This story was originally published on Spotlight Delaware. By Jacob Owens and Nick Stonesifer The city of Wilmington intends to foreclose on a former school building that recently received a nearly half-million-dollar facelift, paid for by a state fund designed to help people suffering from opioid addiction. City officials say they intend to take the property to sheriffâs sale within 60 days. The …
Mob rule? Or B.S.? A weeks-long debate over Wilmington residency requirements for non-elected city employees has deteriorated into what might generously be described as âfrostyâ exchanges between Mayor Mike Purzycki and a pair of Wilmington City Council members. After a month of bitter debate, the 13-member council on Nov. 16 passed a five-year residency law for new hires that will …
Wilmington has a new police chief: Wilfredo Campos, a person of color and a captain who has been with the department for 26 years. Campos, 50, grew up in Wilmington and will become the city’s 33rd police chief and the first person of Hispanic descent to be named to that post. He will be paid $200,000 and begin his job …
Longtime Wilmington City Councilwoman Loretta Walsh will resign in October, she announced Wednesday. Walsh, who served as an at-large council member for 30 years, cited poor health as the reason for her resignation. “I love this city so much, and I am so proud to have been both a participant and a leader in helping to shape and grow Wilmington …
The mayor of Wilmington and the union that represents the cityâs police officers are pushing back against the City Council presidentâs claims that the department is failing to promote diversity and morale within its ranks. After leading the City Council to a Jan. 20 vote of no confidence in police Chief Robert Tracy, Council President Trippi Congo upped the ante …
Around Christmas of 2019, a Black male detective in the Wilmington Police Departmentâs Criminal Investigation Division was given a trophy by his white male supervisor with an engraved message that reads, âWhitest Black Guy in the Office Award.â The trophy has been openly displayed on the detectiveâs desk since it was presented to him, according to City Council President Trippi …
Chief Robert Tracy/Wilmington Police Department A petition expressing support for the Wilmington Police Department has gathered more than 600 signatures after the Wilmington City Council on Thursday passed a âvote of no confidenceâ in Chief Robert Tracy. The vote happened after a nearly three-hour-long Public Safety Committee meeting Tuesday during which Tracy and others defended the departmentâs practices amidst claims …
Denis Tangney/Getty Images The Wilmington City Council on Thursday passed redistricting legislation that will define the cityâs council districts for the next ten years. The redistricting process occurred later than usual because of delays in getting accurate census data from the federal government. Councilwoman Michelle Harlee, D-4th District, sponsored the ordinance. She thanked the workers who assisted the redistricting committee, …
Councilwoman Rysheema Dixon/Photo Wilmington City Council Wilmington City Councilwoman Rysheema Dixon, a Democrat, resigned from office during Thursdayâs council meeting. The at-large council member said sheâd be taking time to focus on her community development consulting business, RD Innovative Planning, which she said is rapidly expanding within the United States and even internationally. Prior to her departure, Dixon served as …
