Hopefuls for governor, lieutenant agree on problems, not solutions

The News Journal, August 22, 2008

WILMINGTON — Candidates for the state’s two highest offices agreed improvements are needed in education, the state prison system and crime prevention — disagreeing mostly about the means but rarely the ends.

The candidates for lieutenant governor, state Sen. Charlie Copeland and Insurance Commissioner Matt Denn, faced off for the first time. They were joined by three of the four candidates for governor at an event hosted Thursday night by the Urban League.
Democratic Lt. Gov. John Carney and Treasurer Jack Markell and Independent Mike Protack were the three gubernatorial candidates on hand. Republican Bill Lee declined an invitation.

Republican Copeland and Democrat Denn disagreed on the issue of eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for people convicted of drug offenses – one of Copeland’s banner issues.

Copeland sponsored legislation in the Senate that would give greater discretion to judges when handing down sentences. The reform would reduce prison crowding and allow judges to reduce sentencing for first-time offenders, but also couple them with rehabilitation programs, creative use of community service or other programs, Copeland said.

The problems with mandatory minimum sentences are larger in Wilmington, Copeland said, where almost every area is within a restricted number of feet from a park or school, doubling the sentences for people who would get arrested for the same crime elsewhere in the county.

But Denn said doing away with mandatory minimum sentences is like “throwing the baby away with the bath water.”

Denn said most mandates deal with punishing dealers who carry large amounts of drugs. He said the solution is stricter enforcement of the laws and implementation of the mandatory sentences.

Copeland responded that the handing down of punishments should not be made beforehand by legislators in Dover, but judges with experience who are able to review details of a crime.

Protack said sentencing should be adapted for the nature of the crime.
“If you’re a violent offender, rot in hell, I really feel strongly about that, but if you have a disease, we will help you,” Protack said.

The two topics that drew the most response from the crowd of about 150 people were education and crime prevention.

Moderator John Watson, talk show host at WILM NewsRadio, asked the candidates to explain how they would correct some of the problems with state’s education system.

Each candidate said they think there are too many school districts in the state and would support some form of consolidation.

“If I had a magic wand to wave at our education system, I would wave it to increase the level of participation of parents,” Markell said.

Carney and Markell said they would “scrap” the Delaware State Testing Program and replace it with a new test.

“A moratorium on charter schools is moving in the wrong direction,” Copeland said.
Protack pointed to the Vision 2015 report and said he would support the implementation of the report’s recommendations.

“We should reward teachers who take on additional challenges, and we should reward teachers who have results,” Denn said.

The candidates fielded a question about the lack of public high schools in Wilmington. Most agreed that more access was needed to public schools, including increased funding for an inner-city school to address the needs of many of the low-income residents.