Memos at Random


	A potpourri of miscellaneous news SCRIBBLED IN A REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK

Paladin Club residents charged the community's developer with precipitously tearing down an old stone wall to prevent its being designated an historical asset.

Roy Jackson said a Pettinaro Construction crew showed up in subfreezing weather on Jan. 22 and took down a large part of the wall, which he said dated back to when the property was part of the Sellers

historical significance." But, she said, the board agreed to "investigate" further in response to the issue having been raised by \the community. That, however, is different, she said, from conducting a "formal review" and does not legally protect the structure. Company officials did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

A Web site promoting the sale of Paladin condominium units specifically lists stone walls as contributing to the ambiance of the southeastern Brandywine Hundred community.

DON'T GO THERE: Delaware Department of Education has blocked access from in-school computers to a national Web site where students can rate there teachers. That was done "at the request of several teachers that found the site disruptive during classroom time," said Colleen Gause, of DelDOE's telecommunications section. Michael Hussey, of ratemyteachers.com, said Delaware is the first state to impose a restriction. There currently are 11,383 ratings of 2,622 teachers in 145 Delaware schools on the site, he said. The DelDOE ban applies just to public schools; anyone can access the site from elsewhere. (CLICK HERE to visit the site.)

SMELL CHECKERS: The Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Control said it is ready to identify who is fouling the air in southeastern Brandywine Hundred -- maybe. The first phase of an odor study has been completed and the department now has 'chemical signatures' of the industrial facilities between Interstate 495 and the Delaware River, according to a press statement. "The next time an odor even occurs, [it] will be better able to identify the source and take appropriate response actions," the statement said.

However, the statement cautioned, the arrangement is far from foolproof. "The mixing of odors from more than one source, winds and other environmental conditions may make it difficult to prove the source of the odor," it said. Residents of northeast Wilmington and the Edgemoor area have been inclined to blame gas escaping from the Cherry Island Marsh landfill for recurring problems. But the Delaware Solid Waste Authority, while admitting it deserves some of the blame, claims that the several plants in the area have to share its guilt.

DEAL DENIED: Charles Baker, general manager of the Department of Land Use, denied the existence of any agreement concerning future county financing of the Claymont Renaissance. "Expectations are funny," he said at a recent meeting while responding to a question from Mark Weinberg, of the county Planning Board. After it was announced that the Claymont Coalition would receive a $20,000 community planning grant, Councilman Robert Weiner charged that was money that had been promised a year ago and not what was anticipated to finance future consulting work.

Baker told the Planning Board that his department "had some issues about working out the scope of [future] work" proposed by Thomas Comitta, the Renaissance's consultant. He did not specify what they were, but Weiner had said the project's steering committee had eliminated preliminary plans for redeveloping Brookview Apartments at county request. In any event, Baker said, "there seems to be some sort of impression that we had an oral contract" adding that that is not so. The amount of support the county will give the Renaissance "is something we will work through in the next couple of months." [CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.]

MOVING ON: Mark Chura, the state's point man on the off-the-roads components of the Blue Ball Project, has resigned has position as manager of planning, preservation and development for the Division of Parks & Recreation, effective Jan. 30, to take a job as project manager for Rehoboth Beach-based Atlantic Associates. In addition to shepherding development of Alapocas Run Park and renovation of the historic Blue Ball barn, Chura has been involved for several years with the development of Fox Point State Park and a variety of other Brandywine Hundred assignments.

The Gordon administration will ask the General Assembly to make the New Castle County auditor an elected position in order to remove any question about his or her independence.

Sherry Freebery, the county's chief administrative officer, surprised County Council's executive committee by announcing that the county Law Department had drafted legislation to accomplish that. County Executive Tom Gordon said later that he does not yet have a sponsor for it, but intends to press the issue. The draft calls for the auditor to serve a four-year term. Freebery's announcement came after the committee, on Jan. 20, authorized the present auditor, Robert Hicks, to accept an invitation to testify before an Assembly committee on pending state legislation to redefine the county position.

Council members were agreed to ask that the state legislation be put on hold until they have had time to follow through on a plan to establish an audit committee and to make other changes affecting the auditor. Council president Christopher Coons noted that many jurisdictions, including Delaware, have elected auditors, but Councilman Robert Weiner claimed that would "politicize" the position and result in less qualified persons holding it. Councilwoman Patty Powell, however, noted that voters are trusted enough to permit them to elect a President of the United States.

