For a small town, New Castle has an unusually busy schedule of local elections! That’s because, in addition to our every-other-June city ballots, New Castilians have a say in who serves among the Trustees of the New Castle Common. First established in 1764 by the sons of William Penn, this non-profit organization was created to safeguard in perpetuity the common lands Penn had gifted to the citizens of the town of New Castle at least as early as 1701.
After the revolution, the Trust was re-incorporated under Delaware law in 1792 by the General Assembly, and continues to steward Penn’s special grant to the people of New Castle. Today, the Trust provides roughly $2 million each year in programs, services and grants benefitting the city and manages assets totalling over $16 million. Its activities include the maintenance of Battery Park, preservation and development of Penn Farm, the Hermitage Natural Area and other properties, grants for improvements to the city such as the Delaware Street renovations, and more.
About the Trustees and the Common
The Trust is primarily a property management organization, as the majority of its assets comprise many parcels in and around the City of New Castle that were part of Penn’s original land grant. These properties incude some of our finest local treasures, including, Penn Farm, Bellanca Airfield, the recently-established Hermitage Natural Area and much more. They also incude commercial properties all over greater New Castle.
While Trustees once served for life, they now serve staggered 12-year terms, still long in order to promote continuity of stewardship and some buffer against the more tumultuous back-and-forth of city politics, yet limited to retain accountability to Trust voters. However, the Trust is not without its critics and skeptics, including at least one of the current candidates to join it. With a nearly $3 million annual budget, it is completely natural to question how those funds are used and whether the assets of the Trust are being maintained and/or leveraged to the benefit of New Castle appropriately.
As a state-chartered non-profit institution, the Trust is required to regularly publish records of its finances and proceedings. These are readily available on its website. While instances of “Executive Session” are invoked during meetings, this is as any executive body does when handling sensitive matters relating to personnel, account documents, etc. However, a few citizens regularly express concerns around the Trustees’ level of transparency. In 2017, following years of the Trust claiming immunity from Freedom-of-Information-Act (FOIA) requests, a former Trustee obtained a formal legal opinion from the office of the DE State Attorney General. AG Opinion No. 17-IB34, penned by then-State Solicitor Aaron Goldstein, argued that TNCC are indeed a public entity covered by FOIA, though this Opinion is not binding.
The most recent audit of Trust finances was completed in March 2021, showing the top-line figures mentioned above, along with other details about the year-to-year operations of the organization. Minutes of the Trustees’ meetings are also available.
It is entirely possible that the Trust’s real estate assets, listed here, are under-valued. However, that is a complex issue, and one not limited to the Trust. Parcels throughout Delaware have suffered from decades without regular re-assessment, recently prompting a Chancery Court judge to find the whole property tax system in violation of the state constitution. Properties that have neither been sold nor otherwise changed in a very long time are especially likely to be under-assessed and under-appraised; and many Trust properties have sat as they are for years.
The issue of value in real property is further complicated by the nature of the Trust’s specific mix of real assets. A focus on what seem like big rent-earners like the Amazon building, NC Farmers Market, Penn Mart Shopping Center and other commercial lease properties ignores that the vast majority of Trust property is either already developed as beloved city assets, undevelopable and/or undesirable, or set aside for ecological preservation. And the Trust does report nearly $2M a year in rental income, which provides the majority of its annual revenue, covering the costs of its various projects within and donations to New Castle.
It is true that elected Trustees are more likely to be over 60, to live in the historic area, to be otherwise involved in town, and to be relatively comfortable, compared with the average city resident. However, none of these characteristics is an indictment of any individual’s ability to serve with dedication and selflessness (as displayed by the retiring Mr. Viola). Still, it is a trend that raises concerns for future governance of such institutions, and one which many current leaders readily recognize. This skew, hardly unique to the Trust among New Castle institutions, or really most local “legacy” organizations throughout the US, is something we’ll look at in a future newsletter.
As Mr. Smith wrote in his Letter to the Editors of The Weekly, the Trustees “are your friends and neighbors.” If not yours personally, still basically regular - if highly involved and generally well-connected - New Castilians. Every election is an opportunity to dig at the details we want to know about our Commons, to learn about the Trust that stewards them and to ensure that they are preserved and protected according to our democratic wishes. If you’ve read this far, please follow some of the links above, ask some questions… and Get Involved in Your Inheritance from William Penn.
September 2021 Election (**Now Passed)
Importantly, we all have a say in the leadership and direction of this very unique New Castle institution. So - basics covered - let’s start with the upcoming election. As announced by the Trust, “due to the retirement of Trustee Carlo (Corky) Viola, the Trustees … will hold an election from September 13, 2021 to September 25, 2021 to fill the vacancy.” Trustee Elections are separate from City Elections, and require residents to register directly with the Trust.
In order to register as a Trust Voter, you must be 18 years old and have lived in New Castle for one full year prior to the first election in which you would be voting. Eligible citizens of New Castle may register in person at the Trust Office on the first floor of Old Town Hall, during its open hours of 10-3, Tuesday to Thursday. For those who cannot register in person due to the short hours (or any reason), you may register by email. To do so, just download and complete the TNCC Voter Registration Form and send it to trusteesncc@comcast.net, along with a copy of a state-issued ID showing your address within New Castle city limits. (Questions can also be sent to that email.)
As City Council member Russ Smith exhorts his fellow New Castilians in The Weekly, “we continue [a] tradition this September by selecting a new Trustee for a twelve year term. Please participate and educate yourself about the Trust and the candidates.” To that end, The Weekly is currently soliticing questions for the trustee candidates, which may be submitted to its editors through September 1, with candidate responses to be published in the September 8 issue.
Then, from September 13-25, votes can be cast at the Trust office, with a schedule of hours designed to accommodate almost every schedule (available on the Trust website, along with much other info). Whichever your neighborhood, whatever your work schedule, however long you’ve been around (but at least one year!), it’s easy to get up-to-speed on this important institution in the life of our city and prepare to have your say during voting in September!
The Winner of the September 2021 election was David Baldini. He will serve until September 2033.
8/24: The paragraph discussing the Trustees’ transparency requirements under FOIA has been updated with information provided by former Trustee Dorsey Fiske.
An (Un)Common Trust
With apologies to those who received this post by email, several minor corrections have already been made. ✔️
It is an excellent idea to acquaint the Beneficial Owners (all residents) of the Trust with information about its assets and those who manage them. However, the third paragraph contains a huge and misleading inaccuracy: According to the Delaware Department of Justice, the Trustees are not private. They are a PUBLIC BODY, SUBJECT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT. Here is the proof. Click on the link below, which takes you to the relevant document.
http://opinions.attorneygeneral.delaware.gov/2017/07/31/17-ib34-07282017-foia-opinion-letter-ms-dorsey-fiske-re-foia-complaint-concerning-trustees-new-castle-commons/
We are unjustly refused most information about our assets. The Trustees are growing more and more inward, attempting to privatize our Trust, and in the recent past some of them have actually claimed that they own the Trust, and so can do whatever they like with it. As a former Trustee, I know what I'm talking about.