Margie Fishman

The News Journal

Wilmington Mayor Dennis P. Williams is in a crowded field seeking the Democratic nomination in September.

Williams has not taken part in any debates hosted by The News Journal.

He has used social media to discuss his efforts to improve the community.

On the night of June 14, seven candidates vying to become Wilmington's next mayor gathered to debate the importance of arts and culture at the baby grand in downtown Wilmington.

Roughly an hour after the debate, four children under age 16 were struck by gunfire in Hedgeville, including one teen who was critically injured.

That same day, Mayor Dennis P. Williams, who is running for re-election but chose not to attend the debate, appeared in a two-minute video posted on the mayor's official Facebook page celebrating his administration's accomplishments in the arts arena and beyond.

"Under my leadership, Wilmington is becoming a center for new small businesses, an attractive place for a new wave of residents moving downtown along the Riverfront and a municipality operating in a more effective government," Williams said to the tune of catchy instrumentals. In quick succession, images of the Delaware Art Museum, the Grand, the Delaware Contemporary and Rodney Square flashed before viewers' eyes.

It was a familiar format for the mayor, who also posted videos touting his achievements in the areas of economic development and public safety after failing to attend previous debates on the topics organized by The News Journal, WHYY, the Grand and community groups.

Surprisingly, the arts video caused the most buzz. City officials took down the video twice before reposting edited versions Friday and Saturday, following complaints from residents that it used copyrighted images, featured a Playhouse Theater in London instead of the one in Wilmington and took credit for arts events that predated the Williams administration.

City communications staff also removed all the citizen comments on the video, which included some heated exchanges with Williams like this one from June 15:

Wilmington resident Erin Lee: "Why won't you show up at the debates??"

Williams: "Why should I when all I will be is the punching bag. I will not get a word in because the deck is stacked against me."

Lee: "If you don't have a spine and can't stand up and defend your plans and ideas for our city against a few other people, how can you say you can stand up and be a LEADER of our city?? You aren't a leader, you're a little boy."

Williams: "There you go again being childish and sarcastic pick your candidate and I will see you in September Erin."

Later, in response to a comment from another Facebook user that "cowards are afraid of debating," Williams wrote: Name calling will get you no where you must feel bad about yourself."

Wilmington resident Jason Sulecki, who said he was blocked from the mayor's Facebook page Thursday after questioning his leadership, compared the mayor's social media defensiveness to that of presidential hopeful Donald Trump.

"He's just debating behind his computer," Sulecki said. "A leader does not hide behind Facebook. He should be out there in the community."

Added mayoral candidate and Councilwoman Maria Cabrera: "The mayor is not comfortable with criticism. He sees the debates as a way for other candidates to attack him. That's not the purpose of the debate."

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Cabrera said she doesn't blame Williams for Wilmington's gun violence, which has reached "epidemic levels," according to a report last year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "My critique is how the current administration has dealt with these issues," she said.

Through a city spokeswoman, Williams declined to address questions about his Facebook conduct. The mayor similarly took to Facebook in March, calling out the "tricksters and the people want to bad mouth me," adding, "some are even black."

Asked if he believes that public debates for political candidates serve any purpose, Williams wrote Monday: "These debates were nothing more than a targeted attempt by the News Journal to diminish all of the accomplishments that this administration has made and I refuse to be a part of it." In a later email, he pointed out that he participated in a debate organized by the Interdenominational Ministers Action Council, Complexities of Color Coalition and the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League.

Said David Ledford, executive editor of the newspaper: "There's a lot of interest in the mayor's race because there are serious issues in the city. The News Journal partnered with WHYY, the Grand and community groups in Wilmington to bring citizens a civilized discourse on the issues from all candidates running in the Democratic primary."

"The mayor's voice would have enriched the conversation," Ledford added. "It's unfortunate he declined our invitations to attend."

The next mayoral debate on leadership is scheduled for July 19 at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, 808 N. Broom St. in Wilmington.

Fine line: Promoting vs. campaigning

Williams' Facebook page and videos are handled by city communications employees, whose salaries are paid with taxpayer dollars. City spokeswoman Alexandra Coppadge said Monday the city does not have a "structured policy relating to blocking or removing comments," adding that she would have to do additional research.

