Wilmington City Councilperson Zanthia Oliver was given a “public reprimand” this week for her 2020 vote supporting a $200,000 grant for her brother’s nonprofit.
During a May 2020 council Community Development and Urban Planning Committee, Oliver voted in favor of a 196-page resolution that awarded U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funding to various organizations, including Our Youth, Inc. run by Norman Oliver – a former council person and brother to Zanthia Oliver.
The Wilmington Ethics Commission received a complaint last April and the following month referred the matter to the city solicitor for investigation.
That probe uncovered Zanthia Oliver was present for the May 14, 2020, meeting and “was aware at that time that Our Youth, Inc. was intended to be a beneficiary of the Action Plan,” according to the April 18 public reprimand.
READ THE PUBLIC ADMONISHMENT AT THE END OF THIS STORY
The councilwoman’s actions violated Wilmington City Code, which stipulates no elected official can weigh in on “any matter pending before the city in which he or she has a personal or private interest” nor can they vote on legislation where they have a personal interest. In these instances, elected officials must vote “present.”
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She apologized to the commission and took “full responsibility” for the violation.
“I apologized to the ethics committee, and I’ll make sure to be more careful and consult with the law department,” Zanthia Oliver said Thursday. “I just want to make sure I’m doing the right thing to move the organizations in the city forward.”
What does a public reprimand do?
It is a public document scolding an elected official for violating ethics requirements of the Wilmington City Council.
The last time the city Ethics Commission issued a “public reprimand” was in 2020 over then-Councilman Vash Turner threatening to cut a city auditor’s salary if the employee didn’t acquiesce to the council’s demands during a 2019 public meeting.
THE 2020 REPRIMAND:‘City employees must not be threatened for doing their jobs’
The City Council had requested the auditor conduct a forensic audit of the insolvent nonprofit Wilmington Housing Partnership’s finances, but the auditor refused, saying it would be expensive and unnecessary in lieu of a traditional audit.
What was the grant to Our Youth for?
The $200,000 grant Our Youth Inc. received in 2020 was from the federal housing department’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program, which provides funding to build or rehabilitate properties into affordable homeownership or rental opportunities.
The grant is one of many the nonprofit has received from the city over the years through the HOME program to build or renovate affordable housing units in Wilmington.
Our Youth was the subject of a HUD monitoring review of that program last year, which found the city had failed to ensure the nonprofit’s projects complied with the federal program’s requirements. Wilmington doles out the grant dollars and oversees the HOME program.
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The concerns, which are still unresolved, could require Wilmington to pay back nearly $450,000 and include:
- City officials did not ensure the housing projects were purchased by low-income homeowners.
- Record-keeping was inadequate.
- Officials failed to follow federal requirements as well as city policies and procedures when doling out the funds.
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Since 2013, Our Youth has averaged about $822,000 annually in government funding, according to a Delaware Online/The News Journal review of the nonprofit’s 990 tax filings.
Our Youth also received city funding to cover its after-school program; monetary donations for its annual turkey drive; and regular donations from the sitting mayor and council members, according to city contract records provided by Wilmington through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Most recently, the nonprofit received $30,000 from Wilmington’s American Rescue Plan Act funding to repair and upgrade its headquarters at 1213 B St.
The location also serves as the base for Norman Oliver’s for-profit businesses, including NOR Enterprises and Rock Solid Contracting, the latter of which has won millions in city contracts to build or rehabilitate playgrounds in Wilmington.
Got a tip? Contact Amanda Fries atafries@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter at @mandy_fries.
