How much should be spent to maintain its buildings has emerged as the biggest imponderable as the Brandywine school board prepares to formally authorize a capital referendum.

"It's like your own home. If you don't maintain it, you end up with problems," said board member Craig Gilbert. "If we're going to ask taxpayers to repair buildings, we have to have a plan to maintain them," board president Nancy Doorey said. But she added that the amount to be spent each year should not be "at a level that is an extra burden on our taxpayers." A volunteer committee recently recommended that $8 million is "the minimum required" each year to meet the private industry standard. The current Brandywine allocation is $1.5 million.

Also at a hearing on the referendum plan attended by fewer than a dozen members of the general public on Mar. 14, Superintendent Bruce Harter said state budget officials have assured the district that, if the General Assembly liberalizes that formula governing state support for school construction, Brandywine will get additional money for its Brandywood and Lancashire projects. "We're going to get that in writing," he said. Doorey said the board will also promise to lower the capital tax rate. Harter referred to those projects as "not new schools ... just replacing current facilities with new construction." (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

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NEWS TO HIM: State Representative Gregory Lavelle said he was not consulted nor involved in drafting a proposed County Council resolution "respectfully urging" the General Assembly to enact a law "to strengthen and clarify the role and duties of the county auditor." Council president Paul Clark tabled the resolution after some members complained they had not seen it prior to being asked to approve it. Lavelle is primary sponsor of a bill pending before a House of Representatives committee which overlaps the county proposal in some respects and differs from it in others. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

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BOARD CANDIDATE: Olivia Johnson-Harris, who is a part-time teacher in a church-run pre-school, agrees with the course the present Brandywine school board is taking. "I like what I'm seeing. It would be a privilege to work with these people," she said. Johnson-Harris, 47, of Dartmouth Woods, is a candidate to fill the board seat now held by Thomas Lapinski. who is not seeking re-election. Her two children, Chandra and Brandon, graduated from Concord High and she was president of both the Concord and Lancashire P.T.A.s. "I am an advocate for children," she said. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

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CASE REOPENED: Chancellor William Chandler agreed to consider whether the county's 'rainy day' fund is too large, but indicated he is willing to wait to see what County Council does about the reserve accounts issue. He accepted a request by two taxpayers to amend their suit to challenge the county's setting aside 20% of its budget to meet unexpected emergencies while the state government's reserve is only 5%. However, the judge ruled against holding an immediate hearing on the matter. "The county is evidently considering appropriate action" to implement his earlier ruling in the case, he ruled. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

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County Council received proposed legislation that would set up reserve accounts to maintain property tax and sewer fee rates.

Introduced without comment at Council's regular session on Mar. 8, following an hour-long meeting of its finance committee behind closed doors, the measure is in response to a Court of Chancery decision in a taxpayer suit which held that the county's executive branch could not establish reserve accounts without legislative authorization. A companion ordinance would amend the current budget to add $204.8 million previously held in 'off-budget' accounts. Those amendments, however, identify the new accounts as "reserve accounts" rather than "rate stabilization accounts."

The measure before Council is actually a substitute version for one previously drafted but not introduced. The substitute changes several references in the earlier preamble, evidently to define legislative intent. They refer to county government's having acted "in good faith" and reference the extended periods during which there have been no rate increases, tying that to having have earned triple-A bond ratings. It refers to the court decision as having declared the 'off-budget' reserves "technically illegal" but said it wants to bring past practices "into full compliance with the Chancery Court's order." (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

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County Council president Paul Clark tabled a resolution "respectfully urging" the General Assembly to change the state law dealing with the role and duties of the county auditor.

He acted after some Council members at the Mar. 8 session objected to provisions in a draft listing of requested changes accompanying the resolution. Jea Street said they could have "a devastating impact on litigation that has been threatened." Former auditor Robert Hicks has said he is considering going to court to challenge his firing by Council. Penrose Hollins and John Cartier said they had not seen the somewhat complex resolution before its introduction and could immediately vote on it. It is normal Council practice to discuss measures in committee before they are brought to the floor for action.

Robert Weiner questioned absence of law-enforcement authorities from a list of notifications the auditor would have make if he or she uncovered wrongdoing during an audit. "Would it be insubordination for the county auditor to do what every other citizen has the right to do?" Weiner asked rhetorically. Council attorney Carol Dulin said the proposal had been discussed with the county administration and Representative Gregory Lavelle in a process which "involved a great deal of give-and-take to come up with the best product."

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Six candidates have filed to run for election to the two seats on the seven-member Brandywine school board being given up by incumbents David Adkins and Thomas Lapinski.

Debra Heffernan, of Edgewood Hills, is seeking Adkins's seat. She is co-founder and co-president of the recently formed Brandywine Special Needs Parent-Teacher Association, was a former co-president of the Bush Early Education Center P.T.A. and 2003 recipient of its 'volunteer of the year' award. She said she is running "to promote educational excellence for all children and to inspire students, parents and teachers to work together." Heffernan works part time as an environmental risk assessment specialist. She and her husband, Pat, have two children in district schools and one in private school.

Michael Procak, of Chalfonte, and his wife, Diana, are members of the Brandywood Elementary P.T.A. and have two daughters in that school. Procak, 38, said he believes the school board should provide an oversight function, concentrating on planning and budget matters and "leave the day-to-day running of our schools to the principals and teachers." Employed as a salesman, he is seeking Lapinski's seat. Filing just before the Mar. 4 deadline were Whittona Burrell, of Seton Villa, and Olivia Johnson-Harris, of Dartmouth Woods. Neither could be reached for biographical information. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

Delaforum previously reported the candidacies of Jeanne Best and James Garrity. The election will be held on May 10.

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County police will help the Wilmington and Newark forces, but only on an episodic basis and for limited durations, chief David McAllister told County Council's public safety committee.

"Any time another jurisdiction needs assistance, we'll respond. If they call, we'll go," he told County Council's public safety committee. But, he added, commitments to augment Wilmington's response to drug-related shootings and Newark's to serial burglaries are neither open-ended nor as comprehensive as has been reported. His department's primary mission remains law and traffic enforcement in mostly the unincorporated areas outside the cities. It boils down to "offering limited resources when they are available," he said. That translates into "five to 10 officers [participating] in a specific operation."

With "357 authorized positions for 500 square miles ... and [an estimated] 420,000 residents," it requires "a real balancing act" to effectively deploy the county force, he said at a committee meeting on Mar. 1. Including 28 not-yet -fully-trained recent police academy graduates, it has 345 officers on its rolls, but military leaves have cut into that. There were nearly 500,000 calls for service last year and, with more cellular telephones, the number is growing. Only about 10 of 16,000 home security alarms were actually valid. Because of traffic, "time it takes to get from point A to point B has increased dramatically," he said.

Councilman William Bell promised "serious discussion on public safety" while Council is considering the proposed fiscal year 2006 budget.

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GRADUATES WHO MADE GOOD: With the start of the Major League Baseball pre-season, fans are

	keeping their eyes on Johnny Damon of the champion Boston Red Sox and Carlos Beltran, recently acquired by the New York Mets. Those stars have something in common: They played for the Wilmington Blue Rocks. There are 75 former Rocks who made it to the majors since the minor league team was reborn in 1994. The Blue Rocks, now a Red Sox farm team, open the 2005 Carolina League season on Apr. 7.  (CLICK HERE to access a list of successful alumni provided by the Blue Rocks in response to a  request by Delaforum.)
Beltran		Damon

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