Delaware Political Weekly: March 11-17, 2016.
1. The Meyer Candidacy.
The more I think about it, the more I’m impressed with the kickoff to Matt Meyer’s campaign for County Executive. It’s as if the campaign emerged fully-formed out of nowhere. I’m sure a lot of people worked on preparing this, but I hadn’t heard even a hint about his candidacy until yesterday. Perhaps, as an attorney, he didn’t want to give Gordon the chance to threaten his employer until he was already in. The ad is brilliant, effectively lays out his message. My favorite bit: “Your search found 1 result”. And his bio is compelling. Especially the stuff about Ecosandals:
Matt chose to move to Nairobi, Kenya, where he taught himself Swahili and started Ecosandals, a footwear business he created that has sold environmentally-friendly footwear to customers on 17 countries in 5 continents for over two decades.
Numerous groups and organizations have recognized Ecosandals’ work in creating innovative job opportunities in neighborhoods facing extreme poverty. Those groups include CNN, the United Nations, the World Bank, BBC, Al Jazeera and Current TV, which on national TV called Matt an all-around super human. Ecosandals continues to create employment opportunities in neighborhoods of Nairobi, Kenya where residents are desperate for meaningful work.
Think about it: Tom Gordon or Matt Meyer…gotta ask my wife if we can send Matt a few bucks. Besides, Friends grad and a math teacher? Hey, that’s my daughter’s bio!
BTW, Tom Gordon filed yesterday, so the game is on.
2. The Mayoral Debate.
You can watch the debate here. WHYY will re-air it on April 3. Mayor Williams’ absence is indefensible. His excuse that he was spending every moment preparing for his State of the City address is beyond laughable. His arrogance, dismissiveness and rank incompetence must not be allowed to continue for another four years. During the intros, it was clear that Mike Purzycki and Eugene Young had the most supporters in the Grand. During the opening statements, I was especially struck by how marble-mouthed Theo Gregory was. Mike Purzycki fumbled the first question, saying that police deployment is most important downtown because ‘business’. Didn’t mention community policing. Kevin Kelley struck a chord with the crowd by blistering Williams for ignoring the recommendations of police experts. Theo Gregory’s economic development plan? Revamp the city economic development office. Kevin Kelley with a smart neighborhood-specific plan, Mike Purzycki-Riverfront, riverfront, riverfront, Eugene Young-the ‘elephant’ in the room is people with records who can’t get jobs. Hate to say it, I like him, but Bob Marshall is having a bad night. He points to what he did in Dover, but his cadence is sing-song, and he talks a lot about public works projects. Don’t think that’s gonna cut it.
I have to give props to the panelists. The questions are real good.
Kelley nails the wage-tax question. He sounds like he could answer any question comprehensively. So does Young, who says that the issue isn’t the wage tax, it’s the lack of user-friendliness from the City which makes taxpayers resentful. Norman Griffiths is suffering from me-tooism. Don’t think I’ve heard a unique proposal from him tonight. OK, I can’t listen to the rest of the debate and finish this piece on time. I’ll go back and listen to the rest of it later. Here’s how I’d rank the candidates based solely on their performance in the first half of the debate:
Kelley-Sounded mayoral.
Young-Just needs to tighten up his answers a bit.
(Big gap)
Griffiths-Nothing objectionable, not much on the ‘vision thing’
Purzycki-He knows who his supporters are, he’s not gonna expand his base beyond that.
Marshall-Legislators often struggle running for administrative positions. Some good ideas, presentation not likely to find a receptive audience.
Gregory-One of the worst public speakers this side of western Sussex.
Please listen to it. It’s important, and there’s no doubt that your opinions will not be the same as mine. And, if you were there, what was your take?
3. Filings.
State Sen. Dave McBride (D-13th SD); State Rep. Joe Miro (R-22nd RD); Penrose Hollins, D– For New Castle County President (Primary vs. Karen Hartley-Nagle); Dennis Mumford, D-For Kent County Levy Court District 3 (Primary vs. Allan Angel).
That’s it for this week. What’d I miss and whaddayathink?
Tags: Delaware elections 2016, El Somnambulo, Steve Tanzer Delaware
I have spoken to Wilmo residents who will vote for ANYONE who isn’t Mayor Williams. Does Williams have a chance of holding on if the anti-Williams vote is fractured?
That really is the consensus, Jason.
Disclaimer: I’ve been supporting Eugene Young for over a year. I like his approach to our entire city – How it connects.
Purzycki might as well propose “building a wall” around the Riverfront and Market St. You’re correct, El Som. He can’t expand his base because most of them aren’t city residents.
I’ve always really liked Kevin Kelley, but for some reason he never really connects – at least not enough to separate from the pack. That’s a shame.
TNJ article on the Twitter spat with the Fire Chief and the Union has convinced me it’s truly been amateur hour for the last almost 4 years!
^^^It’s worse than amateur hour — it’s 8th grade homeroom. There’s no leadership in displaying contempt for your own employees via Twitter and Facebook, even if you are in contract negotiations. These people can’t manage a basic level of professional behavior.
Cassandra, agree 100%. It always starts at the TOP!!! I guess I always kinda knew it, but didn’t want to believe it. A few things happened this week that have convinced me, TNJ article was just the icing on the cake.
Matt Meyer was my neighbor in Trinity Vicinity until we moved last year. Super nice guy, I’m happy to see him running for County Executive. Makes me wish I had updated my registration in time to be able to vote in the primaries.
(Although that reminds me that Dennis P. Williams’ campaign office was in Trinity Vicinity, so he was my “neighbor” for a time too…)
Mike Smith, who primaried Joe Miro unsuccessfully last time can be expected to try again, with the same results. He’s trying to establish himself as Miro’s successor since no D has a real chance of winning the district unless and until Miro retires.
gobiden, I believe you have until the end of May to change your registration for the state primaries. The presidential primary deadline is April 2. Here is the link to the calendar.
http://elections.delaware.gov/calendar/2016ElectionCalendar.pdf
2/26 was the deadline to CHANGE before the Presidential primary. 4/2 is for people that aren’t registered.
But if someone wants to vote for Matt Meyer in the primary, they have until 5/27 to change their registration (and 8/20 if they aren’t registered at all). Don’t wait, change today!
Frank Shade officially announced for the 3rd district Sussex County Council. He is the third R to announce. The 3rd district is the northeast corner of the county, Rte24 up to the county line.
He is running on “infrastructure in place before development begins” That ought to go over well with R’s.
As you all know I am supporting Eugene Young therefore my opinion of his performance ( which I thought was impressive) is negated by my bias. I wonder what is thought of his written public safety plan and does having such a plan really influence voters? http://eugeneyoungformayor.com/assets/docs/Rise%20Up%20for%20a%20Safer%20Wilmington%20-%20Eugene%20Young.pdf
Paul, I think it certainly influences voters who are paying attention, and at least as importantly, so-called ‘decision-makers’. The ONLY negative that I’ve heard about Young is the question as to whether he’s too young/inexperienced. Other than than, he’s impressed a whole lot of people, including me.
So, if people are going to cast their lot with a candidate like that, it sure helps to have well-thought-out plans that reassure them that he is up to the job.
It may not immediately influence the race, but as the campaign proceeds, I think it will have an impact if he continues along the same path.