Why Should Delaware Care?
Government works best when its citizens are knowledgeable and engaged. Delaware’s government has scores of commissions, working groups, agencies and legislative committees. All must hold meetings that are open to the public. Below we highlight a few of those meetings that are happening this week.
Below are some of the most important or interesting public meetings happening around the state this week.
- Wilmington City Council to vote on corner store, political party change bans
- Sussex Planning and Zoning Commission to consider affordable housing changes
- Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board to outline reporting requirements
- Delaware Interagency Collaborative to End Homelessness talks progress updates
Wilmington leaders to vote on corner store, political party change bans
Wilmington City Council is set to vote Thursday night on a temporary ban on new corner stores. The council will also vote on a proposal that could limit some at-large councilmembers’ ability to change their political party affiliation while in office.
The corner store proposal, introduced by Councilwoman Shané Darby last fall, would temporarily ban the opening of new convenience stores and liquor stores in the city until an assessment can be done to determine their health and safety impacts on surrounding communities.
The proposal follows years of concerns expressed by community members who say too many corner stores sell unhealthy foods, attract crime, or don’t listen to community input.
But a spokesperson for Wilmington Mayor John Carney’s office expressed early concerns that an assessment on corner stores’ impact may not be feasible.
“A project of that scope would need a dedicated budget line item to support external consulting, and we don’t know what a contract of that nature would cost,” the spokesperson, Caroline Klinger, said in an emailed statement to Spotlight Delaware.
The resolution on political party changes, introduced by Councilman Alexander Hackett, was sparked by Councilman James Spadola’s surprise decision to switch his political party affiliation from Republican to Democrat last fall.
That move raised questions about fair representation on the 13-member city council, which is now entirely Democrat-run.
In response to those questions, Hackett’s resolution asks Delaware’s legislature to change the city’s charter to prohibit a future at-large council member who represents a minority political party from changing their party during their term. If they do, they would be required to forfeit their seat.
Currently, Wilmington’s city charter prohibits the majority party from nominating more than three candidates for the four at-large council seats, essentially guaranteeing that at least one member is from a minority political party. The charter does not explicitly say that council members cannot change their party while in office.
📍 Wilmington City Council is scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m. Thursday inside Council Chambers at the Louis L. Redding City/County Building, located at 800 N. French St. in Wilmington. For more details, including information about virtual attendance, click here.
Sussex officials to consider affordable housing changes
The Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission is set to consider a proposal Wednesday afternoon that would allow new housing developments within the county’s affordable housing program to charge higher rents.
The Sussex County Rental Program (SCRP), which encourages developers to include affordable housing units in their projects through density bonuses and a quicker review process, has largely been unsuccessful.
To qualify for the SCRP, 25% of a development’s housing units currently must have a maximum rent of $765 for a one-bedroom, $915 for a two-bedroom and $1,060 for a three-bedroom.
The planning commission is set to consider a proposal that would increase those maximum rents to $1,220 for a one-bedroom, $1,465 for a two-bedroom and $1,695 for a three-bedroom.
The proposal also would decrease the number of housing units inside an SCRP development that would need to abide by these rent caps from 25% down to 15%.
If approved by the planning commission, the proposal would still need to be approved by the Sussex County Council before going into effect.
📍 The Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to meet at 3 p.m. Wednesday inside Council Chambers at the Sussex County Administrative Office Building, located at 2 The Circle in Georgetown. For more details, including information about virtual attendance, click here.
Hospital review board outlines reporting requirements
The Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board is set to meet on Tuesday afternoon to discuss its draft reporting requirements for Delaware’s health care systems.
The review board will gather feedback from hospital financial leaders on the feasibility of the state’s health care systems providing the data that board members will present in their draft requirements.
According to the state law that enables the cost review board, hospitals will be required to share budget information and labor costs. Tuesday’s meeting could give the public insight into the specific information the board hopes to glean from the state’s health care systems.
Tuesday’s meeting also follows a legal settlement reached earlier this year between ChristianaCare, the state’s largest hospital, and state officials that — among other changes — removed the review board’s ability to modify or veto the budgets of hospitals it deemed to be too profligate.
Now, if a hospital’s spending exceeds the state’s projected benchmark, the cost review board would now require it to send in a compliance plan outlining how it intends to bring it down.
📍 The Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board is scheduled to meet at 1 p.m. Tuesday inside the Delaware Health and Social Services Chapel at the Herman M. Holloway Sr. Campus, located at 1901 N Dupont Hwy in New Castle. For more details, including information about virtual attendance, click here.
Delaware officials talk homelessness initiatives
The Delaware Interagency Collaborative to End Homelessness will meet virtually on Wednesday afternoon to review its work to date and outline next steps.
The collaborative was established by Gov. Matt Meyer in hopes of curbing homelessness in the First State. The goal of the collaborative is to cut homelessness in half and end youth homelessness in Delaware within the next five years.
📍 The Delaware Interagency Collaborative to End Homelessness is scheduled to meet virtually at 1 p.m. Wednesday. For more details, including information about virtual attendance, click here.
Brianna Hill, Olivia Marble and Nick Stonesifer contributed to this report.
