Thursday, September 20, 2012 - 11:49pm
Future impact of contracts, police academy discussed at Wilm. Council
Updated Friday, September 21, 2012 - 2:48pm
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| Council Member Charles Potter and Council President Norman Griffiths |
Members of Wilmington's City Council discuss whether multi-year contracts and an upcoming police academy will hamper the next mayor's administration at last night's meeting.
WDEL's Tom Lehman has more:
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Some council members questioned whether the assembly should continue to approve multi-year contracts. Among those calling for postponing decisions on contracts was Charles Potter.
"I think it's time now that we allow the new administration that's gonna come in to make decisions on contracts, any upgrades that will take place. There should be no upgrades unless the next administration gets a chance to decide on it, because they will bear the brunt of the financial burden," he said.
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Council Member Ernest "Trippi" Congo agreed, and extended that concern to the upcoming police academy. He and other members also expressed concern over efforts to recruit minority and female officers into the department's ranks.
Dennis Williams, winner of the Democratic primary for Wilmington's Mayor is running unopposed on November's ballot, and has said he plans to hire a new police chief after he takes office. For that reason, Congo believes the new administration should be involved in those decisions.
"I think our new administration and new police chief need to be part of that process. I don't think that it's fair to have a police academy begin this close to when a new administration and new police chief are gonna take over," he said.
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But Council President Norman Griffiths cautioned against postponing votes on matters critical to the city's operations.
"It's gonna be on a case by case basis but I certainly would not like this council to take a position that is just gonna hold or not vote on things that are coming before this body because the imminent change of administration," he says.
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Council Member Loretta Walsh, head of the public safety committee, says a postponement of academy lessons wouldn't be responsible.
"They are well over 20 short right now and the one thing we don't want to do...we have so trouble with them right now right now with that we add to that because a new mayor is coming in here. I'm not disagreeing with you, but these classes can't happen in two weeks. This is a long process to actually get the class," she said.
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She said she has already reached out to prospective female and minority officer candidates and encouraged other council members to contact those who may be interested through social media and email, particularly to those with military experience. The deadline for candidates is Sept. 27.
Griffiths said delaying the academy could be problematic since other agencies are trying to recruit talented candidates, something brought up at a recent public safety committee meeting.
"We really learned about how much competition there in terms of young people who are interested in law enforcement to go with the county police or state police," he says.
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