A Wilmingtonian’s Appeal to City Council President Theo Gregory
We’ve all read the NJ articles and listened to the WDEL reporting, and some of us actually sat through the Channel 28 debacle of former Mayoral Policy Advisor Velda Jones-Potter’s “explanation” as to how City taxpayers ended up paying for 20 WPD officers and other city resources at the Foxtail concert on 14 September. Many of us (publicly and otherwise) have been calling for a full, impartial investigation by City Council — an investigation where the parties involved provide sworn testimony and where any found wrongdoing is referred to the Attorney General. Mr. Gregory did promise a Special City Council meeting dedicated to looking into why taxpayer dollars were so badly mishandled and who would have authorized this. Monday, September October 30 is the date, but I want to ask — again — that Mr. Gregory make sure that this is a robust questioning and investigation. Wilmington already has a bad reputation for governing itself, and making sure that the tough questions get asked and making sure that unethical behavior has consequences would be a great beginning in changing that reputation.
Most of the working people paying taxes in the City work for organizations that are serious about maintaining an ethical reputation. For us, the kind of thing that we’ve been reading about is career-ending behavior, because ethical violations can damage the businesses we work for. Wilmingtonians take a skeptical and eye-rolling view of its City government — mainly because we know that all too often, unethical behavior gets papered over, maybe with slaps on a wrist, but the person involved gets to continue punching a clock until retirement. Everytime this happens, it further erodes the public trust and it is well past time for someone, some part of the City government to insist on repairing this trust.
Longtime City residents know that there are individuals in city government NOW that would not be there if the system was more interested in keeping faith with taxpayers rather than making sure certain employees get their retirement. Longtime City residents have to live with strict ethics rules in their own jobs — why not the people who are paid by us? We also know that State Senator Bobby Marshall was proposing a change to the City Charter that would provide for an independently elected auditor for the city — a thing that the City Council voted a Resolution to discourage. If that vote meant that the City was ready to hold itself strictly accountable for ensuring that the public trust was always the first order of City business, then it is time to prove it.
Leadership here does not mean triangulating for the outcome that seeks to downplay some of this activity while being focused on a couple of individuals. Leadership means that you and the City Council make sure that taxpayers and the hardworking group of people who put on events that try to celebrate this City are at the table on Monday and that their commitment to the City is not thrown under the bus. I’m asking on behalf of the many people who are disgusted with this incident that you ensure that a serious (with sworn testimony)and public investigation occur, letting the chips fall where they might.
For all of the Wilmingtonians who read this — especially those of you involved with putting on events in the City –please reach out to Council President Theo Gregory to ask him to be firm in delivering on his promise to get to the bottom of this bad business of misusing taxpayer funds and waiving requirements that all other City events work hard to meet. His email: tgregory@WilmingtonDE.gov ; his phone: (302) 576-2140. If he isn’t available when you call, leave a message saying you are a resident and/or an event committee member and that you want a full and thorough investigation on Monday into why the City paid for Foxtail police.
One last thing — there’s talk about Ted Blunt and Jim Baker showing up in Mayor Williams’ office recently. There’s plenty of speculation that they’ll be somehow involved with fixing this mess or just helping Williams get his office better organized. Would this be a good thing or a bad thing? Not sure yet — if they’re around as part of some Commission charged to look into this business, that could be great. If they’re around to provide a tutorial on how to hide the bodies, that’s not so great. Right now this is talk from a number of different places, but still talk. Stay tuned, but make those calls.
Tags: City of Wilmington, ethics, Featured, Wilmington City Council
Correction: The meeting is Sept. 30 not Oct. 30 as posted above.
Thank you, I fixed it. October 1 is Freedom Day (the end of the government fiscal year) around here, so I’ve got October on the brain.
I find the post interesting- everything else being equal – there are more than four questions that should being asked on Monday- that is why an independent auditor is important- where is the Auditor now? – oh I know- he answers both to the Mayor/ and City Council -oops- is he getting paid to stay on the sidelines? Blunt/Baker are fine – but that is an ad hoc answer – not a fundamental assessment of governmental institutional strength which would give the citizens some sense of fairness and transparency and – oh – I guess that was to be an area the Strategic adviser should have been looking at? The Mayor’s choice to replace VJP will be telling.
I supported (still do) the effort to get the City its own elected auditor — as long as that auditor has the tools and the independence to get the job done. Where the city’s auditor is in this mess is a very good question, and the fact that you seem to be the only one to have thought about it shows just how invisible and useless the current arrangement is.
City dem great points about the auditor.
Please do tell us what other questions you would ask on Monday?
Today, Velda Jones-Potter sends an email to the City Council asking for more people to be added to the list to be questioned at Monday’s meeting. WDEL reprints the email.
