City of Wilmington residency

Wilmington city, council lash out in fight over job residency

Peter OsborneGovernment, Headlines

Mob rule? Or B.S.? A weeks-long debate over Wilmington residency requirements for non-elected city employees has deteriorated into what might generously be described as “frosty” exchanges between Mayor Mike Purzycki and a pair of Wilmington City Council members. After a month of bitter debate, the 13-member council on Nov. 16 passed a five-year residency law for new hires that will …

Wilmington Police Chief Wilfredo Campos

Wilmington’s new police chief is 26-year department veteran

Betsy PriceGovernment, Headlines

Wilmington has a new police chief: Wilfredo Campos, a person of color and a captain who has been with the department for 26 years. Campos, 50, grew up in Wilmington and will become the city’s 33rd police chief and the first person of Hispanic descent to be named to that post. He will be paid $200,000 and begin his job …

Loretta Walsh Wilmington City Council

Wilmington City Councilwoman Loretta Walsh to resign

Charles MegginsonGovernment, Headlines

Longtime Wilmington City Councilwoman Loretta Walsh will resign in October, she announced Wednesday. Walsh, who served as an at-large council member for 30 years, cited poor health as the reason for her resignation. “I love this city so much, and I am so proud to have been both a participant and a leader in helping to shape and grow Wilmington …

a screen shot of a man in a suit and tie

Purzycki, FOP: Congo’s police shaming ‘baseless, abhorrent’

Charles MegginsonGovernment, Headlines, Police & Fire

LEFT TO RIGHT: COUNCIL PRESIDENT TRIPPI CONGO, MAYOR MIKE PURZYCKI, POLICE CHIEF ROBERT TRACY The mayor of Wilmington and the union that represents the city’s police officers are pushing back against the City Council president’s claims that the department is failing to promote diversity and morale within its ranks.  After leading the City Council to a Jan. 20 vote of …

Police

Wilmington council president goes public with WPD ‘whitest Black guy’ trophy

Charles MegginsonGovernment, Headlines

Around Christmas of 2019, a Black male detective in the Wilmington Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division was given a trophy by his white male supervisor with an engraved message that reads, “Whitest Black Guy in the Office Award.” The trophy has been openly displayed on the detective’s desk since it was presented to him, according to City Council President Trippi …

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Wilmington residents sign petition in support of police chief

Charles MegginsonGovernment, Headlines, Police & Fire

Chief Robert Tracy/Wilmington Police Department A petition expressing support for the Wilmington Police Department has gathered more than 600 signatures after the Wilmington City Council on Thursday passed a “vote of no confidence” in Chief Robert Tracy. The vote happened after a nearly three-hour-long Public Safety Committee meeting Tuesday during which Tracy and others defended the department’s practices amidst claims …

a long bridge over a body of water with a city in the background

Wilmington redistricting ordinance passes unanimously

Charles MegginsonGovernment, Headlines

Denis Tangney/Getty Images The Wilmington City Council on Thursday passed redistricting legislation that will define the city’s council districts for the next ten years. The redistricting process occurred later than usual because of delays in getting accurate census data from the federal government. Councilwoman Michelle Harlee, D-4th District, sponsored the ordinance. She thanked the workers who assisted the redistricting committee, …

a person sitting at a table

Wilmington Councilwoman Rysheema Dixon resigns during meeting

Charles MegginsonGovernment, Headlines

Councilwoman Rysheema Dixon/Photo Wilmington City Council Wilmington City Councilwoman Rysheema Dixon, a Democrat, resigned from office during Thursday’s council meeting. The at-large council member said she’d be taking time to focus on her community development consulting business, RD Innovative Planning, which she said is rapidly expanding within the United States and even internationally. Prior to her departure, Dixon served as …