Ezra J. Temko

Are you interested in representing the Fifth District on Newark City Council?

Filing deadline:  Monday, March 12

Election:  Tuesday, April 10

Questions:  Contact the City Secretary’s Office at 366-7070.  I can also answer questions.

City’s press release:

Council to Decide on Proposed Electric Rate Design

Newark, DE (April 4, 2011) – Newark City Council will consider recommended revisions to Newark’s electric rates based on the comprehensive rate study performed by consulting firm Black and Veatch at a public hearing during the April 25^th City Council meeting.  Black and Veatch were tasked with designing rates that accurately reflect the cost of service to customer classes, which would balance the cost of operating the City’s electric utility among all customer groups. Key components of the study were reviewed at a City Council workshop in August 2010. City staff involved a group of stakeholders representative of the different classes of electric customers during the study.

City Council established policy objectives that are to be achieved through the proposed revisions that include:

Promote econmic development within the City.

Encourage energy conservation among all class customers.

Reduce the City’s financial sensitivity to variations in weather.

Be fair and reasonable to all classes of customers.

Recover all prudently incurred costs and maintain the financial integrity of the utility.

Be competitive with Delmarva’s rates.

                Black and Veatch’s study shows that the amount of revenue needed to recover all prudently incurred costs for the year is $56 million, which is $2.8 million less than would be collected under the current rate structure. The $2.8 million revenue reduction would be allocated among the large customer classes’ rates to promote economic development and more accurately reflect the cost of serving those customers. The revenues collected from residential and other small customers remain unchanged.

                To reduce the City’s financial sensitivity to weather, a ten dollar monthly charge to residential customers is proposed to recover more of the fixed costs incurred in providing electric service. The other customer classes will be paying a comparable charge.

                Conservation is encouraged by instituting seasonal block rates for residential and general service classes, which include inclining block rates in summer for the residential class. Block rates would be level in winter. A similar design is proposed for larger demand metered customers.

                Additionally, it is proposed the existing customer classes be redefined to include a new class for very large industrial customers while the University of Delaware would be in a customer class by itself.

The proposed ordinance and Black and Veatch’s complete electric rate study is available at www.cityofnewarkde.us.

Do you want to learn more about your city government? Do you want to tour the City’s water facilities? Do you want to learn about how the city is organized and about its history?  Do you want to learn about the Newark Police Department and its innovative approaches to community policing? Do you want the inside scoop on the programs and facilities offered by the Parks and Recreation Department?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you will want to apply for the City of Newark Citizens Academy class.

Citizens Academy is a series of professionally led sessions designed to teach residents about the City of Newark and the services it provides.  The class is an educational experience that will give participants insight into how the City operates on a day to day basis, as well as how it plans for the future. 

This will be the City’s first class with hopes of its graduates becoming leaders in their neighborhood and/or business organization or becoming members of one of the City’s boards and commissions.

All classes meet from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at City facilities on Wednesday nights between September 22 - November 3.  Graduation will be held on November 8 in conjunction with the Newark City Council meeting. There is no cost for the program.

Some topics that will be discussed during the course include:
Newark’s organization from head to toe, Parks and Recreation: We work so others can play, Public Safety and Alderman’s Court, Comprehensive Plan and Economic Development, Public Services: Environment and Infrastructure, and Budget and Finance.

City council will be voting on May 10 regarding expending stimulus funds on energy efficiency upgrades to the municipal building.  For more information on the proposal, visit the following link:

http://cityofnewarkde.us/DocumentView.aspx?DID=1592

Hello friends,

Thank you very much for all the support you have given me.  As of last week’s filing deadline, no one else filed for the 5th district council seat.  I will be sworn in for a second term on April 20 for a second two-year term.  I am excited for the opportunity to continue to serve my district and community.

I am committed to community and to making sure Newark reflects strong community vitality, environmental sustainability, and good governance.  As financial difficulties continue to confront our government and community, we need to look forward for new paths that will keep intact and enhance our community; we cannot continue doing things the same way we always have.  I will continue to advocate and be a voice and vote for decision-making that reflects our community’s values and a governance shift towards inclusion and collaboration.  If you would like to learn more about what I plan to work on during the next two years, my platform is available at http://www.ezratemko.com/platform/

In other quite positive news, council recently unanimously voted to sign on to the U.S. Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement.  We will have a celebration of this, called “Painting Newark Green: A Cool Cities Celebration,” on Monday, April 19, at 7pm.

