The Clowning of Wilmington
The ABC network is going to take up the label that Newsweek slapped Wilmington with to create a new TV show called “Murder Town”. It will be set in Wilmington, and be a legal drama. You can read about all of that in the NJ article. Hollywoodizing Wilmington and its troubles won’t help those here that actually need some help and add to that a bunch of people who don’t live here getting ready to profit from Wilmington’s issues who probably won’t be investing here. Still. The most appalling part of this article is this:
I hope that they get somebody good looking to play me. Seriously? The Murder Town label happened on this Mayor’s watch and he continues to fiddle while the murders escalate. So instead of taking the opportunity to actually deal with a pervasive problem that is a threat to the long-term health of the city, this Mayor continues to clown us all. I’m not as much interested in whether or not this damages the city — because these people don’t make this material with any social consciousness in mind. But we do have a Mayor and Government that is largely wrapped up in trivia at the expense of a great city that is in dire need of some leadership and vision to help pull it off of the brink. And for the record, wondering if someone good-looking will play you on TV doesn’t advance public safety at all — and that is this man’s job.
Tags: Bamboozled!, City of Wilmington, Featured, Mayor Dennis Williams
That is an appalling quote. He is either an idiot or a bit of a sociopath. Perhaps both.
What’s really funny is that no one making or producing this show will ever set foot in Wilmington. It’ll all be filmed on some Hollywood soundstage. Maybe some stock footage of the city if you’re lucky. But nothing will be filmed or produced here. 500 people? You’ll be lucky to get 1 or 2.
Based on the news coverage, there’s no indication that any of the filming of the pilot (or subsequent series) would be done in Wilmington. And it would be a double kick in the teeth for the city if the shooting (sorry ’bout that) were done in, say, Baltimore because Jada and her cast didn’t feel safe downtown.
Will be interesting to see how the series develops. Who will the crime victims be? Will Jada (Delaware’s first black DA — talk about plantation mentality striking again) be able to overcome the city’s no-snitch ethos and the absence of community policing to put any killers in jail? Will the script make room for a preening Mayor at Jada’s press conferences?
Maybe the city should consider trademarking the “Murdertown” label and charge the production company a licensing fee.
Back to reality — will DEDO and the Delaware Film Office (yes, such an entitity exists) make a pitch to bring the filming here? If the series were filmed in Delaware, perhaps revenues derived from production could be dedicated to violence-reduction efforts in Wilmington. (Well, maybe not — just ask Matt Denn how that works.)
Wilmington will not get better until the mayor and his incompetent cronies are gone.
The mayor’s an ass. His quote should come as a shock to no one.
I feel like I’m the only one who’s not all that concerned about this show. It’s kind of the city’s problems, isn’t it? I don’t remember people in Baltimore peeing their pants over Homicide or The Wire.
The show is just set in Wilmington. It would be different if it was called WILMINGTON: MURDER TOWN, USA or something, but I think it’s kind of benign. It sounds like it’ll at least be well-produced. Maybe it’ll get picked up and our ‘leaders’ will feel pressure to finally do whatever needs to be done to turn things around.
To be fair, IF they were to rename it “Murdertown USA” or make it the phrase… and promote it properly, they can have a next Intercourse PA on their hands… you know, the town that people stop in to take a picture by the sign… maybe get some coffee and a tee shirt?
I just have one word regarding Dennis…,,,,,IMPEACH!!!
In twenty or so years the entire state will look like Wilmington does now…
Wilmington shooters apprehended and showing up in court? Now that’s a fantasy.
https://apps.facebook.com/my-surveys/moaigo
I believe the more we educate, the more we appreciate, the more we communicate with the people in our community, the more positive change can and will take place. Let’s stop looking at the parties and begin to look at the people who are making the decisions in the parties. Our city government is failing because of the fixed mind-set in a reactive city with a good old boy network or mentality. For the paradigm shift to take place in our city, our state, and our country, we must present a growth mind-set, we must be proactive, and we must be transparent. Let’s begin to include the people and not exclude the people. Allow me to represent you in Wilmington and you will see the change that is needed for our city to grow positively. Be mindful, we are not the murder-town; however, our hearts have been murdered in this town because of the lack of_________________. Fill in the blank!!!
