The Committee of 100 | Meeting Notes

What a difference a term can make. Four years ago, when newly-elected County Executive Tom Gordon spoke to The Committee of 100 membership, there was a great deal of angst about the changes that were beginning to take place. In his new administration, people were moving, job descriptions were changing, operations were refocusing, departments were merging.

Two years later, midway through his first term, when Tom Gordon again addressed our membership, he was on a mission. In his 1999 State of the County address he echoed the Blues Brothers when he said, "‘We're on a mission from God.' We believe in what we are doing. We are determined to restore government to the original American dream of statesmanship, integrity, and service."

Last year, in his Annual Address 2000, he reported, "We reinvented this government. We redefined Land Use." He also mused a bit: "In America, we constitutionally protect democracy. We constitutionally protect property rights. We also protect the rights of the individual. Sometimes these legal mandates result in moral dilemmas. Under democratic principles, the majority rules. But what happens when the majority wants to interfere with an individual's property rights?" He answered his question, in part, when he said, "land use is where you can never win. Someone is always upset with how our land use decisions go--guaranteed."

Tom Gordon may have been pummeled by all sides on issues such as land use and Rockwood Museum, but he has, unquestionably, made a major difference in the operation of this County. No one in the County's history has been able to negotiate with the unions to make the personnel moves he has managed; no one has reorganized and streamlined departments as he has; no one has held the line on property taxes as he has; no one has invested as much in parks and libraries; no one has managed as effective a response to complaints; no one has been as aggressive in code enforcement; no one has scared people so much wondering, "What next?"

Will the "what nexts" be coming from his administration, or, as we've seen recently, more from members of Council? What is his vision for his second term and how will that impact economic development in New Castle County? What will his administration's relationship be with the new Minner and Baker.