UPDATE: When Bad Math Emerges from the Bunker

UPDATE: When Bad Math Emerges from the Bunker

The Tuesday Town Hall meeting had a couple of handouts, apparently. I only got one that didn't make much sense, but there was a packet that I missed that had some additional data not on my handout, ostensibly showing the percent decrease in Class A crimes in the city. One of folks attending this meeting was Clayton Stacey, a Cool Springs resident who was brutalized in a robbery about a month ago. Mr. Stacey got one of these other handouts and he took a good look at the stats presented. And then he checked the math:
Sunday Open Thread [5.24.15]

Sunday Open Thread [5.24.15]

I feel like a Kremlinologist. So there is this AP tidbit that Vice President and Dr. Biden are staying in Washington this weekend, which is rare since they usually go home to Delaware on the weekends. It goes unmentioned in the article, but obviously they are staying close to the Walter Reed Hospital, which is a quick trip up 16th Street from Massachusetts Avenue and the Vice President's residence at the Naval Observatory. We have to assume that Beau Biden is still admitted to that hospital, since we have no information to the contrary. The highlight of the AP article is that the Vice President golfed yesterday afternoon with the President. So Beau's condition is serious enough that it has kept the Bidens in DC and Beau still in the hospital after four days, but not critical enough that the Vice President can't go play golf.

The Weekly Addresses

In this week’s address, the President commemorated Memorial Day by paying tribute to the men and women in uniform who have given their lives in service to our country. Divider In his weekly message, Governor Markell discusses a statewide effort to end homelessness among veterans in Delaware by the end of 2015. Divider House Majority Leader Valerie Longhurst discusses the infrastructure improvement funding bill the House passed. The proposed Division of Motor Vehicles fee increases would raise $23.9 million that would fund infrastructure projects throughout Delaware. Many of the fees identified have not been increased in more than 20 years.
JFC Cuts Markell’s Bloated Education Budget for Bureaucrats

JFC Cuts Markell’s Bloated Education Budget for Bureaucrats

Some real good news to start the Memorial Day weekend. Some of the cuts were to positions that had previously been funded by Race To The Top but are now transitioning to the state. They actually cut $3.75 mill in bloat:
The Joint Finance Committee voted to eliminate 10 controversial, high-paid positions in the Department of Education to find more than $1.5 million in savings as they continued to mark up Markell's $3.9 billion budget proposal. Lawmakers on the budget-writing committee also reduced funding for additional education initiatives, including teacher preparation programs, data analysis and recruitment efforts.
They almost did even more, as a proposal to cut an additional $2 mill in "additional funding related to Race to the Top failed by a 7-5 vote."
A Requiem for the Wilmington City Council

A Requiem for the Wilmington City Council

The Wilmington City Council passed the budget for the next fiscal year -- 7-6. Other than the 600K that Bud Freel made sure got added to deal with cameras and to be sure that the WPD could run an Academy if needed, this City Council passed a budget utterly free of any opportunity for asking for better accountability from the Williams Administration and utterly free from dealing with the big issues the city has: improved safety, accountability for programs and departments and a better reckoning of a projected surplus -- $2M surplus even though this fiscal year will end with a $500K deficit.
BREAKING: Ex-Legislator Rewarded For Burying Death Penalty Repeal Bill

BREAKING: Ex-Legislator Rewarded For Burying Death Penalty Repeal Bill

Remember Rebecca Walker? She's the former chair of the House Judiciary Committee who buried the death penalty repeal bill in her committee for most of 2013 and all of 2014. Remember Rebecca Walker? She's the former legislator who claimed she was running for reelection in 2014, had actually filed, waited until after the filing deadline, then withdrew her name, thus denying the Democratic voters in her district the right to choose her successor via primary. Remember why Rebecca Walker claimed she withdrew? She said that her work would not enable her to continue to serve. As if she just found that out right after the filing deadline. Well, guess what 'good fortune' has been bestowed upon former State Rep. Rebecca Walker? If you guessed a $96K state job that required no public posting and which reunites her with her police pals with whom she scuttled death penalty repeal, you would be correct.
What A Difference An Actual Report Makes, Right Mr. Mayor?

What A Difference An Actual Report Makes, Right Mr. Mayor?

Yesterday, Mayor Williams had his last Town Hall. I'll say more about that in another post. But he said to WDEL yesterday:
Wilmington Mayor Dennis Williams is making it clear he's not a huge fan of the Wilmington Public Safety Strategies Commission. "What's the big deal about this crime commission?" Williams posed on WDEL's Delaware's Morning News. "Everybody that put a few dollars up, talked about this crime commission being so great," Williams said. "Where were these people when I asked them to support Wilmington many years ago?"
But when the Wilmington Public Safety Strategies Commission was authorized by the Governor, this is what he had to say:
"Since taking office in 2013, I have recognized the value and necessity of State assistance in fighting violent crime," Williams said in a written statement. "I have consistently lobbied for Governor Markell and the State's support in tackling the violent crime in Wilmington. I would like to thank the Governor and City Delegation for their steadfast support and commitment, as we work collectively on the issue of eradicating the crime and violence in our city."