- Wilmington City Council defeated an ordinance that would have prevented members from hiring immediate family to the legislative body.
- The bill was defeated 5-5, with council members Chris Johnson and Latisha Bracy voting “present.” Council member Michelle Harlee was absent.
- Council members gave varying reasons for opposing the bill, including that it didn’t include all city departments and it didn’t tackle the issue of hiring friends.
Wilmington City Council defeated an ordinance last week that would have prevented council members from hiring relatives to the legislative body.
While some members said it didn’t go far enough, others questioned its necessity entirely, pointing to the city Ethics Commission, existing rules for council, and more pressing matters to attend to.
“It’s not the family,” Councilperson Yolanda McCoy said Thursday during a discussion of the ordinance at the City Council’s regular meeting. “It’s when we get in positions of power and those that helped us get there, we look out for all of them. If that’s not going to address that, then I don’t see the point of doing it.”
Councilperson Chris Johnson expressed concern over the bill’s timing and pointed to community opposition to the measure, including from the NAACP.
“We are in the midst of budget season. My bandwidth has been focusing on bettering the lives of Wilmington residents,” he said. “It’s a good idea, but I think it needs a little bit more work before it moves forward.”
Who supports the bill?
The ordinance, proposed by Councilperson James Spadola in light of scrutiny of nepotistic hiring on the state level last year, would have only prevented City Council from hiring immediate family members to the legislative body.
It would not have impacted hiring in other city departments, which was a sticking point for some officials during the discussion of the bill in March.
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“I did intend initially to have this for the entire city government, but the law department wrote back that that would be a violation of the separation of powers and impede on the executive administration’s power to hire employees,” Spadola explained Thursday.
Council President Ernest “Trippi” Congo said it’s a great piece of legislation that shows the public council members want to be transparent.
“I believe that if we want to see anything happen citywide, we have to begin with ourselves,” he said. “We are trying to create an atmosphere where we are held to a higher standard across the board and trying to lead by example. This is an opportunity to do just that.”
How did council members vote?
The bill was defeated 5-5, with Johnson and Councilperson Latisha Bracy voting “present.” Councilperson Michelle Harlee was absent.
IN FAVOR: Spadola, Congo, Shane Darby, Nathan Field, Maria Cabrera
AGAINST: McCoy, Vincent White, Zanthia Oliver, Bregetta Fields, Albert “Al” Mills
Spadola said Monday that it’s “unfortunate” the bill was defeated.
“I’m just disappointed that, in light of an incident involving nepotism, the council – when faced with the opportunity – did not take a small concrete step against it, nor a symbolic step,” he said, referring to the recent “public reprimand” of Oliver.
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What is the opposition?
Council members gave varying reasons for opposing the ordinance, including:
It doesn’t go far enough. White said he’s “not looking for incremental ethics, I’m looking for the full yard.” Fields said she would have supported the ordinance if it included all city departments.
It’s not the family. McCoy said the problem is with hiring friends of elected officials for city government positions.
There are guardrails in place already. Johnson pointed out that City Council must publicly vote on legislative hires, among other existing council rules.
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Delaware NAACP President Richard Smith spoke during the Thursday council meeting, describing how elected officials and department heads regularly recruited family members to “follow in their footsteps.”
He said it took a long time “to get Blacks to control this council.” When it was a “white council,” the hiring practices weren’t questioned, Smith said. But now that people of color make up the majority on the City Council, “it needs to be changed,” he said.
“Every time we get power, they change the rules on us,” Smith said. “You guys should be allowed to have your nieces, nephews, and kids follow in your footsteps. All you council people should have the same opportunity as our brothers and sisters had in the past.”
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