Thanks again for your continued support!

All the best,
Ezra

Newark City Council unanimously adopted a resolution in support of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and actively working to ensure we are a “cool city.”  Newark is now a signatory to the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, found below.

U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement
(As endorsed by the 73rd Annual U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting, Chicago, 2005)

A. We urge the federal government and state governments to enact policies and programs to meet or beat the target of reducing global warming pollution levels to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012, including efforts to: reduce the United States’ dependence on fossil fuels and accelerate the development of clean, economical energy resources and fuel-efficient technologies such as conservation, methane recovery for energy generation, waste to energy, wind and solar energy, fuel cells, efficient motor vehicles, and biofuels;

B. We urge the U.S. Congress to pass bipartisan greenhouse gas reduction legislation that 1) includes clear timetables and emissions limits and 2) a flexible, market-based system of tradable allowances among emitting industries; and

C. We will strive to meet or exceed Kyoto Protocol targets for reducing global warming pollution by taking actions in our own operations and communities such as:

1. Inventory global warming emissions in City operations and in the community, set reduction targets and create an action plan.

2. Adopt and enforce land-use policies that reduce sprawl, preserve open space, and create compact, walkable urban communities;

3. Promote transportation options such as bicycle trails, commute trip reduction programs, incentives for car pooling and public transit;

4. Increase the use of clean, alternative energy by, for example, investing in “green tags”, advocating for the development of renewable energy resources, recovering landfill methane for energy production, and supporting the use of waste to energy technology;

5. Make energy efficiency a priority through building code improvements, retrofitting city facilities with energy efficient lighting and urging employees to conserve energy and save money;

6. Purchase only Energy Star equipment and appliances for City use;

7. Practice and promote sustainable building practices using the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED program or a similar system;

8. Increase the average fuel efficiency of municipal fleet vehicles; reduce the number of vehicles; launch an employee education program including anti-idling messages; convert diesel vehicles to bio-diesel;

9. Evaluate opportunities to increase pump efficiency in water and wastewater systems; recover wastewater treatment methane for energy production;

10. Increase recycling rates in City operations and in the community;

11. Maintain healthy urban forests; promote tree planting to increase shading and to absorb CO2; and

12. Help educate the public, schools, other jurisdictions, professional associations, business and industry about reducing global warming pollution.

Council will discuss an ordinance to eliminate free parking on Sundays starting at 1 pm.

This would generate $68,000 of revenue for the city and the 1pm start is to still allow free parking for those going to downtown houses of worship on Sunday mornings.

Visit http://cityofnewarkde.us/DocumentView.aspx?DID=1481 for more information and be sure to let me know your thoughts.

On February 8, council unanimously voted for the 136 Elkton Road project.
This is a District 5 project where the Eagle Diner, Papa Johns, Happy Garden, Christina School District’s Networks program, and The English Language Institute Annex currently reside.  The project is part of the continued redevelopment efforts in our downtown.  The project will take approximately 8 months to build and will likely start somewhere between Spring 2011 and 2012.  The owners’ intention is to retain the current commercial/restaurant tenants if possible.

This is a summary/synopsis of the proposed 2010 budget.  It includes:
1) The goals/necessary steps our 2010 budget must accomplish
2) What makes that difficult
3) How the city has cut spending
4) How the 2010 budget raises revenue

There will be a public hearing on Monday, 11/23/09, at 7:30pm in city hall.
To read the entire proposed budget, go to http://cityofnewarkde.us/index.aspx?NID=616 

1) The budget must:
1.  Cover the city’s expenses for 2010.  The city has a $31.2 million operating budget and $4.1 milion in city expenses for our capital improvements program.  The proposed revenue budget is $2.1 million larger than last year’s budget to ensure the city’s expenses are covered.
2.  Move Newark in a positive direction towards increasing our cash reserve.  Ideally we would have $25-30 million in our cash reserve.  In 2005 the city had $21 million; as of October 2009 we had $12.6 million

