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TROLLEYS
RETURNING: Delaware Transit plans to reroute its Route 32-Wilmington
Trolley in June, a move that will restore public transportation to
Market Street. But when that happens, a ride will cost nearly five times
as much as it does now -- $1.15 instead of 25¢. The vehicle usually used
on the route between downtown and the Christina Riverfront is not
actually a trolley, but a small bus which loosely resembles an early
20th Century electricity-powered trolley. A half century or so ago, real
'trackless trolleys' used the city's main street with all Delaware Coach
Co. routes converging between Fourth and Eighth Streets.
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CAPITAL
SPENDING: Nearly half of the $42.6 million that county
government plans to appropriate for capital projects in the coming
fiscal year is earmarked for the age-ravished sanitary-sewer system in
Brandywine Hundred. Included is $11.8 million for rehabilitation of the
lines serving communities and $7.8 million to rebuild the North Delaware
Interceptor along Governor Printz Boulevard. The total for sewer work
throughout the county is $27.5 million, but that does not include
extension of the system into the area south of the Chesapeake & Delaware
Canal, which is being financed by development impact fees.
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SHRINKING
SURPLUS: Remember the $230.5 million county government nest egg
-- variously referred to as a surplus and a reserve fund -- which
figured prominently in the 2004 election campaign? Some of it is still
around and continues to be used to finance what otherwise would be
deficit spending. It's sewer-fund component is now projected to run out
in July, 2009, and the general operations fund in May, 2011. Here is the
accounting that Michael Strine, the county's chief financial
officer, provided on Mar. 25 to Council's finance committee (the figures
are in millions of dollars):
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A proposed ordinance introduced into
County Council by Robert Weiner on Mar. 25 would ban selling or giving
away dogs younger than eight weeks "when they have not yet learned to
control their urge to bite."
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SECOND THOUGHTS: Struck by
objections to 'unintended consequences'
of the county law enacted last year requiring licensing of everyone
doing building construction or maintenance work, several Council members
called for a major overhaul. "When we've done something wrong, we have
to step back and take another look at it," George Smiley said. "I
believe we've stepped outside the intent of this law," Stephanie
McClellan said. George Reda, the ordinance's sponsor, did not dispute
his colleagues' objections, but said the law has been in effect for only
two months and asked to be given "at least six months to work out the
details."
Objections voiced at a meeting of
Council's land use committee on Mar. 25 centered mainly on the apparent
burden of the law on businesses and apartment complexes which employ
their own tradespeople. It originally was presented as a tool to protect
residents from 'fly-by-night' operators. So far, only 2,025 licenses
have been issued, fewer than 10% of the originally estimated 23,000
contractors who would be subject to the law. George Haggerty, assistant
general manager of the land use department, said code enforcement
officers and building inspectors so far have found only three cases of
working without a required license. (CLICK
HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
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CUTS COMING:
Some school construction projects may be put on hold as a result of
significant cuts in the state budget for the coming fiscal year. "No way
are [school districts] going to be left out of whatever solutions are
determined for '09," Governor Minner's chief of staff Mark Brainard said
during an appearance at the University of Delaware's Academy of Lifelong
Learning. That, he added, applies to financing both
operations and capital projects. In response to a question from the
audience, he declined to comment specifically on Brandywine district's
plan to build new Lancashire and Brandywood Elementary Schools.
Brainard said on Mar. 24 that the
governor is looking for "creative ideas" to address the problem brought
about by the faltering national economy and invited the public to offer
suggestions. "There won't be any fiscal gimmicks," he said, hinting that
the model used in similar circumstances during Minner's first year in
office, when a bipartisan effort attacked a projected $300 million
shortfall by evenly splitting cuts and increased taxes and fees, could
be used again in her final year. "The governor intends to go out strong"
and will do nothing that might jeopardize the state's gilt-edge
reputation in the Wall Street bond market, he said. (CLICK
HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
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DROPOUT: Brandywine school board
member Sandra Skelley has withdrawn as a
candidate for re-election to a second term. That leaves Ralph Ackerman
unopposed in his bid to gain the seat he previously held for two
five-year terms. Ackerman was Skelley's predecessor on the board and
served as its president for a time. Also unopposed for re-election is
the current president, Joseph Brumskill. Still facing a challenge at the
May election is Aletha Ramseur. She was appointed to the board to
complete the term of Nancy Doorey, who resigned. Cheryl Siskin seeks to
replace Ramseur for the one year remaining in that term. (CLICK
HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
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BUS SITE
SOUGHT: Brandywine School District is searching for a property
already zoned for industrial use as the site for a new bus depot. "There
are a lot of issues with our [present] bus yard. We need to find [a new
location] that is appropriate," school board member Mark Huxoll said.
Superintendent Jim Scanlon previously denied that the Darley Road
Elementary School site is under consideration. That also applies to the
Hanby Middle site, he said at the board meeting on Mar. 17. Both of
those schools are to be closed after the 2008-09 academic year.
Martha Carper, wife of one of Delaware's
U.S. senators, and her Brandywine Hills neighbor, Beth Stark, urged the
district administration to take a closer look at proposed attendance
zones after the closures to eliminate wide disparity among the remaining
schools in the proportion of students from low-income households. "Many
parents will opt to choice out of schools with higher proportions of
[students eligible for] free and reduced[-price] lunches," Carper said.
Scanlon said the board will review community response at a workshop
session before approving the final plan at a regular meeting in either
May or June. (CLICK
HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
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Like them or not, County Council
members must vote to approve development
plans which the Department of Land Use has certified as compliant
with the Unified Development Code.
