Memos at Random


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

County Executive Christopher Coons directed county officials and employees to cooperate with the U.S. attorney during the continuing investigation of the previous administration.

In a memorandum circulated among county offices, Coons said Colm Connolly had requested cooperation during the continuing investigation and prosecution of former Executive Thomas Gordon and administrative officer Sherry Freebery, who are under federal indictment on several corruption charges. They are expected to be brought to trial next autumn. "In response to that request and in the interests of justice, I ask that New Castle County employees fulfill their civic duty and cooperate fully if contacted by the Department of Justice," Coons wrote in the memo.

Coons said his administration has reversed the policy of the former one and will not require employees to notify their supervisors or the county law department before submitting to an interview by the U.S. attorney's staff or Federal Bureau of Investigation agents "during the course of this particular investigation." However, he said, they may consult with a department attorney or seek information from the department and-or the executive office whenever they desire. "Any retaliation against any employee will not be tolerated," he wrote.

EMERGENCY PLAN: A 'working group' has been convened to update a comprehensive plan to assure continuity in county government in the event of a major disaster, Joseph Leonetti, coordinator of emergency management, told County Council's public safety committee. He said such a plan was drafted after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon building in 2001, but " it went by the wayside." Only "tweaking it a little bit" is required to revive it and put it into force to comply with a directive from the new county administration, he said.

Given the present climate relative to 'homeland' security, it is unthinkable for "a county our size ... with the number of people we have not to have an emergency operations center" properly equipped and ready to be put into immediate use, Leonetti told the committee on Apr. 5. Key county officials would gather at police headquarters in Minquadale, but lack of space there would hamper their functioning effectively, he said. However, he added, that situation "will be addressed" when the new headquarters facility is built.

NEW DIRECTOR APPOINTED: "Anybody with his level of expertise is welcome on the team," county police chief David McAlister said after chief administrative officer David Singleton announced at a meeting of Council's public safety committee that County Executive Christopher Coons had appointed former Wilmington police chief Guy Sapp to be director of public safety. McAlister, who formerly was in charge of all the county's public safety functions, will now report to Sapp. In addition to police, the functions include the paramedic service and 9-1-1 communications.

Sapp retired as Wilmington chief in 1993 after serving on that force for 22 years. Since 2000 he has been on the staff of Family Court. The county directorship was established by County Council while Coons was its president, but not filled by former County Executive Thomas Gordon. Also announced on Apr. 5 was Coons's nomination of Yvonne Gordon, a manager with M.B.N.A. America Bank, to be chief procurement officer. Her appointment requires confirmation by Council; Sapp's does not. Singleton said their salaries have not yet been determined.

PERK RELINQUISHED: County Executive Christopher Coons has given up his reserved curbside parking spot in front of the Redding Building. It has been converted into a metered handicapped-parking space. Coons, who lives in Wilmington, alternates between his office in the downtown building, which county government shares with city government, and the county building in New Castle Corporate Commons, spending a greater portion of his time at the suburban site. Wilmington Mayor James Baker, whose only office is downtown, still has his parking spot.

HUSH HUSH: Councilman Timothy Sheldon confirmed that Council's personnel committee hired an auditor and a policy director, but, following recent practice, would not say who they are. "Let them tell their [present] bosses first," he said. On Apr.4, the committee during a closed executive interviewed applicants who literally came in through the back door. They were discretely escorted to an alternate entrance to Council's conference room instead of passing through the public lobby. Meanwhile, controversially fired former auditor Robert Hicks reportedly has landed a job in the private sector. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

GAS PLANT REJECTED: After a marathon public hearing, the Coastal Zone Industrial Control Board voted unanimously to uphold natural resources secretary John Hughes's ruling that the pier at the natural gas plant which B.P. America wants to build in Logan Township, N.J., would violate Delaware's Coastal Zone Act. The decision is the latest in a series of regulatory steps required before the facility to convert natural gas transported by tankers in liquid form back into gas for sale to utility companies which would sent it by pipelines to customers throughout the middle Atlantic region can be built.

Company officials argued that Hughes erred in ruling that the pier extending into the Delaware River and thereby coming into the state's jurisdiction would be a new bulk transfer facility banned by the environmental law and not an adjunct to an otherwise legal manufacturing operation. A spokesman said later that a court appeal is among "further options for moving the project forward." Lauren Segal, B.P.'s project director, testified that importing gas is necessary to satisfy rapidly rising demand in this country for an environmentally preferable fuel and that the site is the best in the region for doing so. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

NO HABLAMOS MUCHO: Delaware is the nation's fourth least linguistically diverse state, according tothe U.S. English Foundation, a Washington-based organization promoting use of a common language -- English -- in America. Only in Vermont, Wyoming and South Dakota is another tongue the primary means of communication in a smaller proportion of households. In a just-published report, the foundation said English is the primary language of 84.6% of Delawareans. That compares to 56.1% in California, the most diverse state. In both cases, Spanish is the runner-up at 4.4% and 23.9%, respectively.

