The Wilmington City Council has agreed to advance an ordinance that would strip city leaders of their allotted grant funds if they are found in violation of the program’s reporting requirements.
The ordinance, sponsored by council member Chris Johnson, will next go before the Finance and Economic Committee for review.
Ordinance No. 468 grew out of a March audit of the City Council's grant program, which found "significant improvement" in conflicts of interest was required. The audit also reported improvement was needed for noncompliance, policies and procedure.
Many of the violations related to council member Zanthia Oliver, who has been issued multiple public reprimands for conflicts of interest and improperly cashing checks. In 2020, Oliver was reprimanded for voting to support a $200,000 grant for her brother’s nonprofit, Our Youth Inc.
Last year, another ethics complaint alleged that Oliver deposited a $610 check into her personal account meant to pay for a July community event at Brown/Burton/Winchester Park and did not disclose her affiliation with the Eastside Civic Association in the city’s required annual financial disclosures.
If Ordinance No. 468 is adopted into the city code, any council member found by the Wilmington Ethics Commission to have committed "an ethical violation of a financial nature" will be forced to forfeit their right to grant funding for the remainder of their term.
The ordinance is "an opportunity to strengthen public trust in the City’s Elected Officials," according to the proposal. But some council members – and members of the public – don't see the ordinance as going far enough.
Attempt to censure Oliver
Council member Shané Darby, who cosponsored Ordinance No. 468, also introduced a resolution Thursday to censure Oliver for her repeated conflicts of interest, even after completing trainings and being reprimanded by the Ethics Commission.
"There has to be accountability," Darby said. "There's a violation of public trust."
Her sentiment was echoed by City Council President Ernest “Trippi” Congo, who said his choice to support the censure was "not a very easy decision at all."
"I think that it is necessary that the public knows that we don't take this lightly and that we are not giving any passes just because of friendship or any other type of relationships that we have on council," Congo said.
Before the resolution's introduction at the meeting, a public commenter shared support of it.
"A message needs to be sent that this ongoing pattern of irresponsible behavior and ethical violations will not be tolerated," the commenter said to the City Council. "Giving and not holding the violator accountable will be viewed as ethical lapse on your part."
Ultimately, only Darby, Congo and council member at-large James Spadola voted in favor of censuring Oliver.
Darby previously introduced a similar resolution in July 2023 to censure Oliver over ethics violations. It was also defeated.
Oliver said Darby was raising "old issues" that had already been addressed, adding that she has "accepted (her) responsibility."
Other council members echoed this point while sharing their support of Oliver, calling the proposed censure unnecessary and "disheartening" after Oliver already apologized. Some directly shared opposition to censuring in general, with Council member Michelle Harlee stating, "There is a system and a process in place to address" potential ethical violations outside of public meetings.
No council members expressed objections to Ordinance No. 468 moving on to the Finance and Economic Development Committee. The next committee meeting is scheduled for Sept. 4.
MORE: Wilmington council considers stricter rules around grants after audit finds mismanagement
Send story tips or ideas to Hannah Edelman at hedelman@delawareonline.com. For more reporting, follow them on X at @h_edelman.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Wilmington City Council moves grant ethics bill to committee, kills attempted censure
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