We start this week with a settlement between the City of Wilmington and private property owners on North Front Street. The city used eminent domain to take land to allow for construction for its public-private River Place project. On taking in particular was initially estimated to cost less than $25,000 — but ended up costing over $300,000.
How did this happen? And was it a surprise to the city? We get into it.
Then we take a look at the next public-private project that the city is considering. We take a closer look at what the project does — and doesn’t — offer. We also take a look at what, exactly, the developer means by ‘affordable housing.’
Finally, journalist Mark Darrough joins us to discuss two recent stories from Surf City, including a dispute between the Mayor’s personal assistant — who is not a town employee — and the town’s manager, who was demoted a week after a verbal altercation. Officials have refused to comment on whether the two incidents were related. We talk about other possible reasons. Also, the increasingly tense campaign for mayor of Surf City takes another strange turn. This time, the appearance of a prosecutor from the DA’s office at the current mayor’s campaign dinner forces the DA to recuse his office from the investigation into the mayor’s rival.
It’s a lot, we know.
If you missed any of these stories you can catch up below, then take a deeper dive with our weekly podcast.
Wilmington pays $300,000 in River Place eminent domain settlement, over tenfold the estimated cost
Surf City town manager’s demotion came shortly after altercation with mayor’s personal assistant
https://portcitydaily.com/local-news/2019/09/26/prosecutor-spoke-at-surf-city-mayors-campaign-fundraiser-das-office-recused-from-case-against-challenger/
