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his voter’s guide is provided to you through the efforts of The Delaware Association of Nonprofit Agencies
(DANA), the Delaware Arts Alliance (DAA), Wilmington Renaissance Corporation (WRC), the Christina Cul-
Delaware Association of Nonprofit Agencies
tural Arts Center (CCAC), and the Latin American Community Center (LACC).
All candidates from all parties were asked to respond, in written form, to the same three questions related to the
sectors. They were also invited to tape those answers in video clips for easier access for our constituencies. All
candidates were given the same time to answer. Our organizations do not support, endorse or critique any candi-
date and merely replicate the answers given in both instances.
The nonprofit and arts sector in Delaware represent 43,365 employees. We are partners in building a high quality
of life in Delaware. Nearly every Delawarean is touched by a nonprofit and arts organizations; whether as a client,
volunteer, supporter, member, or a patron, we are all connected. Accordingly, we want you to know where the
candidates for public office stand on key issues shaping nonprofits, the arts, and our Delaware.
Nonprofits and the arts mean business!! Decisions are made each day by all sizes of business and by individuals
about where to locate, and whether to remain in Delaware. These decisions are based on Delaware’s quality of
life and civil society. Nonprofits and the arts are key factors in determining quality of life and consist of schools,
hospitals, churches, public support and benefit providers, environmental concerns, animal welfare organizations,
cultural institutions, and the arts, to mention just a few.
As we struggle to regain our once-strong economy, as we work to attract new industries and business, as we
promote our state to attract new residents with good jobs in Aberdeen and other regional employers, and as
we strive to retain our graduating students, we recognize the value of a thriving nonprofit and arts community.
We don’t want any candidate to take the nonprofit and arts sector for granted any longer. We mean business
and quality of life!!
Thank you from the nonprofit and arts sectors.
Will you support HR5533 proposed by Congresswoman Betty McCollum (Minnesota), to increase
awareness of the nonprofit sector, and to increase data collection on the impact that nonprofits have
on supporting the public sector. Please also elaborate on how important you believe nonprofits are to
our country.
Non-profits are critical to Delaware’s future, and have an immeasurable effect on our quality of life. I spent
much of my early professional life working in non-profits, like the National “I Have a Dream” Foundation and
the National Coalition for the Homeless, and brought the “I Have a Dream” Foundation program to Wilming-
ton. In each case, I witnessed the difference that non-profit organizations can have in raising issues to nation-
al prominence, helping people meet their most basic needs, and touching the lives of families one at a
time. This work, by local groups or national organizations, is vital to our country and our prosperity. I would
support legislative efforts that work to increase the impact of non-profits that provide community services as a
member of the Senate.
You have as priorities economy and education. How would you more fully integrate the arts into K-12
education in the state? Will that decision contribute to a better quality of life in the state?
Without question, the key to ensuring the future success of our economy and our state is to provide a world
class education to every child in our community, and working to that end will be one of my top priorities in the
Senate. You don’t have to go very far in Delaware to see the critical role that arts and culture play in boosting
the quality of life in our state. We need to ensure that our schools have the resources necessary to provide
our children with the exposure to arts and music that can open their eyes to new worlds of possibility and help
keep them engaged in their education.
Understanding that the Latino community is rapidly growing many nonprofit organizations may need
additional resources, how do you plan to address the issue?
Non-profit organizations serve as a backbone for our community. They offer assistance to people in their hour
of greatest need, lift children up to see the promise of their future, and bring people of different backgrounds,
faiths, and circumstances together. My experience in starting up a local non-profit and as staff in larger non-
profit organizations, taught me that information and strong partners are critical to success. I will make every
effort to support non-profit organizations in the Latino/a community by ensuring that non-profit leaders have
information about funding opportunities and connections with experienced non-profit leaders who can assist
newer organizations in navigating business and resource issues.
* Independent candidate Jim Rash did not respond to our questions.
Will you support HR5533 proposed by Congresswoman Betty McCollum (Minnesota), to increase
awareness of the nonprofit sector, and to increase data collection on the impact that nonprofits
have on supporting the public sector. Please also elaborate on how important you believe non-
profits are to our country.
I haven’t fully examined Rep. McCollum’s bill, so I can’t comment on it yet. However, the non-profit com-
munity in Delaware and in the U.S. reminds all of us of the noblest qualities of America. So many Ameri-
cans are involved in non-profit charitable work, as volunteers and staff, and they are meeting the needs of
millions of their neighbors with meaningful and personalized attention in ways that cold, one-size-fits-all
government bureaucracies never could. I applaud these heroes across the country and also the millions
of private citizens, foundations and corporations who faithfully support their work and make it possible.