Charles Potter also posted the letter on Facebook.
I understand him doing that as a husband, but as State Representative for the 1st District I am not sure that posting is appropriate.
Nothing the Potter clan does seems appropriate, but there’s nothing legally wrong with reporting that. He has no conflict or anything as a state legislator.
He represents a good portion of the city. It may not be illegal, may not be a conflict but the State Rep should remain out of the whole affair. The TV show and the facebook posts demonstrate poor judgement e at least to this constituent.
At the very least, tomorrow’s Council hearing will be very interesting.
Why should state reps stay out of this affair? As you say, they do represent the city, and are presumably all hearing from their constituents. I think it’s reasonable for them, generally, to have opinions about it.
It is reasonable for City elected legislators to have opinions on any issue concerning the City, and for that matter- all legislators from all parts of the State – should do the same- BUT please note the senior legislators both Senate and House in the City have not publicly made comment and no legislator outside the City has publicly opined on this evolving issue. Mr. Potter should take note of this ability – hopefully most people will get the answers they need and want from this hearing – this “distraction” correctly identified by the City Council President- as such – needs to be put behind us –
It’s reasonable for other elected officials to have opinions on this subject, but it’s also smart of them to keep their mouths shut right now.
Not a good time to be taking sides:
Do you criticize the Mayor for not knowing what was going on?
Do you criticize his aide for using her clout to protect her family’s interests?
Do you praise the Mayor for firing his aide?
Do you praise the aide for doing what a good mother would do to support her son?
I’m not suggesting that either party holds the high ground here. Rather, there’s enough blame to go around that anyone who takes sides does so at their own peril.
And, given its own track record, City Council faces its own challenges in getting its own inquiry done properly.
Unfortunately for the Potters and their partisans, they are just spinning up a bigger circus here. See today’s sit-down between Rhonda Graham and the concerned mother VJP. Of particular interest here is her concern about the process. And knowing that the NJ is never going to take a look at the plain process that is printed in the application. A process that the Foxtail guys circumvented by not getting their application in 120 days (process!) before the event. The email circulated over the weekend looking for more names to be added to the interview list is mainly about throwing mud and seeing what sticks. Although it wouldn’t hurt anything to talk to these people — but with the exception of the Mayor, there is no one on that list that is running the train on the permit process or in determining the number of officers who should be at the venue. And apparently the circus continued via Channel 28 yesterday.
I also saw the weekend laundry list of new names from VJP as an attempt to obfuscate, not to clarify.
She and we have known for a week now that this hearing would take place, we’ve known who had been asked to attend to respond to questions. Yet, this list surfaces on the day before the hearing?
Puh-leeze.
City dem and media watch make good points as to why Potter should have stayed out of the affair. They rightly point out no other state reps or senators from the city are making public comment.
Well, I’d like to have a couple of answers from Potter mere and pere.
Like, was any of their own money invested in this enterprise?
After all, Potter’s cable show has been used to promote the event and to defend the Potters’ involvement in the event. I’d like to know the extent of that involvement, seeing as how Foxtail appeared to escape charges that other events are routinely charged. Even when those events are non-profits run to assist citizens who are in need. As opposed to a promoter trying to make some bucks first time out of the gate.
The thing is, having their own money invested in this thing really isn’t the problem. The problem is how far VJP went in violating the public trust to protect that investment and this kid. In the Rhonda Graham article, she says that she was worried that the kid couldn’t pull it off and needed some help. Which is fine — but she should have found someone not in City government to help, resigned her job to help, or told this kid to start smaller than this to get some experience under his belt.
The thing that the Potters are trying to distract people from is the pretty serious breach (es) of the public trust that seemed to occur here. There may be others who broke the public trust too, but it so far it seems that the Government here is thinking that violations of the public trust on their watch will simmer off of people’s radars soon enough.
Hey, Remember this man Claimed Police Brutality in Rehoboth in April.
From WDEL
Man who claimed police brutality in Rehoboth is killed. A Pennsylvania man who this past April claimed he was the victim of police brutality after he was tasered by three police officers in Rehoboth Beach is dead – after apparently being run over by his girlfriend.
WHTM TV in Harrisburg reports police are charging Esther Brubaker in the death of Jeremy Anderson.
Police say Brubaker ran over Anderson with her mini-van.
The TV station says neighbors heard the couple arguing.
Police say they believe alcohol or drugs played a role in the killing.
Rehoboth Police were cleared in any wrongdoing for the taser incident this past spring.
Wilmington is the Wild West. Go armed.
Those police at Foxtail should have been at Paladin Club.
Paladin Club is not in Wilmington. You’d be looking for the NCCo PD for that, I believe.