Jenna Pizzi

The News Journal

The crowd and candidates alike were fired up Monday night for a debate among Wilmington mayoral candidates at Ezion Fair Baptist Church in Southbridge.

The debate focused on education, jobs and public safety, topics that got some of the candidates lashing out at their challengers. The event was hosted by a group of organizations including the Complexities of Color Coalition, the Metropolitan Urban League Young Professionals, Interdenominational Ministers Action Council, Delaware Young Democrats Minority Caucus and Delaware Black.

The candidates include Councilwoman Maria Cabrera; Council President Theo Gregory; former Council President Norman Griffiths; former Councilman Kevin Kelley; state Sen. Bob Marshall; Mike Purzycki, executive director of the Riverfront Development Corp.; Mayor Dennis P. Williams; and Eugene Young, advocacy director at the Delaware Center for Justice.

Williams, who did not participate in the first debate hosted by The News Journal and WHYY last month, took aim at Gregory, whom he said had blocked funding for programs he had hoped to implement and halted progress in his administration.

The second of four debates hosted by The News Journal, WHYY and other community organizations will focus on public safety and be held at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Howard High School of Technology, 401 E. 12th St. A free ticket will be required to attend. Tickets are available online at tickets.delawareonline.com.

"If City Council stops blocking us so much, then we could get money there," Williams said about funding a program to help small and minority-owned businesses flourish in the city.

Gregory had just commented that more money needs to be put toward the program and said it wasn't a priority for the administration. But to Williams' retort, Gregory was cordial.

"I love you, too, Dennis," Gregory said from across the long table perched atop a stage in the sanctuary. "Kumbaya."

The crowd also often engaged in the conversation loudly cheering or jeering candidates and their answers.

When Purzycki discussed his background as a city developer for the last several decades, specifically ushering in the Riverfront, a bustling former industrial area adjacent to Southbridge, it stirred the crowd into anger that the development hadn’t impacted their lives.

“The Riverfront has been great,” Purzycki said.

A woman in the crowd retorted, “Not for us.”

Purzycki defended his background, saying that the Riverfront has created jobs for Wilmington residents and those who don’t live in the city and said more development like that will uplift other communities, too.

On public safety, Cabrera seemed to woo the crowd with a hard line on accountability for police officers who are found to have abused their authority. In response to a question about improving the trust and relationship between the community and police, Cabrera said every officer must be held accountable.

“Just because they are police, doesn’t mean it is going to be perfect,” Cabrera said. “In certain fields, it tends to be a cover-up. There tends to be a protection. When they make a mistake, it has to be dealt with. It has to be held accountable. If you are going to violate the very freedoms that you were hired to protect and serve, you need not be on Wilmington Police.”

Kelley also won support from the crowd when he said it is a shame that residents can name more politicians, ministers and teachers then they could police officers.

“Something is wrong with that picture if you can’t name the people who protect you,” Kelley said.

Griffiths found some approval for his support of body-worn cameras for police.

“Nationwide, it has been proven to be effective,” Griffiths said.

The few cheers Marshall gleaned from the crowd were when he discussed his idea to create a vocational school in Wilmington.

“The vacant houses, we could create the Wilmington Trades School and provide more opportunity,” Marshall said. “Those vacant homes could be classrooms for many who are not college-bound."

The debate was tailored for undecided voters.

"We are not kowtowing to anyone, but we want answers," said the Rev. Donald Morton, who emceed the event. "Tonight is not for 35,000-foot views of the city. We want plans. We want policy. We want specifics."

Morton said of the 546 people who registered for the event online, 87 percent said they had not decided which candidate to support in the race.

This was the first debate to discuss the topic of youth and education, something voters like Tysha Sheppard have been eager to hear.

Young said if elected, he would do more to bring programs to the youth in Wilmington, so that the city can offer resources even when the state government fails students. He said he wouldn’t ignore the state and the school districts either.

“We need to be weighing in,” Young said. “We need to lock ourselves in a room and get things done.”

Sheppard, whose 8-year-old daughter attends a charter school in Wilmington, said a discussion about education was sorely needed but is often overlooked. She said she was undecided when walking in Monday night, but was able to narrow her short list of candidates to Kelley, Young and Gregory.

On the topic of education, however,” I really didn’t hear what I wanted to hear,” said Sheppard, who said more should be said about the lack of resources in city schools.

Jason Rodriguez said he wasn’t swayed by any of the candidates but is still looking for the person who checks all his boxes.

“They all touched some great points, but it is still a long way to go,” Rodriguez said. “It is still early in the process in choosing who is the best for the job because being a mayor is a tough job. You have to make a lot of choices, and you can’t please everybody.”

Contact Jenna Pizzi at jpizzi@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2837. Follow her on Twitter @JennaPizzi.

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