You have as priorities economy and education. How would you more fully integrate the arts into K-
12 education in the state? Will that decision contribute to a better quality of life in the state?
I strongly support the central and critical role of local communities and school districts to set the curriculum
that best serves the needs of their school children. I would of course personally support all local efforts to
incorporate the arts into K-12 curricula for government, private/parochial and home schools, as well as
community-based, after-school efforts to reach children whose schools may not provide access. We all
want our children to have the quality-of-life-enhancing opportunities to participate in the arts if they choose
to do so.
Understanding that the Latino community is rapidly growing many nonprofit organizations may
need additional resources, how do you plan to address the issue?
The best way to improve the resources available to charitable organizations is to improve the economic
well-being of their communities and potential supporters. The Latino community is hard-working, entrepre-
neurial and has a strong tradition of supporting faith-based and other charitable efforts to reach out and
support their less fortunate neighbors. The best thing we can do to serve Latinos in need is to economi-
cally strengthen the communities where they live. As a Senator, that means that I would focus my main
attention on creating jobs and economic prosperity for all Delawareans and the country at large, through
ending the Obama tax hikes, repealing job-killing, economy-choking red tape and regulations, and paying
down the national debt that is starving our job-creating sector of the capital and economic stability needed
to start new businesses, hire more workers, pay them better and grow more opportunities for professional
development and promotion.
Will you support HR 5533 proposed by Congresswoman Betty McCollum (Minnesota)
to increase awareness of the nonprofit sector, and to increase data collection on the
impact that nonprofits have on supporting the public sector.
Nonprofits are a critical element of our communities. They provide essential services in
health, education, the arts, religion, public safety, and other areas that enrich our lives and
our nation. Nonprofits are also a source of employment for thousands of workers here in Del-
aware and millions throughout the country.
Please elaborate on how important you believe nonprofits are to our country.
I support efforts to increase data collection on the impact that nonprofits have on supporting
our public sector. Nonprofits fill distinct needs that the public and private sectors cannot
meet. Having a better understanding of nonprofits’ interactions with the public sector and
their impact in the community could lead to a more productive and efficient working relation-
ship.
We say during the stimulus conversation at the federal level some members of Con-
gress feel funding for the arts is pork spending. What are your thoughts on this? How
would you respond to these sentiments?
I believe it’s important to invest in the arts. Society is at its best when the arts are in our
schools, neighborhoods, and communities. The federal government should look favorably on
investing in art programs in our schools and assisting the many non-profits that drive the arts
community here in Delaware.
Art programs are essential for student development. They’ve been proven to reinforce les-
sons in reading, writing, and math, and give students creative ways of expressing themselves.
The arts are part of what makes Delaware a great place to live, and they’re also an important
aspect of economic development. Businesses locate where there are thriving communities
and activities for their employees. Our strong arts community contributes greatly to our quali-
ty of life, and it’s a strong asset in recruiting and retaining businesses.
Understanding that the Latino community is rapidly growing many nonprofit organiza-
tions may need additional resources, how do you plan to address the issue?
The Latino community is one of the fastest growing populations in Delaware and in the nation.
The organizations formed to promote the social and economic well-being of Latinos have
become an integral part of our communities and deserve our support.
Throughout my career, I have worked to support and enhance organizations throughout our
state that serve a primarily Latino population. I helped Westside Health Center in Wilmington
secure more support, then to expand and bring quality healthcare to thousands of Delaware-
ans, and I’ve worked on similar projects for La Red Health Center in Georgetown. If I am
elected to Congress this November, I will continue to look for opportunities to support the
many non-profit organizations serving the Latino communities in our state.
Will you support HR5533 proposed by Congresswoman Betty McCollum (Minnesota),
to increase awareness of the nonprofit sector, and to increase data collection on the
impact that nonprofits have on supporting the public sector.
I am not that familiar with the HR5533, meaning I have not read it in its entirety. Based on
what I have read, though, and the summary, it seems it is aimed at increasing transparency
and that it proposes to set up a commission to help in the collection of data and to act as
liaison between non-profits and the government. I am, of course, all for more transparency
and, as long as the commission is voluntary and not funded by taxpayer money, I am all for
it. Again, I wish to study the information more and would certainly welcome new information
and perspectives.
Please also elaborate on how important you believe nonprofits are to our country.
