, Blevins is paid $66060.00, for a 40 hour work week– see the following link: ,http://nccsdataweb.urban.org/orgs/profile/510376406?popup=1#overview
Blevins is “employed” by the Delaware Helpline, a nonprofit 501c3.
Questions ;
Was this worthless non-profit created to provide a Job for Blevins.
Who monitors her hours similar to the other pig legislators who have their nose in the troves.
Shouldn’t Blevins be made to give classes on “how to make more money than Deluca, but fly under the radar screen”…No wonder she was recognized as a leader by the Senate.
Oh, this could get ugly…..
What a jump for one year – this does not seem right. What a cash cow for Blevins. The 2010, 990 Form, does not say how much Delaware Helpline Inc. gets from the State v. contributions. Blevins is the Executive Director.
How can Blevins work here 40 hours a week as stated and still spend all her time working in the general assembly, committees, leader, etc. Is her pay adjusted for all the time off she must take? There are a number of questions that arise.
How do you spend over 735,000 for a non-profit phone service. It can’t take that many people to field only 50 calls a day and that’s if the total calls stated are not inflated on the 990 Form.
Total Expenses 2010, Form 990, page 1, 2008: $490,923 compared to 2009: $735,812
Okay. I’ll bite insofar as to say that it looks fishy on a prima fascia basis.
You’ll need to include links for it to get any real legs. Also, some grainy CCTV footage of the suspect casually eating a calzone while phone lines blink wildly on an array of unanswered lines would be nice.
“How do you spend over 735,000 for a non-profit phone service. It can’t take that many people to field only 50 calls a day”
That’s right – why not just have the helpline open from noon to 2pm and tell those 50 people to have their crisis then?
Or we could pay the referral specialists per call instead of by the hour.
Or better yet, outsource it to Mumbai. That would be even cheaper!
“only 50 calls a day” = 250 calls per week, or 13,000 Delawareans per year in need of help accessing social services. You are one cold mofo.
@ puck: Was just curious,checked out the link posted by anon and followed to the IRS 990 forms. I only looked at one, the 2010. Just sayin’, it raised questions for me.
http://nccsdataweb.urban.org/orgs/profile/510376406?popup=1#forms
In light of all the corruption in government coming out right now, his appears to be just another instance of politicians getting in and taking advantage of being able to work the system for themselves.
I have not even hinted that a valuable service that helps people should be curtailed – only that nearly a quarter of a million dollars per year, “To provide telephone information and referral service” seems outrageously high.