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UPDATE: When Bad Math Emerges from the Bunker

By cassandra_m May 24, 20156 Comments

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:

A Requiem for the Wilmington City Council

By cassandra_m May 21, 20159 Comments

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.

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

By cassandra_m May 20, 20156 Comments

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."

Mayor Williams Holds Another Town Meeting

By cassandra_m May 18, 201515 Comments

This one is tomorrow, Tuesday May 19th at P.S. duPont. Please come out to ask the Mayor about the status of implementing the Wilmington Public Safety Strategies Commission recommendations (some of these recommendations are largely in line with President Obama's Task Force on 21st Century Policing report. Or just ask him about the political agendas that are somehow more proactive about the safety of Wilmingtonians than his own plan is. Handcuffs are optional for this event, but if you got 'em, wear 'em!

Camden Gets the Kudos for Community Policing that Wilmington Could Have Had

By cassandra_m May 18, 2015

So you've heard me talk about the successes that Camden has had in bending the curve of their crime and violence issues -- and today, President Obama travels to Camden to recommend the Camden Community Policing approach as a national model. This accompanies the release of the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing report today:

The report endorsed Thomson's view that "community policing cannot be a program, unit, strategy or tactic. It must be the core principle that lies at the foundation of a police department's culture. "The only way to significantly reduce fear, crime and disorder, and then sustain these gains is to leverage the greatest force multiplier: the people of the community," Thomson testified.

Ditch the Seige Mentality, It’s Hurting Wilmington

By cassandra_m May 14, 201541 Comments

It isn't news that cities like Camden, NJ and Philadelphia, PA are reducing their violent crime statistics. I've been posting that news along with most of the posts I write here about the current situation in Wilmington. What these cities have done includes re-orienting themselves to data and intelligence-driven forces, able to address crime hot spots and get out in front of crime -- rather than simply wait for a phone call to respond to. Heck, even the SEPTA has moved to a data-driven policing model and is clearly bending the curve on their own crime problem. So what's wrong with Wilmington?

Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: May 12-14, 2015

By El Somnambulo May 12, 201518 Comments

That was quite the interesting little week. HB 50 passes overwhelmingly, Gov. Markell announces he will sign death penalty repeal legislation should it reach his desk, and the General Assembly apparently has come up with a sorta-gimmick to close at least some of the gap in infrastructure spending. At least the D's have. And my daughter graduated college with honors in Mathematics and Japanese, and now proceeds to a Masters of Arts in Teaching Program. She wants to teach and inspire high school students to fully realize their potential in mathematics. I sorta doubt that she sees the 'Smarter Better Test' as a means to that end. While it looks like there's gonna be some new funding for road projects, the Rethugs appear hell-bent on getting some sort of 'right to work for less' concessions in exchange for votes to close the budget shortfall. Because, you know, nothing furthers economic prosperity more than paying workers less. Hey, it's why they're Rethugs. The big showdown of the week takes place in the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday at 11 am in the House Chamber. SB 40(Peterson), which repeals Delaware's death penalty, and has already passed the Senate by an 11-9 margin, will be considered.

Markell Punches the Hippies

By Delaware Dem May 11, 201519 Comments

Governor Jack Markell (D) has written a rather lengthy piece last week in "The Atlantic" entitled "Americans Need Jobs, Not Populism." The title alone enrages me because, since when were jobs and populism mutually exclusive? This is a long article, because the Governor's article was long. But it is necessary. The Governor recognizes that income inequality is a problem, and that an active government is necessary in fighting that problem. But he won't fund that active government, and still advocates policies that inflame inequality. All the while engaging in the use of strawmen, false categorizations, and triangulation.

You Keep Using That Word, I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means

By cassandra_m May 8, 201513 Comments

Populism. That's the word and that's the word in the title of a piece that appeared in The Atlantic this week authored by Governor Jack Markell, called, Americans Need Jobs, Not Populism. In fairness, he may not have provided the title to this thing. But it is less an argument against populism than it is an argument for working class and middle class people to sit down and shut up about the very real squeeze we find ourselves in. It is an argument for his own political philosophy -- privileging businesses over the people who are the consumers for these businesses -- a philosophy that certainly wasn't on display (IMO) when he first campaigned for Governor. In this, the Governor wants you to know that it is globalization that is the root of today's economic issues. Which couldn't be more wrong.

Just Fix Them

By cassandra_m May 6, 201510 Comments

Seriously, stop the high school hallway belligerence and just fix Wilmington's cameras. Today, Mayor Dennis Williams and Councilman Mike Brown decided to have an argument via WDEL about the amount of money spent on the city’s cameras currently monitored (in theory) by Downtown Visions. The Mayor says that Councilman’s Brown’s figure on the amount of money spent on the cameras is wrong and Brown provides some detail showing that the number he gave was rounded, but not far off from right. Both of them highlight a few of the City’s key problems in dealing with its safety issues:

Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Week of May 5-7, 2015

By El Somnambulo May 5, 201535 Comments

"The budget is broken," said Delaware Sen. Harris McDowell, a Wilmington Democrat who co-chairs the General Assembly's budget-writing Joint Finance Committee. "The options to fix it are to recognize that we have gotten to the end of the line of tricks." That's the truth. Some of the tricks upon which we relied to balance the state budget, 'abandoned property', gambling revenue, even our incorporation fees, have peaked, and will soon be in decline, if they're not in free-fall already. Of course, if you read the linked article by Jonathan Starkey, you have to wonder if the proposed solutions can or will in any way address the broken budget. I think there's no chance in hell that they will. First off, whose bright idea was it to create a bipartisan committee with at least as many R's as D's, with some of those D's being Markell appointees? Uh, they're the same as R's. Oh, it was Markell's idea, executed in an Executive Order he issued back in January. I guess he wants to assure that his legacy of kowtowing to his wealthy Greenville buds is locked in for decades. Here are some of the ''solutions' this bipartisan committee is considering, according to Starkey's article.....

Vote Tracker Update — How are they voting?

By Delaware Dem May 4, 2015

Bryan Townsend is the busiest legislator in Dover. The man's name is so omnipresent, as a lead or additional sponsor, on legislation of significance that I have to imagine either that he is running for higher office, or that he is just the best damn legislator period. The cynic and politician in me wants the former. The good government romantic in me wants the latter. Kim Williams is a close runner up too. So here is the updated Vote Tracker as of today, May 4, 2015. My focus on these vote trackers is to follow legislation of progressive significance, whether they be pro-progressive or anti-progressive. For example, we are following the Right to Work bill and the Estate Tax Repeal bill, not because we want them to pass, rather we want them to fail, and we are going to take note of any Democrat who votes for them so that we can work to replace them in the next election. I have reorganized the Vote Tracker this month. It's just one document now, and legislation with actual votes recorded is list at the top, followed by legislation that has been released by their relevant committees and are due for votes in one chamber of the General Assembly or the other. For the specific details of legislation that is being considered in committee, and also the whens, wheres, whys and wherefores, I encourage you to follow El Somnambulo's Pre-Game Post-Game series.

Hillary Clinton Watch Over… Beau Biden Watch Begins

By Delaware Dem May 4, 20154 Comments

Well, we finally know that Hillary Clinton is running for President. Now we need to find out if Beau Biden is running for Governor. It is the central question in Delaware politics, and really, no one knows the exact answer to it, just like no one really knows what medical condition the former Attorney General suffered back in August 2013. But we finally got some Beau Biden news on Friday that may shed some light on some answers.