2) It is difficult to meet these budget needs because:
1.  Realty transfer taxes are down considerably, over $1 million/year.  Transfer taxes are projected to be $0.8 million in 2009 compared to a budget of $1.9 million.  Actual transfer taxes in 2008 were $2.8 million including about $0.9 million from the transfer of the Chrysler site.
2. The reservoir lawsuit settlement directly cost $3.6 million and insurance costs increased about $200,000 in the first renewal after the reservoir settlement.
3.  The Chrysler site is being sold to the University of Delaware, meaning the city will no longer get that $280,000 of annual property tax revenue.
4.  In 2005, there was substantial electric utility revenue loss.  Electric margins were $9.1 million less than budgeted in 2005 and $3.5 million less than budgeted in 2006.
5.  Retiree health care costs increase $300,000 in 2010.
6.  Pension expense increases $300,000 due in part to poor investment performance in 2008.
7.  Health care costs are up about $100,000.
8.  The city conducted a resident survey to determine value of services.  The vast majority of services in the survey were rated as very important by 50% or more of respondents, limiting options for service reductions.
3) The city has worked to maintain and reduce costs by:
1.  Cutting 8 FTE (full-time equivalent) positions (savings:  $650,000)
2.  Making changes to health plan benefits (savings:  $260,000- costs are rising $100,000 instead of $360,000)
3.  Material and supplies cost containment (savings:  $74,00)
4.  Eliminating the print version of the city newsletter (savings: $21,000)
5.  Eliminating the trolley subsidy (savings: $7,000)
6.  Eliminating expenditures from the capital improvements program (2009 savings: $700,00)
7.  Postponing expenditures from the 2009 capital improvements program to 2010 (2009 savings of $1.3 million)

4) The $2 million+ shortfall is made up for in the 2010 budget through:
1.  A sewer rate increase (Revenue: $1,000,000)
Impact on homeowner:  $50/year average
Due to infrastructure costs and lower demand, without a sewer rate increase the city would lose money on its sewer utility in 2010.  The city has a target operating margin for its sewer utility of 20%.  With this sewer increase, the operating margin would be 16%.

2.  A 9 cent property tax increase (Revenue:  $700,000)
Impact on typical homeowner:  $89/year for single-family detached, $50/year for single-family townhomes
Property tax is the most stable source of funding the city has and is the city’s primary tool to raise revenue for its general fund.  Even with this increase, the city would still be collecting 20% less in taxes (property and realty transfer tax) in 2010 than previously.
Is Newark still a good deal with a 9 cent property tax increase?
With the tax rate increase, Newark’s tax rate would be 64.58 cents per $100 of assessed value.  This is below that of Wilmington, New Castle, Elsmere, and Newport.  The tax rate for the county is 70.18 cents per $100 of assessed value, and the city provides many services to its citizens that residents in the county must privately contract and pay for (i.e. refuse collection, snow removal, leaf collection).
3.  Developing a stormwater utility fee (Revenue: $350,000)
Impact on homeowner: $17-31/year, depending on zoning/minimum lot size
A stormwater utility fee will reduce reliance on the property tax for funding stormwater related expenditures and gather these funds in a more equitable fashion.

4.  Charging apartment complexes for dumpster collection (Revenue: $350,000)
Some apartment complexes may pass these fees on, but not all apartment complexes use the city for dupmster collection at present; some use and pay private contractors.

Many Newarkers are concerned about litter in our community.  Whether concerned for reasons of pride and beautification, ecological concerns, or sense of place, it is definitely an issue that is worth addressing.

One of the principle rules of litter prevention is not having litter in the first place.  People are more likely to have a message that it is “okay” to litter if they already see litter on the ground.  This is similar to when people are more likely to keep their home and yard in better/worse condition when they see the current state of the rest of their neighborhood.

One way that Newark gets litter off the ground, which serves both to clean up our community and deter future litter, is through our annual Spring Community Clean Up.  This clean up is one Saturday morning each Spring from 9am to 11pm.  There are usually about 100 volunteers, from concerned residents and UD students to families and neighborhood groups to high school students and community organization members.  This past Spring volunteers collected 1,210 pounds of trash/debris!

After being contacted by a constituent about littering in our community, I conversed with the city manager and Parks & Recreation Department director and suggested that we should have an additional community cleanup each year.  Last time I was out with the Graduate Student Senate the volunteers there even expressed interest in doing this more than once a year.  After looking into this proposal, the city decided to offer a Fall community cleanup this November.

It will be on Saturday, November 14, from 9am to 11pm.  Interested community members should meet outside city hall.