Six new Wilmington city council members are now in office, and Delaware Public Media is interviewing each to learn more about their plans.
3rd District Councilwoman Zanthia Oliver calls finding jobs for unemployed and underemployed Delawareans one of her top priorities. She’s especially focused on helping those with felony records who struggling to find work.
She says places like Local 199, Goodwill, and ShopRite and the Port of Wilmington hire those with felonies.
But the Port requires what’s called a TWIC card.
“I’ve helped a lot of them get a TWIC card - which is only $132 – but that’s a lot if you don’t have any money," Oliver said. "They have their TWIC cards, they accept them down there with felonies, so a lot of them are down there making like $30/hour.”
She says her experience helping those in New Castle County find job placement and career development opportunities makes her especially qualified to tackle employment issues.
Oliver sees an opportunity to address both jobs and housing by paying unemployed community members to help fix up abandoned row homes currently contributing to blight and crime.
“People are using them for drug activity, sitting on steps, coming in busting out the pipes, stealing the pipes to make some money off of them, and the neighbors are complaining people just come and sit on the steps all day," she said.
Another initiative she’d like bring back is selling dilapidated properties to low-income, first-time homeowners who are charged with fixing up the property and living in them for at least five years.
“I thought that was a good program," Oliver said. "If it’s sitting there, you’re not doing anything nothing with it – so if they want to buy it for $500, plus they’re responsible for fixing it up after two years but then they have to live in it for five years, you’re in the city for seven years. And once somebody fixes it up, you’re not going anywhere.”
Oliver is hopeful that new leadership – including Wilmington mayor Mike Purzycki and governor John Carney - will be open to these ideas, and will help city be more proactive, not reactive.
