WILMINGTON – On the anniversary of his first day in office, Mayor John Carney reflected on his first year leading the City of Wilmington:

“During my inauguration, I shared that Wilmington is a city I believe in, because I’ve seen what a full and beautiful life it can offer its residents. Throughout this year, I've had the privilege of working directly with folks across every neighborhood, and more than ever, I believe in what Wilmington has to offer the people who call our community home,” said Mayor Carney.

The mayor continued:

“Wilmington is a unique city that’s active and growing. It’s on the move and on the rise. We’ve taken action to make our city safer; to support economic development; and to ensure that our communities are vibrant places to live and raise a family. I’m proud of the work we’ve started this year, and I look forward to building on this momentum together.”

Before taking office, the mayor released an Action Plan [wilmingtonde.us9.list-manage.com] outlining key policy objectives across four areas of focus. With the support of dedicated City employees and community partners, the Carney Administration’s progress across each of the four categories can be found below:

Managing resources and fostering communication

• Fully operational citywide ambulance service managed by the Wilmington Fire Department.

• Introduced a bifurcated property tax rate to ensure residents were not unfairly burdened following the countywide reassessment and passed a budget amendment to implement a plan to improve and validate assessed values in the City.

• Responsible management of taxpayer dollars, leading to improved bond ratings that result in lower interest payments on critical infrastructure projects.

• Launched a consistent mayoral newsletter to increase transparency and communication between the Mayor’s Office and Wilmington residents.

• Hosted a series of town halls to gather public input as the budget was developed and implemented.

• Created a dedicated team to foster community engagement and ensure attendance at civic association and community meetings.

Creating jobs and supporting economic growth for residents

• Secured relocation of major employer, Corteva Agriscience, to the downtown community, adding hundreds of jobs to the city’s tax base and building on Wilmington’s reputation as a place to do business; home to the incorporation of over 60% of Fortune 500 companies.

• Launched a new strategic planning initiative to modernize the City’s economic approach.

• Funded a dedicated small and minority business support grant program.

• Broke ground and cut ribbons for several residential development projects, including The Press apartments downtown and Gilpin Avenue apartments in Trolley Square.  

Building resilient, safe, and connected communities

• Established Wilmington’s Homelessness Task Force and created a temporary safe unhoused community site in Christina Park; formalized a partnership with Friendship House to manage daily oversight of the park, site infrastructure implementation, and individualized case management services intended to provide direct pathways toward stable housing.

• Furthered group violence intervention strategies, safety priorities, and achieved a lower overall crime rate relative to the previous calendar year, with the lowest number of shooting incidents recorded in over two decades.

• Improved and modernized the City’s parks and green spaces such as Rodney Reservoir and Stapler Park.

• Reformed the Department of Licenses and Inspections to prioritize compliance, safety, and tackle vacant and blighted properties; more than 350 vacant properties were identified throughout this process and more than 248 rental properties previously out of compliance were brought up to standard.

Fostering community well-being through education, health, and culture

• Reimagined the Department of Parks and Recreation to infuse education as a central priority with expanded availability of after school programs  

• Offered 101 students access to literacy tutoring sessions at William “Hicks” Anderson Community Center and the PAL of Wilmington in partnership with Reading Assist; 82% of students tested at the beginning and end of sessions showed measured progress in at least one category.

• Increased development of affordable housing projects with 119 total units developed last fiscal year and 312 total units currently underway

• Launched a Wilmington 250 committee to celebrate our history and culture.

• Welcomed more than 5,000 high school students to the HBCU week college fair, resulting in a total of $12,881,242 in scholarships awarded to those in attendance.

• Nurtured Wilmington's growing arts and culture scene, hosting an estimated 30,000 attendees at the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival.

• Offered 16 different types of programming and events at the Urban Artist Exchange for Wilmington residents of all ages.

• Expanded accessibility of the Art Loop, offering audiences of all abilities the chance to partake in this monthly tradition throughout the city.

###