Councilman Penrose Hollins said that making the position elective would eliminate "anyone who looks like Mr. Hicks" despite having highly regarded credentials -- as Hicks does. Hicks is African American.

CLAYMONT ACTIVIST DIES: Evelyn Tryon, a school teacher who devoted her retirement years to a eclectic variety of activities ranging from joining the Peace Corps to preserving Claymont High's historic role in advancing civil rights, died on Jan. 16 at her daughter Virginia Smilack's home in New Jersey. She retired as a mathematics teacher at Dickinson High in 1975 and soon after left with her husband, Sager, to teach for two years in Fiji. After returning home, she was involved in the unsuccessful effort to keep Claymont High open and the successful one to preserve the Claymont Stone School.

The activity closest to her heart in recent years centered on memorializing racial integration of the high school. That culminated in establishment of a history room in the original school building, which now houses the Claymont Community Center, and erection of an historic marker out front. Sager, who predeceased her, was instrumental in assuring that the school admitted black students, when so directed by Chancellor Collins Seitz, without waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide an appeal. Seitz's ruling was the only one upheld in the historic Brown v. Board decision 50 years ago come May.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Jan. 31 in United Methodist Church of the Atonement in Claymont, preceded by a half hour of some of Mrs. Tryon's favorite music.

William Marino, president of the Glenville Civic Association, said he put up signs like this one on several properties in the Christiana Hundred community ravished by the nor'easter storm and hurricane last September as a way to call attention to the joint effort by state and county governments to buy damaged houses no longer suited to habitation. Actual purchases are expected to begin in early February. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

BATTLE WON; WAR LOST: County Council and several civic associations won a pyrrhic victory on Jan. 20 when the state House of Representatives approved a bill previously passed by the Senate that would have restored a seven-member Council after the 2004 election. Governor Ruth Ann Minner immediately said she will veto the measure, allowing the present law expanding Council to 13 members to stand. Sources say there is neither the will nor the votes to override her veto. Brandywine Hundred representatives Wayne Smith and David Ennis were recorded as not voting; the others voted 'aye'.

In response to a Delaforum inquiry, Minner spokesperson Kate Bailey said the governor "feels that smaller council districts will allow council members to be more responsive and more representative." Moreover, she added, the expansion has been in the works since 1996 and only recently has it been challenged. The Department of Elections has "invested time and energy in the switch [and] to undo the long-planned expansion just months before the election now would cause confusion," she said. (CLICK here to read previous Delaforum article.)

McDONALD'S MAKEOVER: The plan to replace the McDonald's fast-food restaurant in Claymont is back -- this time with a couple of major differences. Unlike two years ago, it apparently has support from the Claymont Renaissance. That is largely because the plan now calls for putting up a relatively conservative brick structure rather than a throwback 1950s-style drive-in. Mike Carr, project director, told the Renaissance committee on Jan. 15 that the company will soon file a redevelopment plan with the county and is hopeful it can have the new establishment up and running by the end of the year.

New Castle County government came through the annual outside audit of its financial books covering the fiscal year ended June 30, 2003, with flying colors.

Steve Baloga, a partner in the auditing firm of Ernst & Young, told County Council's executive committee on Jan. 13 that the county in being run by "financially savvy people." That is especially significant, he said, at a time when an apparent preponderance of state and local governments around the nation have found themselves in trouble as a result of the economic slump. New Castle County, on the other hand, finished the year with a $240 million surplus and substantial cash reserves, retained its triple-A bond rating and boasted one of the lowest tax rates of any comparable jurisdiction.

Checking the books for the first time, Ernst & Young found nothing to complain about, Baloga said. The firm issued a 'clean', or unqualified, opinion on the county's financial report. Although it said internal budget controls are effective, the firm did endorse the idea, which Council is now considering, of establishing an independent audit committee. In response, the administration questioned the value of spending the money necessary to expand the internal auditing function when "the county has [had] such proven and widely lauded financial management and reporting practices" over a span of several years.

"We're getting so used to [meeting] these high expectations that we take them for granted," said Councilman Robert Woods, former chair of Council's finance committee.