Top Dems Huddled With Karen Hardly-Able
I missed this story when it was posted at WDEL a couple of days ago: New Castle County Council President Karen Hartley-Nagle had a sit-down with party leaders Jan. 22 to air her side of the story. She had requested the meeting with
Democratic Party Chairman Erik Raser-Schramm, New Castle County Chair David Woodside, Wilmington chair Cassandra Marshall and state party staffers Jesse Chadderdon and Travis Williams. Raser-Schramm’s memo about the meeting doesn’t make it sound too terribly productive.
Amy Cherry caught up with Cassandra, who said:
“The council president has a lot of opportunity here, and we talked about that specifically–to revise this story and to get her to get what she needs to do back on track. While we still have a lot of concerns about where this process is right now, between the council president and the all of the other council members, there’s still an opportunity here to turn this thing around. …I think that it’s fair to say that Ms. Hartley-Nagle probably walked in the door with an unrealistic sense of what her job might be. But I think that, in terms of looking forward and trying to find places where she can be more positive….that was certainly our recommendation to her.”
I knew Cassandra was a great blogger and community activist, but I didn’t realize she knew how to put lipstick on a pig.
Very diplomatic.
Incredibly so, I thought. I was impressed.
We need a recall provision for egregious situations in this state. I hope the General Assembly will consider a bipartisan bill for the cases where it is truly needed.
Call Mike Ramone. He’s one of yours. It’s a good issue on which Republicans can call Democrats’ bluff by endorsing a good government position like recall. Democrats will fight it, revealing themselves as against transparency, which of course they are because they are in power.
Couldn’t agree more about the Cassandra Marshall reveal. Lipstick on a pig indeed. And for shame.
I have been checking Blue DE for some mention of this WDEL news article. Nothing so far. Does Marshall think she can hide this kind of absolute SHITE she’s producing as a DEM operative while simultaneously running her supposedly progressive blog?
That’s the real shame of it. Vince D’Anna calls for a sit down for his mouthpiece and everybody complies? And then so adroitly carries his water? This is not my Democratic Party, so to speak.
What documents were reviewed, exactly, that satisfied everyone at this sit down? Was this discussion focused solely on the issues surrounding the payoff of the NCC President’s aide or were KHN alleged crimes against Patrick Jones discussed (those crimes thoroughly discussed at Blue DE?)
I think they were just trying to manage an untenable situation. Nothing more than that. Don’t see anything sinister in their motives. There is a D public official who is out of control. They can’t force her to quit. What would you have them do? NOT bring her in for a sitdown and try to talk some sense into her?
What’s the beef with Cassandra’s quote? I have no problem with it. Reading between the lines, it sounded exactly like the kind of public tact you are supposed to use in that situation. I have no doubt stronger language was used behind closed doors.
“There is a D public official who is out of control. They can’t force her to quit. ”
Jack Markell was able to get Chip Flowers to quit, in coordination with the News Journal and an assist from Democratic blogs.
Is the Party prepared to go after others similarly situated? If not, why are they going after KHN? I mean, the Dems call out Melanie George, but say nothing about McBride? KHN is apparently the worst elected official in history, but what about the Potters (who are using their public platform to fight personal financial disputes), Sam Guy (another notorious grifter), and must I go on? It’s bizarre.
“Jack Markell was able to get Chip Flowers to quit, in coordination with the News Journal and an assist from Democratic blogs.”
Some others who post here are better positioned than I to address this, but any suggestion that Chip Flowers was not set on self-destruct from the moment he entered politics is ignoring the actual human being Chip Flowers. This guy was a ticking bomb from jump. Nice suits, though.
Also, if he were still in office when #metoo hit, he would have been under pressure now, News Journal or no. Or had you forgotten his problematic dealings with multiple women?
Plus — sorry to pile on so hard, but this is one of your most clueless comments in a long time — do you really expect a newspaper to ignore his free-spending ways?
@Nancy: What do you expect her to say? KHN is a complete fraud. Do you think that’s the politic thing for someone in Cassandra’s official position to say? You have to be able to say anodyne things to reporters or you can’t do the job.
I don’t blame people when they say things like that when their job forces them to. I just make sure to stay out of jobs that would force me to do so, because I suck at it.
I posted the WDEL link here because I hadn’t seen anything at Blue Delaware about it. An article like that does present a problem for people at BD, because Cassandra can’t really say any more about it than she said to Amy Cherry.
A crisis is an opportunity. Without getting into the merits of removing her from her office — is she really the first person in county government to ever direct an immature temper tantrum at an underling? I highly doubt it, considering Tom Gordon and Sherry Freebery once worked there — the goal here should be to scrap Ramone’s current bill and replace it with one that sets up recall procedures for all municipal and county-level offices. The GA would never apply such standards to itself, of course, but if we can get them at lower levels we can use that to pressure the GA itself to adopt such standards for the whole state, GA included. We should do so now, before the memory of John Atkins fades entirely.
Tha’s a goal I’d endorse 100%. Both as a supposedly progressive blogger and a Dem operative (in my own mind).
Selective and out of sequence memory, Alby. The actual order of events is recorded right here in this blog. Also in the News Journal, but DL archives are a lot more accessible.
The initial focus on Flowers was on his contentious (but private) critique of the CMPB and his flawed but well-meaning proposal (something about jiggering and re-investing the funds, I’ve already forgotten). That offense against the Dem establishment led to a gleeful Markell release of the in-house communications with Flowers – which were then cherry-picked in the press to bury the lede – and to an examination of his office expenses. The travel expense problems would have been swiftly swept under the rug for a traditional corporate suck-up.
You are right though that he wouldn’t have survived the #metoo movement, with its disdain for “evidence” and “due process.” Remember he was cleared of sexual harassment charges by Dover police, who aren’t exactly known for giving black guys a break.
And he was also doomed in the minds of half the state once it became widely known he was dating a white woman. Between the bigots and the feminist zealots he wouldn’t have stood a chance.
But Democrats now have what they always wanted in the Treasurer’s office – a Republican.
And just for kicks – given what we know now about the stock market, how much would Flowers’s pension reinvestment proposal have brought in to the state? Chip if you’re out there that would make a nice op-ed piece.
I guarantee you, Chip just read that comment.
To the original point of the post, Cassandra’s diplomacy and tact is all the more remarkable, because I can’t imagine how coo-coo-bananas KHN acted in that meeting. I’m sure it was a world class.
I never said anything about what kicked this off. Yes, Flowers had a point — but so what? Lots of people have good ideas that don’t get adopted because those who hold the real power in the state don’t want it.
I talked with him extensively, something I don’t think you did, and I can tell you the man has a pinochle deck and thinks it makes him great at poker. He’s — how best to put this — not right in the fucking head. If you’re looking to champion a martyr, you’ve definitely got the wrong guy.
“how much would Flowers’s pension reinvestment proposal have brought in to the state? ”
Less than the state will waste on any one of a dozen GA handouts.
“The travel expense problems would have been swiftly swept under the rug for a traditional corporate suck-up.”
I guarantee you TNJ would not have let those go once public. Rogue spending is the type of low-hanging juicy fruit that’s easy for reporters to dig into.
@SW: Facts never get in the way of a puck theory.