Memos at Random


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

The county administration would not be permitted to hire, promote, transfer or reclassify rank-and-file employees under terms of an ordinance introduced into County Council.

A measure imposing that freeze until a new county executive takes office on Jan. 5, 2005, was introduced off-agenda at Council's Sept. 14 session by Council president Christopher Coons. It is a companion to one which, as previously reported by Delaforum, would prohibit moving political appointees into jobs protected by the civil service merit system. Both could be acted upon at Council's next session, which will be on Sept. 28. The proposed laws are part of a continuing effort by Council to secure additional control over the running of county government.

The preamble to the proposed freeze ordinance describes it as an "essential safeguard in light of the recent federal criminal indictments" of chief administrative officer Sherry Freebery changing her with "manipulating the merit system selection process to secure a job for her sister." The ordinance exempts from its prohibitions temporary positions, school crossing guards and staff for the expanding Council as well as anyone needed to fill a "critical position." Those moves, however, would require concurrence by a majority of Council's personnel committee which, like other committees, includes all member of Council. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

Firings and demotions would not be covered by the proposed ordinance. Such actions are rumored to be occurring or about to be put into process.

The Claymont Renaissance steering committee nominated nine persons to serve on the 'hometown' zoning design review advisory committee to pass on future development plans.

It agreed on the nominees from among its ranks at a meeting on Sept. 16 after hearing from County Councilman Robert Weiner that the open-ended panel will "morph into" an advisory subcommittee of the review committee. "Nothing much will change. ... All of us will be having as much say as [we] always have," Weiner said. County land use planner Josh Mastrangelo said there will be no limit on how many three-year terms review committee members can serve. "Once we get good people, we are going to keep them as long as they will stay," he said.

Nominees to be submitted to County Executive Tom Gordon, who will make the actual appointments, are: Thomas Comitta, the Renaissance's urban planning consultant, to serve as chairman; John DiCostanza, Joe & Tony's service station, vice chairman; George Lossé, Claymont Community Coalition; Carolyn Mercandante, Claymont Historical Society; Brett Saddler, Claymont Business Owners Association; Frank Brevoort, Princeton Arms Apartments; Thomas DeCristofaro, Claymont Fire Company; Alysa Krill, a graphic designer; and Carol Sloan, Sun Oil. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

BACK IN VOGUE: Great-grandma would hardly recognize them, but present-day versions of an old-time domestic accouterment -- the rain barrel -- are beginning to appear on the urban landscape. No longer intended to provide the wherewithal for Saturday night baths or laundering the family wash on


Rain barrels, now and then --- The modern version, such as the ones being used at the Center for Horticulture in west Wilmington, may not be as picturesque as the old-fashioned kind, but environmentally conscious folks say their present day function is equally worthwhile.

Mondays, they are an efficient way to recycle rain-on-the-roof to water a lawn or garden, according to John Harrod, habitat coordinator for the Delaware Nature Society. They also can control stormwater run-off, channeling it slowly into sewers, streams or the ground one house at a time, he said.

The closed plastic barrels are designed to be attached to downspouts. They hold 55 gallons, but can be strung together to provide greater capacity. How many inches of rainfall add up to 55 gallons depends on the size of the roof and how much of the flow is captured by gutters. Harrod said the barrels are provided by his organization to households which participate in its backyard habitat program. On a macro scale, it is intended that they will be given to house buyers as an ecological amenity in Bayberry, a planned residential community proposed for southern New Castle County.

Legislation to prohibit the Gordon administration from moving political appointees to positions protected by the merit system was introduced into County Council.

The measures, initiated by Council president Christopher Coons, are cosponsored by the other six members, which virtually guarantees their enactment. That could happen as soon as Sept. 28, when Council next meets. A recommendation from the county personnel office is required, but it will not be binding. The ban would last until Jan. 5, 2005, when County Executive Tom Gordon's successor will take office. According to the preamble to one of the proposed ordinances introduced at the Sept. 14 session, the administration recently moved an appointee, who is not identified, to a merit system job.

Councilman Robert Weiner introduced a resolution asking the state legislature to establish a procedure for suspending county employees other than elected officials who have been charged in indictments with felony crimes. Gordon and administrative officer Sherry Freebery have been so indicted. Council on Sept. 14 unanimously enacted ordinances requiring more complete disclosure of details about outstanding loans in required annual financial statements. A $2 million loan is the basis of one of the charges against Freebery.

The University of Delaware has launched a campaign to promote a greater degree of togetherness between its students and their neighbors.

In a Web site posting, the college said volunteers are going door-to-door to distribute 1,000 'outreach packets' of colorful posters promoting such things as peace and quiet and neighborhood diplomacy. Newark Mayor Vance Funk and university president David Roselle participated. Besides the posters, the packets contain a letter to students who live off campus and Newark residents, contact information for volunteer opportunities, a guide to "safe and responsible parties," a police department flier about home security and giveaways that include a jar opener, a chip clip and a key ring.

