Statements by David L. Anderson
833 statements from meeting recordings, newest meeting first.
Machine transcript. Statements are matched to this official by machine and can be wrong. Check the recording.
Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
And there's others, too, but I'm just saying that that that you can refer them to get
Play from 23:05Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
That That could be. But But basically, the main point is because this would be dealing with with a Yeah. It Crime and stuff like that. Okay.
Play from 23:22Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
Yeah.
Play from 24:34Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
Well, the deal is, though, like in his case, because of his mental illness, he's violating PFAs. Yeah. He's uh harassing people and and things like that. And so that So, that that could be. Hey, you said it could be an entry point to It because just violating him doesn't do him any good, it doesn't fix him, it doesn't help him, doesn't help anyone. But if we could get somebody to mental health, it could actually help them instead of
Play from 25:01Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
you know. But anyway, that's That's something we'll discuss when we get there. I think um
Play from 25:31Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
Well, we we've we just put everything there and then the committee then the committee will talk about see what's feasible. Now that we're not judging goals right now. We're putting them, they're all reasonable. Mhm. It's just that and we'll figure out what's feasible in the next couple of months. Yeah. Uh, and that's the um are there Now, let's if there It We'll have this um written, sent out. Are there any of And we'll have them sent out to the uh
Play from 25:39Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
rest of the members so that they have their chance via email to add what their thoughts as well. Mhm. Um, and then we'll we will bring it back in November after the election. And we can uh talk.
Play from 26:00Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
All right. Um, so now, let's uh branch a little bit about um how Now, we've done some with events and town halls first. But what how Let's see. How do we want to look at um I mentioned the possibility of, once we develop something worth seeing, to do an evening meeting and getting public input. But are there any other ways that we should engage the community then and maybe even before, and, you know, all along? What What's would be a good community engagement strategy to
Play from 26:15Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
How about we drop in a survey? I A survey sounds good. I I like that idea. Um, survey.
Play from 26:49Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
Agreed.
Play from 27:08Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
That That makes sense uh cuz, uh, I mean, let's be honest, uh um, you know, uh half the people on this committee had no idea what Alderman's Court did before they came. Now, you all are Yeah, like you could explain it to people now, but and then And that's fine. But it's uh Well, I said only. I only said about half. And that And that was cool because that's what we were after. We were after you know, a getting a diverse uh level of knowledge, opinion, and so on. And, and bringing some people in who just have a totally fresh perspective. And, as well as people who had extensive knowledge. And that way uh, you know, it it the whole point was to have that balance, because if we if uh we're we're going along and half the people are like, you know, we It's time to recalibrate, because then we're not going to reach the general public. Um, so that was important. Um, see. But, yeah, I like this idea of a survey, because the the survey can ask those questions like, you know, what Yeah. Do you These are what the committee Do you have other goals? Do you approve of these? What What do you What else do you think? Uh, you know, do you believe it will work at all? You know, once you get down to the final question, you know. Then you could give the people who are like, "What goals? I don't like it at all." You know, and then give them the chance to express their opinion. Um, you know, and all So, I I like the idea of a survey. You can do survey online and on paper.
Play from 27:20Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
That's something we can that that we can work on uh
Play from 28:37Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
Uh, yes, please.
Play from 28:40Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
Please. Go ahead.
Play from 28:42Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
Yeah.
Play from 28:57Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
Sure.
Play from 29:05Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
Well, that's true.
Play from 29:51Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
Yeah. We We can be pretty In fact,
Play from 30:06Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
Huh?
Play from 30:11Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
Excuse me.
Play from 30:22Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
Oh, no. I I thought you meant I thought you meant like limit them, limit the town hall to
Play from 30:25Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
not the town hall, but the public comments to 60 minutes regardless of how many people are there.
Play from 30:30Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
Yeah.