Working from U.S. Census data, the foundation discovered that Delawaeans listed 66 of the 322 languages spoken in this country as primary. Of those, 10 were put down as such by more than 1,000 people. Following Spanish were French, German, Chinese, Italian, Polish, Korean, Tagalog and Creole in that order. Delaware ranked highest of any state in the number of Lettish speakers as a percentage of population, second in Estonian and Asian Indian, and third in Telugu. Nationally, Spanish is by far the most common first language after English. Fastest rising in that regard are Chinese and Arabic.

GETTING STARTED: Brandywine School District has awarded contracts for asbestos removal from the former Channin and Old Mill Lane school buildings. That is required before they can be demolished. Astec Inc. will do the work, for $86,400, at Channin and County Environmental has the Old Mill Lane job for $83,640. No date has yet been given for starting the actual demolition of the structures, which have not been used for anything except some storage for more than 25 years. When they are torn down, the properties will be occupied by county-maintained athletic fields.

Representative Gregory Lavelle agreed to table pending state legislation redefining the role ofthe county auditor and work with New Castle officials to craft a revised version.

He said at the conclusion of a committee hearing on Mar. 23 that he would attempt "to come back ... with something we can all agree on." Most of the session was devoted to County Council president Paul Clark presenting Lavelle's committee with a draft of a version that he and Council attorney Carol Dulin had produced and Council agreed to in a resolution approved the evening before by an 11-to-two vote. Clark said his goal is to have the auditor be "a strong, independent but accountable official." He or she would work under the direction of a recently established audit committee.

While both Clark and Lavelle said they are interested in the future role of the auditor position and not the controversy over the firing of former auditor Robert Hicks, they agreed that that history figures in. "When I took office one of the things I inherited was a very divided Council over auditing," Clark said. Lavelle noted that Hicks had uncovered a questionable professional relationship and violation of residency requirement during the Gordon administration. "He did a fantastic job but he was the first one to be let go," said John Flaherty of Common Cause of Delaware. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

The General Assembly should be careful "if we go down the path of telling other governments how to operate," Representative Helene Keeley said. "What happens when the federal government starts telling us what to do?"

TAKE IT AWAY: County Councilman John Cartier said he will sponsor a resolution to put Council on record opposing Du Pont Co.'s plan to cover, rather than remove, a large pile of toxic waste on a property near its Edgemoor plant. Richard Schneider, a Newark resident with interest in environmental affairs, told Council on Mar. 22 that the material poses a long-term threat to both groundwater and the nearby Delaware River. Several Council members said they will support the resolution. It is an historic rarity for a governmental body in Delaware to publicly oppose Du Pont interests.

MONEY REQUESTED TO PAY FOR LAWSUITS: County Council has been asked to provide an additional $1 million to cover the costs of continuing litigation "dealing with employment and land use issues." A proposed ordinance which could be acted upon at Council's Apr. 12 session would transfer the money from the administration office and the police and special services departments. A fiscal note attached to the proposed legislation said the money is available "due to savings" by the units from which it will come. The note does not identify the lawsuits involved nor say to whom the money will be paid.

RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES: Schools in the Brandywine district will not schedule "important happenings" on days that are recognized as major religious holidays. Presentation of a new procedure to the school board on Mar. 21 apparently ends a controversy touched off when district officials ordered the Mount Pleasant High band not to participate in an out-of-state competition which conflicted with the Jewish new year last September. The officials acted on a somewhat vague rule which had been long-standing, but was only sporadically enforced.

Assistant superintendent Tammy Davis told the board that only events arranged by entities outside the district which provide an opportunity that students would not have at another time during the academic year would be sanctioned. She would have to approve participation at least a month in advance. In all cases, she said, teachers and administrators will be required to "exercise sensitivity and flexibility" in working around religious holidays. So far, only Jewish holydays are recognized observances, but appropriate authorities from other denominations can request similar status. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

POTENTIAL DEVELOPERS: Claymont Renaissance Development Corp. has identified the four development firms bidding to purchase the Brookview apartment complex. They are: Wilmington-based Commonwealth Group; Ingerman Group, of Cherry Hill, N.J.; Bozzuto Group, of Greenbelt, Md.; and Georgelas Group, of McLean, Va. Actual sale of the complex will be a private transaction decided upon by the Clark family, its present owner. Owners of commercial properties abutting the complex have also agreed to consider selling if the main deal pans out.

County Councilman Robert Weiner said the successful purchaser must agree to have the property included in the Claymont 'hometown' zoning area. It would be "encouraged" to assist first-time home buyers to purchase units, help relocate present residents who do not seek to buy a unit, and to include both 'affordable housing' and housing for seniors in the residential mix. Brookview is considered critical to successful redevelopment of the area. Weiner said also that county officials are working with state officials to keep the proposed $4.5 million Philadelphia Pike highway improvement project on schedule.