According to the city Code of Conduct, "Each city employee, city officer and honorary city official shall endeavor to pursue a course of conduct which will not raise any justifiable suspicion among the public that he is engaging in acts which are in violation of his public trust and which course of conduct will not reflect unfavorably upon the city and its government."

"The mayor believes in communicating directly with constituents and engaging in an open dialogue," in person or on social media, said Coppadge, citing Williams' weekly Wednesday walk-in office hours, his business roundtable and various appointed councils and task forces.

Coppadge said she could not release how much money it cost the city to produce the promotional videos because "that falls inside our normal scope of work." Content is shared across multiple platforms, she said, including on the biweekly "Williams Around the Way" show on Channel 28.

Because the videos don't explicitly ask people to re-elect Williams, the videos cannot be interpreted as campaign videos, according to state Election Commissioner Elaine Manlove.

But State Auditor Tom Wagner, a Republican, said incumbent elected officials need to be mindful of using government resources on self-promotion, especially in an election year.

"It is a very fine line," Wagner said. The auditor added that he refuses to give out freebies at the Delaware State Fair when he is up for re-election to avoid any appearance of impropriety.

Williams' arts video cites the city's $50,000 contribution to the struggling Delaware Symphony Orchestra in 2014, the creation of the Rodney Square Summer Stage series and the city's sponsorship of the Grand's Summer in the Parks series, which brings artists and performers to neighborhood parks. The city has contributed $310,000 to Summer in the Parks since it began in 2013.

According to city budget records, the City's Office of Cultural Affairs budget decreased by 10 percent to nearly $720,000 this fiscal year, after experiencing steady growth during Williams' first three years in office. Coppadge said the cultural affairs office, along with other city departments, were asked to cut costs this fiscal year to be more fiscally responsible.

The arts video also invokes a series of events that began before Williams took office, such as the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival and the city's July 4 celebration.

Mayoral candidate Kevin Kelley, a former City Council member who also ran against Williams in 2012, said Wiliams is trying to "take credit for everything that happened in the city regardless of whether he had anything to do with it or not."

"It's his message," Kelley continued. "He doesn't want to come [to debates] for us or the public to hear the lack of answers he has for the mess this city is in."

Coppadge countered that under the Williams administration the jazz festival has expanded from focusing exclusively on traditional jazz, and the July 4 celebration was transformed from a Delaware Symphony Orchestra event to a festival featuring renowned performers like R&B singer Macy Gray.

In fact, in one of the earlier arts videos that the city deleted from Facebook, Williams characterized Wilmington as a "city of festivals."

Mayoral candidate and City Council President Theo Gregory said he coined that term more than a year ago and has used it frequently during his campaign – as he did during the debate on the arts.

The recently deleted video also featured London's Playhouse rather than the one on Rodney Square. When city officials were alerted to the error, they posted a revised video Friday with a picture of the DuPont Theatre. After being alerted again that the DuPont Theatre is no longer operational, officials posted a third video Saturday with the correct Playhouse logo.

"Please show us respect by accurately representing the arts organizations in the city," Amy Watson Bish wrote after reviewing the city's Facebook post. Bish is gala and special projects manager at the Grand, which took over operating the Playhouse last year.

Wilmington photographer Joe del Tufo said the city is out of touch with grassroots arts activism.

"I think most of the arts that have happened in Wilmington have happened independently of the mayor," Del Tufo said. He also accused the Williams administration of using about a dozen of his photographs in promotional videos without his permission.

Williams' June 2 public safety video, for instance, features Police Chief Bobby Cummings standing in front of a fleet of police cars and shimmering office buildings. That image was Photoshopped from an image Del Tufo said he took of Cummings standing in a police parking lot.

Del Tufo isn't pursuing legal action, but he called the unauthorized photo editing egregious.

"Many politicians have used my stuff," he said. "All of them have paid me."

The matter is now being reviewed by the city attorney's office, Coppadge said Monday.

Similarly, artist Terrance Vann said he contacted a city representative Friday after he and his Afro-Surrealist painting were highlighted in the video without his consent. Vann asked the city to remove his image, explaining that he wanted to stay above the political fray.

The artists, themselves, deserve the recognition, Vann said.

"I give a lot of credit to the artists for being creative and not letting people think Wilmington doesn’t have culture," he said.

Contact Margie Fishman at (302) 324-2882, on Twitter @MargieTrende or mfishman@delawareonline.com.

EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story had an incorrect time reference for the shooting of the four children.

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