Play from 30:37Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
Agreed, and uh one of the good things about if we get the court that we want to get, based upon those goals, the the commu- it will improve the quality of life most of the marginalized communities, and uh and but it will affect favorably the whole city, the whole city will be improved because you're going to basically have a you're going to have a functioning, prosperous, peaceful city again. And uh that over the long run, and won't be instant, but but you will have that again and that will be benefit everybody: jobs, best way quality of life, people getting the help they actually need instead of it's yeah, it it will instead of essentially either being uh catch and release and ignore, or having uh or then when they're finally not ignored, uh uh having the boom fall on them, you know, and and being crushed by the system. You know, it it's like we go to the two extremes. Mhm. And there has to be something in between. There has to be something that all has accountability, but also redemption as a goal. In my view. And that's
Play from 31:36Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
I think if we get those goals, that there won't be a problem getting a passage because everybody will buy into them. The question is, can we achieve that, and that we'll find figure out in the next couple of months. Um, let's uh let's see. That takes community engagement strategy. That takes us to the end of our agenda. Uh, I want to hear if anyone has any final thoughts before we adjourn. Dr. Hall?
Play from 32:56Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
Charter changes are are Let's be honest, charter changes are 98% approved. And uh if we get this type of community buy-in that we're going to try to get, it will be approved. And don't forget we once had an alderman's court in Dover. That's Yeah. It's not And it's not something new to the state. It's operational all
Play from 34:06Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
over. from the one part to the other. It would be hard to say, "Oh, Dover, you can't do one." Yeah. You know, I mean it they could, but it would be hard to because it takes a two-thirds majority to amend a charter. Yeah. But it is um it would be very hard to say that to the people. And quite frankly, if we got to that level and the people really wanted it and we were being obstructed, I would uh move to put it on the April election ballot. Yeah.
Play from 34:25Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
And if the people endorsed it, there's no way it would be turned down. Look, I think at the state sorry. I I think at the the state level, I think this is a real issue across the state. Yeah. I mean,
Play from 34:46Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
See, I I would like to add a goal 10, quite frankly, on that, and that is um like for people who who are need don't have these repeat offenders, uh uh return don't do um that if they don't have the drugs, mental health, et cetera, being still having the right to refer them to essentially something like a reentry-type program where they can get and where if they they do have a probation before judgment. Mhm. Right? A probation before judgment and um peanut butter and jelly sandwich, right? And and um and then, it for as a condition that probation before judgment, they can get paid uh training, you know, but they got to show up. They have to do the job. They can't quit it. They can't They got, you know, so on. They have to do their workforce development, and and they can get uh soft skills and and all all of the things that uh it according to an assessment that would it have to be assessed for their needs. And if they and if that happens, um we will literally change not just the city, but we're going to change family trees because then you're going to change people's lives, and you're going to change their children's lives. Because one of the problems we have, yeah, now I'm commentating, but one of the problems that I see so often is uh a generational chain where people just don't know better because their parents didn't know better, their grandparents didn't know better, and they're falling in the same trap because they never seen, and never been presented with an alternative.
Play from 35:38Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
And not everybody's going to take advantage of an opportunity that you offer them. Some people are still But if you can get a third, if you can get a half, you've that changed the whole dynamic, because then you're going to reduce crime, you're going to reduce repeat offenses. Uh, Network Delaware had an interesting program that they launched in Wilmington. And in that program, 25% in some of those neighborhoods, it's the lowest reduction in crime. Some of them were 50 to 60% in targeted scenarios.
Play from 37:16Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
You know, they had me at 25%, but when I was looking through those numbers and I'm seeing
Play from 38:00Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
Uh-huh, wow. This is more like 40%. And some of the neighbors, 50, 60%. It's like, that's not the whole solution, but that's something we've got to have here. But you have to have a mechanism also to refer people into. And probation before judgment is- gives us one of those tools because we want to give people a second chance, but if they don't want to take it, then- then put them in the system. That's their choice, not ours. But-
Play from 39:19Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
Right.
Play from 40:12Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
That's true.
Play from 40:18Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
Yes.
Play from 41:06Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
Yeah. We have to set up where where it's appealing to them because it's like, yeah, I can have this and keep going down a negative path, or I have a chance to actually change my life and do something different and look at all these benefits. You know, I I had nothing. Now I I can go in and have job training and and now I can get help. I can get relationship advice. I can get all these things, and and it's like yeah, they can help find me rent rental assistance. It's like, why wouldn't I do this? You know, I mean, most people are rational. You know, if the people who aren't are the ones that will be referred to drug court. Because they they usually have substance abuse. Yes, sir.
Play from 41:10Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
Yeah. Mhm.
Play from 42:53Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
Right.
Play from 44:22Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
Yes, they can. They can.
Play from 44:38Oct 1, 2026, Alderman's Court Ad Hoc Meeting
They can.
Play from 44:47