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A potpourri of miscellaneous news SCRIBBLED IN A REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK |
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A potpourri of miscellaneous news SCRIBBLED IN A REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK |
Owners of property in the Brandywine School District most likely will see an 8% increase in their school tax in the coming fiscal year.
Financial officer David Blowman told the school board that he will recommend a rate of $1.2805 for each $100 of assessed property value at its tax-setting meeting in July. More than half of the 9.3¢ increase form this year will go to finance debt service on bonds which voters authorized to finance the district's building renovation program. The rate to finance operations will go up 1.3¢ to 98.2¢, the maximum authorized at the 2002 referendum. Both increases, which will add about $70 to the tax bill for a 'typical' residential property assessed at $75,000, had been anticipated.
He also presented a proposed tentative fiscal 2005 budget at a 'workshop' meeting on June 14. It would set total spending, excluding federally financed programs, at $106.8 million, up 3.6% from this year's budget. He indicated that total revenue is now projected to fall about $1.8 million short, with the difference being made up with money carried forward at the end of this fiscal year. Because that amount and the level of state financing for next are not yet know, the figures will be revised as the budget process moves forward to adoption of a preliminary budget in August and a final spending plan in December.
The proposed budget earmarks $2.1 million to finance components of the district's strategic plan, up from $1.5 million this year, with $500,000 of the increase to go for teacher recruitment. Depending upon enrollment, most of that will be spent to pay up to seven teachers beyond the state authorization.
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Near perfect weather greeted Claymont's annual 'Green Day' on June 12. A community fair on the lawn of the Claymont Community Center drew a crowd during the afternoon, following a morning clean-up of local neighborhoods. The traditional event was sponsored by the Claymont Community Coalition. |
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EMERGENCY ORDINANCES SIGNED: County Executive Tom Gordon routinely signed the six emergency ordinances giving County Council greater oversight of administration spending and hiring. Although they are due to expire at the end of July, Council president Christopher Coons told Delaforum that he is now consulting with other Council members to draft regular ordinances extending at least some of the provisions of the emergency ones through the end of 2004. Council has three more regular meetings before taking its usual month-long summer recess in August. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
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DECERTIFICATION SOUGHT: Brandywine School District has asked the Public Employment Relations Board to remove Local 1183 of the United Auto Workers from representing its bus drivers. The petition, which is said to have the support of about a third of the drivers, was filed as Martha Cooper, a professional labor fact-finder, was beginning to prepare a non-binding recommendation for ending a year-long impasse over an initial contract. A union source said the filing was another example of the district administration acting in 'bad faith' in an effort to block the drivers from having an independent union.
Deborah Murray-Sheppard, principal assistant to the employment board said that the law permits the filing of a decertification petition any time after a year has elapsed from the time a bargaining unit was chosen if no contract has been negotiated. The fact-finding process does not prevent holding a decertification election. she said. The union source said that holding such an election during the summer, when school bus drivers are not working, was further evidence that the district is out to break the union. District spokeswoman Wendy Latham did not responded to a Delaforum request for comment. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
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READY TO ROLL -- NOT QUITE:
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A ceremonial ribbon-cutting by Governor Ruth Ann Minner to 'open' the bypass around Concord Pike construction in the Blue Ball area has been postponed a week, until June 18. The official explanation is that that was done because of the June 11 state holiday in observance of former President Ronald Reagan's funeral. But workers on the job said the final connection at the southern end would not have been completed in time and added that it is still iffy if it will be done before the rescheduled event. |
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GOING 21st CENTURY -- MAYBE: County Council is exploring the possibility of allowing its members to attend regular sessions and, perhaps, vote on measures before them by telephone. That was done at the emergency session on June 1 when Councilman William Tansey participated from a hotel room in South Carolina. It was decided then that he would not be permitted to vote on the ordinances being acted upon for fear that that might result in their eventually being declared invalid. But Council members apparently are agreed that the idea is worth exploring for possible future use.
Council attorney Carol Dulin said the legality of meeting and voting by telephone is unclear. It might be permissible, she said, if the public is cued in to what's happening -- as was done at the emergency session. Tansey's voice was projected via speaker phone and could be heard in the chamber. The reverse was not totally true. He said he "didn't hear a lot of what was said." Councilman Robert Woods suggested that the way to go might be to simply "amend our rules [of procedure] and see what happens." The state attorney general's office evidently will not issue an advisory opinion on the subject.
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County Council president Christopher Coons called upon the county police force to address allegations of police misconduct in the indictment of top county officials.
"It is imperative that we act as a government to identify, clarify and proactively address those issues affecting public safety that have been brought to light," Coons wrote in a letter to chief David McAllister. "I believe it is critical for the [police] department, the administration and County Council to act responsibly to address the legitimate concerns of the public." He stopped just short of calling for an internal police review or investigation, but hinted strongly that he would welcome one by listing that first among possible "appropriate steps forward."
Referring to allegations in the indictment naming County Executive Tom Gordon, chief administrative officer Sherry Freebery and executive assistant Janet Smith -- all of whom formerly were police officers -- that unidentified officers, either voluntarily or in response to orders, participated in illegitimate activity, Coons asked Cunningham what steps are being taken to 'clarify' department rules and policies. "I am not suggesting that any procedure be conducted that would either interfere with the [continuing] federal investigation or presume the guilt of any party," Coons wrote.
McAllister's predecessor, John Cunningham, several months ago pleaded guilty to a charge of official misconduct which grew out of the federal grand jury investigation leading up to the indictments. McAllister was promoted from the ranks by the administration to succeed Cunningham.
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JESTER OVERLAY SOUGHT: The Planning Board was asked to recommend historic zoning of 1.38 acres of Jester Park, off Grubb Road, to protect a farmhouse and barn deemed to be historic. They are "representative of the 19th and early 20th Century character of Brandywine Hundred," Marilyn Reed, a member of the Historic Review Board, told the board at a hearing on June 1. Councilman Robert Weiner, who is sponsoring the 'historic overlay' rezoning said he later will seek coverage of the park's entire 25.8 acres and its eventual use as a place for 'passive recreation'. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
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While
honoring the dead from and veterans of past
wars, the nation should not neglect toalso pay tribute to those serving now,
Senator Joseph Biden said.
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"The American people should understand it is their war, not the war of about 800,000 men and women who are volunteers and who are engaged in or about to be engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan," he told those gathered in Wilmington on May 30 for the commemorative service which traditionally follows the city's historic Memorial Day parade. In addition to the more than 800 who have been killed, some 4,600 have been wounded, he said, adding that they have been virtually ignored. Except for the military and their families, "few of us have been called upon to make a sacrifice," he said. Biden's words were especially poignant considering that only small knots of people turned out along the line of march for the 137th renewal of the Wilmington parade. There were more marchers -- mostly from veterans' organizations -- than spectators. Many considered the holiday weekend as marking no more than the beginning of the summer vacation season and good weather brought the crowds to the beaches and other recreation areas. Even the correct date, proclaimed in 1868, has been lost unless it coincidentally falls within the weekend. |
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A Marine-Navy color guard passes the reviewing area at the Soldiers & Sailors Monument in west Wilmington during the parade, which has been an annual event since it was inaugurated three years after the Civil War. |
Conspicuous, however, was participation by young people from the Newark High School junior R.O.T.C., Delaware Military Academy and the William Penn and Salesianum high school bands.
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WORLD WAR II VETERANS HONORED:
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