By comparison Mayor Williams is getting a bad rap for the blight that has and is happening in Wilmington, De. Truth be told that are people being murdered in other cities in Delaware that are not highly publicized. The truth is that others who don’t live in Wilmington, Delaware are murdering or being murdered in Wilmington. Less than .002 % of the population has been murdered but yet that is still one too many. Seriously, the rate of murders in Wilmington, Delaware has been happening for last 19 years. New generation and the new generation this seems new but it is not. Mayor Baker was on the City Council when this was happening under that last 2 years of Mayor Sills Administration. Sills wanted to stay and clean up the mess that had begun to happen by placing sub-stations (police) but was dismantled even before it began by Mayor Baker. The momentum of murders/Killing didn’t subside. Even though everyone has good intention in decreasing the rates of murders it didn’t happen just a new generation of murderers.
It seems as people play the blame game and people have turned a blind eye until it happens to their family or their friends even though more players to bring resolve is happening. New people are running for mayor but many have held position and have been aware of the problem and have moved to bring resolve. Everyone in the community must help to bring the resolve by prayer, teaching, admonishing and literally being one’s brother keeper. It is not easy when dealing with personalities. We all are on a team. Mayor Baker, Mayor Sills and Mayor Williams along with some of the same team players on City Council and elsewhere and those in the community have been around over the last 19 years and the crime wave hasn’t curtailed just different criminal element. We now have the crime scene detectives back to solve some of the crimes, the city is getting renovations, jobs are being address and community hopefully is not continuing to turn a blind eye to the challenge to nip this in the bud and hopefully the churches will teach against sin more…prayers are increasing. It is not Mayor Williams fault one person can’t solve this problem or this challenge…Get off the Mayor’s Back.
Sorry to have to clue you in, Dee K, but Cassandra was being polite. Mayor Williams is more than a clown. He’s a phony and a fool.
We’re talking about someone who didn’t even know what the budget of the city was until after he was elected. He has no business in that job.
Someone who came up through the ranks and was around city administration for so long should have a much better idea of how to address the city’s problems. Williams was just next in line and considered himself entitles to be mayor. He is way more of an embarrassment than any TV show could ever be.
Should our Governor get a complete pass here? 7 years. His State. Isn’t Wilmington in Delaware?
Nope. But the governor isnt the one calling the lovely, talented, and still-very-much-relevant Miss Pinkett-Smith a “has been”, whining about a TV show, then having the gall to think he will get to be portrayed in a positive light.
What do you think the governor should do? It’s the General Assembly, not the governor, that holds the purse strings.
Well… the governor didn’t have a problem inserting his educational agenda in the city when it came to Priority Schools. That’s not saying he has absolute power, but he does have a voice… which he seems to use selectively.
William’s quote is an embarrassment, but it does show where his priorities are.
As you might have noticed from the Obama administration, an executive’s ability to work around a legislature is far from absolute.
For my part, I’d rather not hear a lot of words without power to back them up.
What the state needs to give the city is money, and considering the leadership in the city, the General Assembly isn’t going to do that.
The city does get plenty of money from the state. They share in some of the corporate revenues and other state income. No doubt the city can use more, but frankly, I’m fine with not handing over more money to this group of people who have pretty much demonstrated that they aren’t going to be especially accountable for funds provided. And if we are talking about law enforcement, they get one of the biggest shares of the city’s budget — they have plenty of money and resources, they need to use it much better than they do.
