City Council Budget Press Release
May 18, 2021
Wilmington – The budget hearing process began several weeks ago in April and it appears the world has changed a great deal since then. Over 50 percent of Delawareans have at least one dose of the COVID vaccine. Walk-in clinics for adult vaccinations and community vaccination events are available across the city. Children ages 12 and up are now able to be safely vaccinated and full vaccinated adults are no longer required to wear masks in public.
These changes are important. However, there are still people struggling and suffering in Wilmington’s streets. Gun violence is now demanding our full attention. It is time for our City leaders to rise to the occasion and bring forward necessary investments to power up the re-inventing of Wilmington that has been underway.
Council President Ernest “Trippi” Congo, II addresses the media Thursday, May 13, 2021, at the Louis L Redding Building in Wilmington, DE. Photo By Saquan Stimpson
City Council President Ernest “Trippi” Congo revealed that City Council has maintained a laser like focus on analyzing the administration’s proposed budget from the start of the hearings through yesterday’s committee meeting where the five final budget ordinances were introduced and will appear on the agenda for City Council’s Thursday meeting. City Council under the leadership of Council President Congo and Finance Chair Council Member Chris Johnson were able to find new ways to create new investments in important areas identified by the community. They are:
•Public Safety
◦Gun Violence Prevention Program
◦Citizen Complaint Review Board
•Neighborhoods/Communities
◦Neighborhood Planning Councils, assistance to help them become more effective, efficient
◦Neighborhood Stabilization – promote and market any changes of laws to inform and empower community
Council Member Linda Gray, 1st District said, “I am pleased with the outcome of the negotiations for the FY 2022 budget. My background in mental health and law enforcement and my experience have prepared me to work with the executive branch on the new initiatives in Wilmington. The new gun violence program is a good start to curbing violence. There are a lot of successful initiatives operating in other jurisdictions that the Council and the executive branch may want to explore and adapt to Wilmington’s needs. I am very interested in programs that merge mental health and public safety. Further, the Citizens Complaint Review Board is a catalyst to community outreach.”
Council Member Gray went on to state, “The executive branch’s focus on neighborhood improvement is needed and will benefit all citizens of Wilmington. The Mayor has just said that he is supportive to adding a Down Payment Settlement Loans Program for qualifying Wilmington citizens to FY2022. This down payment settlement loan will help advance home ownership and sustain our communities. None of the parameters have been worked out so please stay tuned. I thank the Mayor for his support in this program.”
Council Member Zanthia Oliver, 3rd District, said, “This has been a tough process with lots of questions, answers, long conversations in front of the camera and on the phone. I want to thank Council President Congo for his leadership. I also want to thank the Mayor, Chief of Staff Washington and the Department heads for being engaged and responsive. This is a new Council in this 108 session. We will make a difference in gun violence. We will get some real help for the Neighborhood Planning Councils. Council President Congo and Council Member Chris Johnson are proof that alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.”
Lt. Governor Bethany Hall-Long joined third district council member Zanthia Oliver and volunteers who walked the neighborhood to encourage members of the public to come out and be vaccinated as well as hand out Narcan overdose kits to members of the community Sunday. May 16, 2021, In Wilmington. Photo By Saquan Stimpson
“I am excited for the help we were able to proactively create for Wilmington through this budget process. As a Council, we worked together not just to ask questions but structure our input and guidance that was not limited to reacting to what was in front of us. We all represent different districts and have different views on what change should look like and how it should come forward. We spent a good deal of time trying to make sure what is proposed for Wilmington is fair, equitable and in the best interest of the community and all stakeholders in Wilmington,” said Council Member Michelle Harlee, 4th District.
City Councilmember Michelle Harlee of the 4th district addresses the media Thursday, May 13, 2021, at the Louis L Redding Building in Wilmington, DE. Photo By Saquan Stimpson
“This gun violence initiative could be the most impactful work done in Wilmington in decades. This significant funding can help us move the needle around gun violence and related challenges. Thank you Mayor, Council President Congo and Chairman Johnson for finding common ground to put resources and attention toward this plague in our streets,” said Council Member Bregetta Fields, 5th District. “These efforts are vital to prospective and current Wilmington residents. They are also vital to the concerns raised by the Kuumba Academy students, who marched from their school to the City County building to deliver handwritten concerns about their community to their elected officials.”
Council Member Bregetta Fields, 5th District addresses the media Thursday, May 13, 2021, at the Louis L Redding Building in Wilmington, DE. Photo By Saquan Stimpson
“We are on the verge of an exciting time for Wilmington. These new investments coupled with the FY22 budget offers the community our promises for a stronger Wilmington. We believe in the people of Wilmington. Our priority is to invest in people. We can’t just invest in buildings. We have to keep the people at the front of our minds as we create new and innovative ways for us to come out of this pandemic a stronger and better Wilmington,” said Council Member and Finance Committee Chair Chris Johnson. “I firmly believe Wilmington’s best assets are it’s people and it’s neighborhoods.”
Seventh district councilman Christofer Johnson throws out the first pitch during opening day festivities at the Roberto Clemente league Saturday, April 24, 2021, at Woodlawn Park in Wilmington, Delaware. Photo By Saquan Stimpson
“As a new Council Member,” said Council Member Nathen Field, 8th District. “I have enjoyed listening and participating in the collaborative budget process. As a Council I think we have worked hard to fulfill our constitutional requirements of oversight. Our work is far from being finished, but I look forward to Thursday’s vote and moving forward to the next chapter beyond the budget.”
Council Member Nathen Field, 8th District joined fellow council members to support grassroots anti-violence efforts throughout Wilmington Thursday, May 13, 2021, at the Louis L Redding Building in Wilmington, DE. Photo By Saquan Stimpson
Council Member Maria Cabrera, At-Large, said “We have a real opportunity to stabilize our neighborhoods by continuing to fund the Land Bank, as well as utilizing the American Rescue Plan funds to address the blight throughout our neighborhoods. In providing support for gun violence prevention, we must make sure we listen to young people, provide opportunities and alternatives to what is offered in the streets.
“We must be very prudent in managing these new initiatives and not just throw more money at a problem. Lasting change requires that we work with either established programs that have a track record of success or create new evidence-based programs in partnership with proven organizations/leaders that can demonstrate measurable outcomes,” said Council Member Cabrera.
Council Member Loretta Walsh, At-Large, stated “I want to thank the Mayor for his engagement and graciousness during this process. This budget has an enormous amount of compromises, including some of my own. I believe in what we are putting forward on Thursday and I am not going to hold up a yes vote on the budget when I believe in 99 percent of what’s in it.”
The budget does not include the expected $55 million in federal American Rescue Plan funds. Next week City Council will receive an update on the funds from the administration during a special Finance Committee meeting.
“People are hurting and it’s difficult to see so many suffering with the pandemic and impact of gun violence,” said Council President Congo. “The opportunity before us is that we can apply these new Council-created budget initiatives along with the American Rescue Plan funds right to where it hurts in our community, which normally we wouldn’t be able to do. With this one-time huge infusion of federal funds into Wilmington’s economy, we can and will change the future for our great city. It is time to re-invent Wilmington.”