Monday night, a Wilmington City Council committee reviewed a pared down budget amendment to fund Mayor Dennis Williams’ latest policing plan.
The committees failed Monday night to release the amendment to full Council for a vote.
The amendment would tap into the city’s budget surplus, and slash overtime funds by $585,000 to help fund three new positions, a Chief Information Technology Officer and two inspector jobs. It would also cut two vacant police positions to save an additional $151,000 to offset the cost of the new inspector position in future years.
Those new positions are part of a revamped city policing strategy offered by Mayor Williams earlier this month. Initially, the amendment was to fund four proposed positions, but council took out a planned Communications Director position.
Councilman Bud Freel says he’s uncomfortable planning to fund a plan when the budget surplus used to pay for it is just a projected number at this point. He’s also disappointed that the crime commission’s recommendation to hire a deputy chief from outside the department went unheeded.
"Basically we’re just promoting within, so the same individuals that have been running the department for the last 25 years are going to continue to be there. So we’re just not sure we’re going to see the kind of change that we need to see in the department."
Other council members says they don’t understand why these changes were going through the council at all.
Council President Theo Gregory, who worked on vetting the amendment, expressed some frustration with the council, saying, “Now we’re at a point where the mayor is trying execute some aspects of this plan and...we’re getting this pushback.”
He repeatedly countered criticism from fellow council members, but in the end, he didn’t call for a vote.
"My job is to listen and process, also. So I listened and processed. And based on what I’m hearing, I’m going to give it another week. But I’m not going through the whole summer because nothing is going to change. We should vote this thing up or done," he said.
Ultimately, Council adjourned the meeting without voting on the amendment, but Gregory says he does not want to let the issue wait until summer is over. After a community meeting on the Eastside, Mayor Williams said he understood Council’s need to scrutinize the amendment before making a decision.