Non-profits are vital to this country. They are the epitome of what makes us great – passion-
ate people coming up with solutions to problems and working hard to make their ideas reality
while helping others as well. More often than not, it is a non-profit solution, not a government
solution that makes more sense.
We say during the stimulus conversation at the federal level some members of Con-
gress feel funding for the arts is pork spending. What are your thoughts on this? How
would you respond to these sentiments?
Studies have shown a positive correlation between years of arts education to higher verbal
and math scores on the SATS. Knowing all that the arts can do to inspire and reinforce the
basics of education, I cannot say that money spent on them is pork spending.
Understanding that the Latino community is rapidly growing many nonprofit organiza-
tions may need additional resources, how do you plan to address the issue?
I don’t understand why the non-profits would need additional resources solely based on a
growing Latino community. No matter what the economists say, we are in the middle of a
recession and many groups are turning to non-profits for help with basic necessities, not just
members of the Latino population. My plan is to help grow the economy with tax cuts and
decreases in regulation. Americans are the most generous people in the world. Putting more
Americans back to work will result in them being able to help non-profits more as they have
in the past.
Will you support HR5533 proposed by Congresswoman Betty McCollum (Minnesota), to increase
awareness of the nonprofit sector, and to increase data collection on the impact that nonprofits
have on supporting the public sector.
Yes, provided there are no federal tax dollars expended in this bill. I am a strict Constitution-
alist and as such I do not believe that the Federal Government has the powers delegated to
it by the states to conduct that business.
Please also elaborate on how important you believe nonprofits are to our country.
Non-profit organizations are the backbone of communities, they provide services, take care
of the sick and needy, and preserve our history and cultures. These are things that the peo-
ple are free to support or not support as they choose, however Federal Government funding
of these organizations is not within the Constitutional powers of the Federal Government.
Our Constitution was drafted to limit the Federal Government to only those tasks that are
delegated to it by the states and the people. If we wish to have our Federal Government
provide services that non-profits provide then we should push for a Constitutional Amend-
ment to delegate those powers to the Federal Government.
We say during the stimulus conversation at the federal level some members of Congress feel
funding for the arts is pork spending. What are your thoughts on this? How would you respond to
these sentiments?
At the federal level once again the Constitution doesn’t allow for the Federal Government to
provide tax dollars for the arts. I would support a Constitutional Amendment to allow the
Federal Government to set up a department to support the Arts and Sciences. However in
lieu of such an amendment the Federal Government simply doesn’t have the power to
spend tax dollars that way.
Understanding that the Latino community is rapidly growing many nonprofit organizations may
need additional resources, how do you plan to address the issue?
It is not the Federal Government´s place to spend money for non-profit organizations no
matter what the community. Following the Constitution is about following the rule of law. The
rule of law must apply to everyone equally, without regard to race, sex, religion, or ethnic
background.
How do you believe government and the non-profit sector should work together? If you do not believe they should work together, please
explain why not. And, please, be specific.
Sure, I think that government and the non-profit sector should work together in all aspects of really providing services and in particular in
the art community. I think that the government can’t do everything. We saw in the current economic climate that the government was
unable to provide certain services just because the fact that the revenue was down. So I think that the government had to rely on the
non-profits to provide critical services. Sometimes, more often than not, the government is the inefficient provider of those services. In
particular the non-profits have expertise that the government does not have. In particular in those circumstances the government has to
work together with non-profit organizations and communities such as DANA, United Way and other philanthropic organizations to get
those critical services to those impacted.
During the course of this recession we have seen families struggle, many Delawareans unemployed, and the government can’t always
provide those services that those people need. So we have to work in a collaborative manner and if I’m elected treasurer I will make sure
that the non-profit community has a seat at the table and they are engaged in some of these critical issues. Because in fact, we need to
be partners in addressing some of these critical issues facing Delaware.
Given the current economic reality in Delaware, and recognizing the Arts and Creative sector as an investment that pays off, what poli-
cies or practices will you implement immediately upon taking office, to grow jobs in this sector and to encourage more creative business-
es to locate or start here?
That’s a wonderful question, and thank you for asking. I think there are many things we can be doing in the treasurer office to promote
other organizations that have similar goals and missions. For example, we could create an investment fund that could really encourage
the arts organizations, those that are struggling in Delaware, to tap into this fund, the loan they may need, the capital they may need to
keep them going, to sustain these organizations through this course of difficult economic climate.
It is very important that we do not lose these arts organizations here in Delaware. Because Art is our culture and Art is also a wonderful
base of tourism. If these organizations fail, we fail. That’s unacceptable; art has been a wonderful contributor to my life and lives of so
many Delawareans. We must make sure that these institutions remain here.
