Sunday Open Thread [9.7.14]

It’s been GOTV weekend here in Delaware and there are still races that are worth talking about — witness Mike Protack running against Janet Kilpatrick for NCCo Council proudly waving the flag for Metropolitan government (joining the governments of Wilmington and NCCo):

If elected, Protack said he would push for a metropolitan government in which the county would take over most functions from the city of Wilmington, which he called “a giant anchor” for New Castle County. He claimed without county intervention the government would be bankrupt, like Detroit, within five years.

“It could be a shining diamond, so it’s really a shame,” he said. “We need to save it from itself.”

Oh my.

Metropolitan Government. This has always been an interesting idea, but one that both City and County leadership has run from. And probably with good reason — on paper there can be good compelling reasons of efficiency to do this, but start thinking about making it work and you can see that the execution is going to be in trouble. There are those who are wary because the idea seems to come from people who think that they can save the City of Wilmington, without actually moving here and getting into the government to make that change. And I think that if Protack thinks he can fix Wilmington, he needs to move within the city limits and run for Mayor. He probably knows that the dissatisfaction with the current one is pretty wide and deep.

And he finds an *expansion* of government that he can get behind:

Protack said Kilpatrick is “clueless” on financial matters and claims her comments were made to benefit her politically. The better way to handle the kinds of concerns she has is to have a county Inspector General, which would have investigative and subpoena powers.

Although he has been talking about an IG for years, creating a spanking new position probably isn’t necessary. Bolstering the County Auditor’s scope of work and span of authority would do it, without creating a spanking new government agency is the ticket. And can I just say that Protack claiming that *anyone* is clueless about finances is pretty laughable. I wouldn’t have voted for the Stolz development, but questioning the handling of the county’s finances is the job of every single NCCo Representative. Every.One. There isn’t a single financial question that Janet Kilpatrick has asked of the Gordon Administration that they haven’t had to scramble to get their act together to answer. That looks like effectiveness from here.

What do you see from this GOTV weekend — or are you just getting ready to take in the Eagles game this afternoon?

ps.
A note: you’ve probably seen Mike Protack commenting here recently even though he has been long banned for multiple violations of the rules of the road here. Even the recent participation is a violation (going around the ban with new email and name), so if you are going to be here, Protack, you are on a *very* short leash.