In an unusual open-doors discussion
touching on potential legal controversies, county attorney Gregg Wilson
recently told Council's executive committee that code provision -- which
an earlier Council enacted 10 years ago -- jibes with constitutional
protection of property rights. If Council were to fail to ratify
approval by the department's planning professionals, he said, individual
members who voted 'no' could be sued. "You'd have the burden of
demonstrating [in court] that your action wasn't arbitrary or
capricious. He did not get into what might happen if Council,
individually or as a body, abstained from voting or refused to vote.
The issue came up in two recent
controversies. Area residents raised the specter of environmental danger
in an unsuccessful attempt to block development of the former Hercules
golf course and Paladin Club residents alleged violation of the state
condominium law while opposing construction of townhouses there.
Although he said he did not want to get into specific examples, Wilson
said county government's authority does not extend to passing judgment
on such claims. "We're not the last stop. ... [Opponents] can always
take the applicants to court," Council president Paul Clark said.
If an affirmative vote on the plans is
preordained, councilwoman Stephanie McClellan asked, "why on earth do we
vote on them at all?"
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County Council received a report
claiming accomplishments in diversifying the
county government workforce, but some members didn't agree that it
showed much achievement.
"It just tells us who's here, not their
experiences," said Stephanie McClellan, referring to possible
discriminatory practices or attitudes. Terminations statistics, for
instance, did not differentiate between those who left voluntarily and
those who were fired. There were no data about disciplinary actions. "In
three years, the progress I see is woefully deficient," Jea Street said
after chief human resources officer Charlotte Crowell presented the
report at a meeting of Council's executive committee on Mar. 11. She
said it demonstrated a continuing "commitment to diversity in the
workforce" since the Coons administration took office in 2005.
The key chart showed that females made up
37.6% of the 1,484 county employees on the rolls at the end of 2007,
compared to 36.7% of 1,576 as the Gordon administration bowed out at the
end of 2004. The portion of 'minorities' -- primarily blacks -- grew to
17.5% from 17.1%. That actually works out to 20 fewer females and 10
fewer 'minorities'. The benchmark was 2000 state labor department data
showing the total workforce in New Castle County as 51.4% female and
26.9% 'minority'. "Diversity in [county government] is more than race
and gender. [It] also includes backgrounds, culture, education, skills,
life experiences ...," the report said.
The committee asked Crowell to return
so it can delve further into the situation when time allotted for the
meeting ran out.
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PREPARING THE WAY?: In an unusual
mid-month move, County Executive
Christopher Coons announced that his administration has lowered its
estimate of how much revenue county government will take in this fiscal
year by $4.7 million. The 'press release' issued on Mar. 12, fueled
speculation that Coons will seek an election-year increase in the
property-tax rate when he delivers his budget message to County Council
on Mar. 18. The 'release' also said about $600,000 is being knocked from
projected revenue in the separate sanitary-sewer fund, which was taken
as a strong hint a fee increase also is in the offing.
Chief financial officer Michael Strine
briefs Council on the budget outlook quarterly, instead of monthly as he
used to do. Monthly reports continue to be posted on the county website.
Strine attended a meeting of Council's finance committee on Mar. 11, but
was not called upon to answer any questions. That, too, is unusual. As
this article was being prepared, the end-of-January report remained the
most recent website posting. As previously reported by Delaforum, Coons
and Strine recently painted an extremely gloomy picture of county
finances to civic leaders and acknowledged that a property-tax hike is
being considered. (CLICK
HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
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SCHOOL BOARD CONTESTS:
Last-minute filings at the deadline on
Mar. 7 will result in contested elections for two of the three
Brandywine school board seats up for election in May. Ralph
Ackerman, who previously served two terms on the board
and has proposed a separate Claymont district, will attempt
to get back his old seat from his successor,
Sandra Skelley. Cheryl Siskin will challenge Althea Ramseur, who was
appointed by the board last year after the resignation of Nancy Doorey, for
the final year of Doorey's term. Board president Joseph Brumskill will
be unopposed in his bid for re-election. (CLICK
HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
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TRYING TO MAKE A
COMEBACK: Ralph
Ackerman, who previously served two terms on the Brandywine school board
and has proposed establishing a separate Claymont district, will attempt
to get back his old seat. He has filed to challenge his successor,
Sandra Skelley, in the May election. Skelly is seeking re-election to a
second term. No one has signed up to oppose board president Joseph
Brumskell, who wants another five-year term, or Althea Ramseur, who was
appointed by the board last year to fill a vacancy created by the
resignation of Nancy Doorey and seeks to remain for
the final year of Doorey's term. (CLICK
HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
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MORE OF THE SAME: As the
Department of Elections prepared to close
nominations to run for seats on the Brandywine school board, it appears
likely the May elections will be no contests. No one had signed up to
challenge incumbent board president Joseph Brumskill and members Althea
Ramseur and Sandra Skelley. The filing deadline is the end of the
business day on Mar. 7. Brumskill and Skelley want another five-year
term while Ramseur, who was appointed by the board last year to fill a
vacancy created by the resignation of Nancy Doorey, seeks to remain for
the final year of Doorey's term.
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RUMOR DENIED:
Brandywine schools superintendent Jim Scanlon, in response to a
Delaforum inquiry, categorically denied a persistent rumor that the
Darley Road Elementary School site will be the new location for the
district's school-bus depot. It has long been intended that the present
depot in northeast Wilmington be replaced. As far as can be determined
there has been no effort so far to locate a new site. A deed restriction
requires that, if the Darley Road property is not used for "educational
purposes," Colorado Fuel & Iron Corp., which sold it to the former
Claymont district, be given first option to buy it back. (CLICK
HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
Last updated on March 30, 2008
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