The second part of your question was how can we attract more businesses to Delaware that have these kinds of creative edge? I think
there is a lot we can be doing. One, we have to have a targeted market effort through the treasurer’s office working co-operatively with
DEDO to let these institutions know that we have an environment conducive to the arts and nonprofit organizations.
If I am elected treasurer I’m going to be pushing this initiative very hard. I know some of us are talking about this effort to bring the mo-
tion picture industry here to Delaware, and promoting legislation that would do that. Also talking about the fact that we need to make
sure that the capital is available for arts organizations that need to relocate for example from Philadelphia, New Jersey, or Maryland that
are considering relocation to Delaware. Because I think once we have a collective art culture as you see with New York, Boston, Phila-
delphia, then you can see that you can draw upon those resources to really create jobs, and get this economy moving.
We can’t allow these institutions to die, because that is our culture, which is what people travel to Delaware to see. I think we have a
vibrant arts community here in Delaware. I’m going to be one of the biggest proponents and advocates of making sure the Treasurer’s
office has a role in attracting these organizations to us, and keeping these organizations financially viable throughout this difficult eco-
nomic climate.
* Answers were obtained from video interview transcripts
Delaware Association of Nonprofit Agencies, Delaware Arts Alliance, Wilmington Renaissance Corporation, Christina
Cultural Arts Center and the Latin American Community Center remind all Delawareans to vote on November 2nd
How do you believe government and the non-profit sector should work together? If you do not believe they should work together, please
explain why not. And, please, be specific.
Well, I think the bottom line is government can’t function without the non-profit sector. At the present, so many of the services that the gov-
ernment is tasked with providing are provided by non-profits. If I can say, I think that trend is going to continue.
One of the reasons that I’m running for State Treasurer is that I am very concerned about our fiscal future here in Delaware. We are, in my
humble opinion, looking at a revenue change over the next three to five years. A lot of the money that is currently in the government is not
going to be there. And we’re going to have to start looking at pretty tough solutions to our spending problems. I’ll be honest with those of
you who work in the non-profit sectors, by the way thank you; we’re going to be coming to you.
I think there is no question that the relationship between government and the non-profit sector is going to expand. I think even more re-
sponsibilities of providing services that we are tasked with in the government are going to go to the non-profit sector. We should absolutely
continue to work together. We simply could not function without the non-profit community.
Another part I think is interesting is that the non-profit sector can bring ideas into government. As you know the government can be sort of
bureaucratic and insulated. Whereas, lots of organizations of the non-profit sector have a little more flexibility, have a little more freedom,
and have the opportunity to go out there and find unique creative solutions to problems. If we can access that in government I think it is a
very healthy thing. The other thing frequently you guys do a better job of it than we do - you do it less expensively. So I think quite frankly
that the role of non-profits is going to increase pretty significantly.
Over the next couple years, I think the partnership between our state government and non-profits organizations should continue to grow
and think that it will. I think that will be a very healthy thing for tax payers.
Given the current economic reality in Delaware, and recognizing the Arts and Creative sector as an investment that pays off, what policies
or practices will you implement immediately upon taking office, to grow jobs in this sector and to encourage more creative businesses to
locate or start here?
A couple things, I’m an unashamed fan of the arts. My mom, we have 7 kids in my family, I’m an identical twin. My mom dragged us to the
symphony, the opera, you name it. We got this appreciation of the Arts from day one.
I think quite frankly, governments have a role to play in funding of the Arts. I know I’m an Episcopal conservative, which might surprise
you. I am a firm believer that if the market is not going to provide something then the government may have a role there. I think the gov-
ernment absolutely has a role in funding the arts because that is not something that traditionally the market provides. The arts can abso-
lutely be an economic driver. We have this diamond in the rough here in Wilmington. I know Wilmington has some problems. But in some
senses we get a sense of a big city and a small city. I think that we’ve worked hard to try and get Arts to the down state communities. I
think we absolutely have a role in that. Can I tell you absolutely that we will not have to make cuts across the board? No. But what I will tell
you is that in my position as state treasurer that I will try to defend the arts funding as much as practical. The one thing that I can do is
make sure that every Delawarean knows where every single penny of their money is going.
I think when people realize how big our government really is and how much money goes to things that are really not that productive, I think
we have an opportunity to start re-aligning priorities and then we can start talking about putting money into those higher priority things. It’s
a good question. The arts are definitely a part of Delaware’s future.
* Answers were obtained from video interview transcripts