The project was put together by the Building Responsibility Coalition, a group formed to deal with problems associated with students' drinking. “Newark is a wonderful place to live, with the town and the university complementing each other very nicely. Establishing and maintaining mutually respectful relationships among students and residents will be beneficial for everyone," the statement quoted John Bishop, associate vice president for counseling and student development, as saying. That hasn't always been the case and the situation has acerbated in recent years as the campus has grown. (Click here to see the posters.)

PRINCIPAL SELECTED: Andrea Lanciault, assistant principal at Brandywine Springs Elementary School, has been appointed to be principal of North Star Elementary, which is scheduled to open in September, 2005. She takes her new position in January. Opening a new school will not be a new experience for Lanciault. Employed in teaching and administrative positions in the Red Clay Consolidated School District since 1977, she was involved with opening Brandywine Springs in 2000. She has bachelor and masters degrees from the University of Delaware.

Judge Kent Jordan ruled that County Executive Tom Gordon is eligible for a court-appointed, government-paid lawyer to defend him against federal corruption charges.

Ruling from the bench during a short hearing on Sept. 9, Jordan referred to "the high cost that a case of this complexity and magnitude" incurs and said that his study of Gordon's financial situation made it "abundantly clear to me that he (Gordon) is unable to obtain counsel" that he can afford. Jordan did not indicate when will follow through with the ruling and appoint a lawyer nor how much, if any, say Gordon will have in that selection. He denied the U.S. attorney's request for access to the financial data Gordon filed in support of his claim beyond the summary statement of net worth and income.

Noting that Gordon's and his family's "cooperation has been exemplary," the judge said that he considered the fact that Gordon's term of office and the salary that goes with it will end soon. "The man has [dug] deeply into the financial wealth he has been able to accrue" during a career of public service, he said, adding that legal bills so far have eaten into Gordon's pension funds. Jordan, however, made his ruling conditional on Gordon's reimbursing the government $1,000 a month, subject to adjustment, and exerting his "best efforts" to land a job after he leaves office. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

In remarks at the hearing, Gordon raised the allegation that the case against him is politically motivated and referred to the charges having emerged from a "non-secret grand jury." Jordan did not react to those comments.

SOME CHANGES COMING: With six new members coming aboard after the Nov. 2 election, County Council will make some changes in the rules covering how it does business. The main one in a resolution slated for introduction on Sept. 14 will require proposed ordinances to be filed eight days before regular meetings instead of the present five. It will take 10 votes, instead of five, to override a veto by the county executive or to enact an ordinance on an emergency basis. A majority of seven will enact an ordinance or pass a resolution. In all cases, those total stand irrespective of how many members are present.

Council president Christopher Coons told a meeting of the executive committee on Sept. 7 that he does not anticipate changing the practice of having all of Council's standing committees to be committees of the whole. Because only the General Assembly is exempt from the state's open-meeting law, Council is not allowed to routinely hold closed-door caucuses to discuss legislation as the legislature does, he explained. Councilman Robert Woods asked his colleagues to consider instituting random drug testing as part of the expansion of its administrative staff.

INFORMATION LACKING: Councilman Robert Weiner charged that the county Law Department failed to provide all the information required by a recently enacted ordinance when it filed its first monthly activity report. The August report, Weiner told Council's executive committee on Sept. 7, "was deficient on about half a dozen points." He agreed, however, with a suggestion by Councilwoman Karen Venezky that Council president Christopher Coons simply request that the reputed missing material be supplied rather than send a formal letter to that effect "so we start out on the right foot."

Daniel Harkins found a major gap in this year's anniversary observances of the Brown vs. Board of Education decision: Claymont High was barely -- and often not even -- mentioned.

Given the media penchant for focusing, then as now, on the 'negative', he isn't surprised. "There was no disruption here. It was accomplished with cooperation by all the parties," he said. "Claymont made the moral choice to do the right thing." But he wasn't about to let it rest there. With backing from the Delaware Heritage Commission he has organized a day-long symposium to focus on 'First school -- first state -- first to integrate'. Claymont High, of which Harkins is an alumnus, was the first and only school involved in the historic racial integration cases to voluntarily admit black students.

If that is something of a footnote in the history books, he isn't about to have the symposium be a footnote to the 50th anniversary. Sept. 5 is the 52nd anniversary of Claymont High integration; its first black graduate received a diploma just two months after the Supreme Court ruling. Jack Greenberg, of Columbia University, the last of the lawyers who argued the Brown cases, will be keynote speaker. There will be panel of students who were involved who'll tell it like it was. The intent, Harkins said, "is to make people aware of the respectful and dignified manner by which integration was achieved in Claymont." (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

The symposium, open to the public without charge, will be Sept. 18, beginning at 12:30 p.m. in the auditorium of Claymont Intermediate School, which now shares the former Claymont High campus.