COUNCIL PRESIDENT SHABAZZ ANNOUNCES WITHDRAWL OF TWO RESOLUTIONS FOR GRANT FUNDING

Wilmington, Del. (November 1, 2017) – Council President Hanifa Shabazz announced today that she is withdrawing two resolutions that would authorize proposed grant awards from City Council, which were previously included on the November 2 City Council meeting agenda:

Regarding the proposed grant award for Student Disabilities Advocate, Inc., the applicant has chosen to withdraw their request for grant funding, and so I will be withdrawing the resolution I had introduced on this matter.

That said, I firmly believe that there is a demonstrable and irrefutable need for support and advocacy for and on behalf of our City’s youth in the educational process. This need has become painfully clear to those of us who have grown up in Wilmington, and those who have watched children grow up in this City. In this spirit, I look forward to discussing with my colleagues how City Council can leverage our resources to address the disparities in educational opportunities and outcomes in Wilmington, be it through our Community Support Funding or other mechanisms.

I will also be withdrawing the resolution to award grant funds to Downtown Visions (Rodney Square Conservancy), as this project could be better funded through capital programming and allocations, and in conjunction with the Mayor’s Office and the City of Wilmington as a whole.

Over the summer months, we instituted administrative and policy changes to the grant funding process, and have subsequently enacted Code changes related to grant funding awarded by all elected officials in Wilmington. This has resulted in a substantially more involved process for grant funding, as made evident at Monday’s Finance Committee meeting – when grant applicants were present during the televised public hearing to speak to the merits of their application (a requirement that is not common among organizations that award grant funding).

The four resolutions discussed on Monday also reflect the first time that grant proposals have gone through the new process established by this session of City Council through recent legislation. The purpose of this legislation, and our administrative and policy changes, has been to enhance transparency and include additional debate and deliberation regarding funding allocations – and the public response to these, and the withdraw of these two proposals, is reflective of the merits of this new process.

I look forward to Council’s deliberation on Thursday on the other two grant resolutions, and to continuing to work together to move this City forward.

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