One thing that the city is utterly ineffective at is partnerships with state-level resources. The city provides no social services (or at least they shouldn’t) and yet they are very slow to work with the agencies who do. Even with the local non-profits who do some of this work. This is about creative problem solving with the resources available, rather than scheming to build a social services empire. And there are creative ideas out there.
Still, I don’t get how the Governor can be responsible for what is happening in Wilmington. He provided a great platform for looking at how the WPD could work more effectively and the Williams Administration is in the business of ignoring that quite utterly. The Wilmington delegation wanted to hold back some of the revenue sharing that the city gets (hold back, not defund) in order to force some action on that report and neither Senator Bobby Marshall or Senator Harris McDowell would sign on to it, effectively killing that coalition.
I’ll remind people that part of Williams’ pitch to become Mayor was that he had all of these great relationships with the Governor and the GA to get more money and more help in the city by virtue of his stint at the JFC. There’s serious reasons why he couldn’t deliver on that.
I’m having trouble finding the right joke to link the two phrases that initialize to JFC. Both phrases have a strong link to Mayor Williams.
@Cassandra: My point was that the city’s enemy isn’t in the governor’s office. It’s the Joint Finance Committee and the cowardice of the Democrats in the General Assembly.
I would say the problems begin and end with the Democrats. They have owned Wilmington since 1973 not just the current crop.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mayors_of_Wilmington,_Delaware
I think it’s pretty clear that Delaware is fast becoming a failed state. Williams is a joke. Markell is a coward who is going to go down as a less accomplished than his predecessor (which is amazing). And the General Assembly is irreparably broken.
When will Pennsylvania or Maryland be forced to absorb us?
Markell’s wasted terms do need some study. His big signature move (gay marriage) was pretty much forced on him. What else…? Doubling down on failed GOP economic policies? Squeezing state workers?
Yeah. Disappointing.
Are you on Facebook? Go over and search the term #whoplaysmeonmurdertown.
Hilarious pictures of Wilmingtonians picking out who should play them on TV. Post your own selection who should play you on the Murder Town series!
“Markell is a coward who is going to go down as a less accomplished than his predecessor (which is amazing).”
Bullshit. His predecessor faced no hard sledding and created all her own problems. Markell was forced to deal with a hand much worse than the one she was dealt.
@Bob: You can’t beat someone with no one, which is who the Republicans have run almost every election since the 1970s.
You Republican wussies wouldn’t even win a council seat if it wasn’t required by law.
@Geezer Just pointing out the root of all the problems in Wilmington. No need to get nasty and name call.
@Bob Geezer was pointing out how completely wrong you are. If the best the GOP can do in Wilmington is Mike Brown, they aren’t even trying to be a part of a solution. Once your guys cede the field it is time to STFU.
@cassandra First off, geezer and you make your first mistake by assuming I am a Republican. Second Mistake is you didnt read/understand my post. It was very simple. I was pointing out that the Dems own the problem of Wilmington and have owned it since 1973. The issues didnt start with Markell, Minner, or Carper but what did they do to solve it? Nothing. What did all the Wilmington Mayors do to solve the problem? Nothing. I put more fault on the mayors since it is their city but is also the Govenor’s city.
And you are still wrong, but thanks for playing. Sheesh.
It’s not unreasonable to say that the Democratic party in Delaware is sub-par. By no means is electing a republican the answer. It. Is. Not. Electing a republican is not the answer, it is not an option, it is a bad idea. … HOWEVER, with no competition and no real reason to offer a good candidate (since they always know they will win), the city leadership has failed the city. We need better primary candidates who dont feel entitled to the position they are running for.
Nasty? You think that’s nasty? That proves you’re a wuss no matter what party you pretend you belong to.
Meanwhile, nobody “owns” the problems in Wilmington except for the cheapskates in this state who — despite Delaware’s selection by Kiplinger’s as having the lowest tax burden on its citizens among the states — complain about how much they pay in taxes.
The truth hurts. MurderTown is an appropriate title for our dying city.