Report alleging intercession called ‘an insult’

Delaware State News

DOVER — A Dover lawmaker and her husband have come under fire in recent weeks, facing allegations that she has used her influence in Legislative Hall to secure state employment for him.

The allegations, printed in The (Wilmington) News Journal two weeks ago, purport that Rep. Nancy H. Wagner, R-Dover, interceded on behalf of husband C.C. "Bud" Wagner II through the state’s budget-writing process.

The article details Mr. Wagner’s 17 years in state government, which began in 1991 when he left a career of more than 20 years in the cable-television industry to work at the Department of Transportation.

Rep. Wagner won her House seat in 1992 and sits on the legislative Joint Finance Committee, which crafts the state’s $3 billion-plus budget each year.

It’s in the state’s budget that hundreds of paragraphs detail exactly how certain funds are spent, duties of employees, objectives for agencies and other directives from the General Assembly.

Since 2003, a paragraph inserted each year in the budget epilogue has moved Mr. Wagner from the public defender’s office, where he had been employed since 1995, to the Department of Correction.

He is paid $68,104 annually.

Both Wagners deny that any inappropriate action took place in securing Mr. Wagner’s job or in moving him to DOC.

"I never pushed for anything," said Rep. Wagner, noting that she did not become a member of JFC until last year, serving as an alternate in 2005-06.

"In the entire time she’s been in the legislature, neither she nor I have asked for anything," Mr. Wagner said Thursday. "It’s an insult to me professionally."

Mr. Wagner said he spent more than 20 years "building cable systems, selling subscriptions" in various locations throughout the country, but mostly on the East Coast.

He joined DelDOT "to get off the fast track," and worked in support services.

While at DelDOT, Mr. Wagner said state Public Defender Lawrence W. Sullivan started talking with him about expanding a videophone system for processing defendants in the judicial system remotely, greatly cutting down on transporting suspects to court.

Rep. Wagner said she played no role in securing her husband’s job in the public defender’s office, that he applied on his own.

"The videophone was something that was close to my heart," Mr. Wagner said.

Mr. Sullivan said Mr. Wagner’s job was to administer and expand the digital audio-video telecommunications system, analyze current videophone systems, and plan and coordinate the development, maintenance and enhancement of the statewide criminal justice videophone system.

"Bud Wagner has made a substantial contribution to the success of Delaware’s statewide videophone system," Mr. Sullivan said.

"I hired Bud Wagner in September 1995. I did so because of his extensive experience in the cable-TV industry. In 1995, we were beginning to extend our videophone network to sites throughout the state. Today, we have almost 100 sites. Bud has been a key player in that expansion effort."

In 2003, the Joint Finance Committee inserted epilogue language into the budget to transfer Mr. Wagner’s position to the Department of Correction to implement a distance-learning program for prisoners.

Rep. Wagner said she had nothing to do with that language being added.

"I didn’t know about what they wanted to do at DOC until after the fact," said Rep. Wagner, adding that she didn’t see the paragraph until the budget was finished.

She abstained from voting on the fiscal 2004 budget.

Commissioner of Corrections Carl C. Danberg said Mr. Wagner developed a low-frequency television channel at Delaware Correctional Center near Smyrna to bring educational and treatment programs to prisoners isolated from the general prison population.

"Maximum security prisoners can’t move to a group educational setting, but we can pump the material to them on television," said Mr. Danberg, adding that DOC is looking to expand the program to all department institutions.

Mr. Danberg said Mr. Wagner also has developed:

•a DVD distributed to correctional emergency services personnel on the use of force;

•a multimedia classroom for training correction officers;

•a defibrillator training program that has been electronically distributed;

•a DVD on sexual harassment for regional training.

But Mr. Wagner’s biggest project, Mr. Danberg said, is establishing DOC’s telemedicine pilot program, which began last month.

The program connects patients with medical providers through videoconferencing, which Mr. Danberg said allows the department to maximize its medical resources throughout its multiple institutions.

"It does not replace conventional treatment, but it does supplement it," Mr. Danberg said.

"(Mr. Wagner) is responsible for the pilot. It had its bugs, but it’s a brand new program and it has worked well. We are working out the bugs before we implement it (statewide).

"Over the last year, Bud has been productive, and I intend to make good use of him (his position is tentatively slated to remain on loan to DOC) over the next year on the telemedicine project."

Capital school board member Scott seeks seat

Delaware State News

DOVER — Education almost certainly will be the centerpiece of the race for the 31st District House of Representative seat, with the incumbent a retired high-school teacher and the challenger a school-board member.

Dover resident Darryl Scott formally announced his candidacy Tuesday, a Democrat trying to knock off 16-year incumbent Rep. Nancy H. Wagner, R-Dover.

"We are going to need to seriously look at how we fund school construction and maintenance," said Mr. Scott, who has served on the Capital School District board of education since May 2005.

"The state has $350 million in deferred maintenance for schools and only sets aside $7 million a year. School districts end up going to referendum to fund those minor capital improvements."

The referendum process, Mr. Scott said, can be quite tedious and detract from schools’ primary function, which is to educate.

And even after a referendum passes, the financially strapped state has had to put off funding for some districts because there are more approved referendums than money available.

That, Mr. Scott said, can lead to project costs escalating through inflation and possibly exceeding any contingencies built into the referendum.

Mr. Scott, 43, is director of account operations for Milford-based business outsourcing company Sitel. The 31st District Democratic Committee endorsed the six-year Dover resident last year.

He has been involved with the parent teacher organization at his son’s schools, participated on numerous school committees, coached with the Central Delaware Soccer Association and held a seat on the board of directors for the Elizabeth W. Murphey School in Dover.

"I have a healthy respect for the challenge I’m taking on," Mr. Scott said of running against Rep. Wagner, a former Dover High teacher.

"She’s well-known in the community, she’s an incumbent and she’s starting with more money than me."

According to Department of Elections year-end campaign finance reports, Mr. Scott reported having $10,900 on hand as of Dec. 31, while Rep. Wagner had $21,700 in her campaign treasury.

Mr. Scott said he also wants to focus on health care, noting that 20,000 Kent County residents, including 4,000 children, are uninsured.

"Half of those children qualify for various programs (such as Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program) but are not enrolled," he said.

Mr. Scott said his campaign represents an opportunity to restore "integrity and accountability" to the district.

He questioned how effective Rep. Wagner has been able to be in the legislature after facing criticism in recent years regarding questions about dual compensation as a teacher and legislator, her current job with Delaware State University and her husband’s state job.

Rep. Wagner, who sits on the powerful budget-writing Joint Finance Committee, said she intends to file for a ninth two-year term.

Associated Press

WILMINGTON — A Republican lawmaker’s husband will be allowed to keep a $68,000 state job that was created by the General Assembly five years ago, the head of a legislative budget committee said.

Bud Wagner, husband of Rep. Nancy H. Wagner, R-Dover, works on video education and medical projects for the Department of Correction, although his $68,100 salary is paid by Delaware Public Defender Larry Sullivan’s office.

Mr. Sullivan proposed that the Department of Correction pay Mr. Wagner, freeing up Mr. Sullivan to hire someone else to help with the state’s videophone system, which links attorneys, police, court officials and prisoners through nearly 100 sites statewide.

But Sen. Nancy W. Cook, D-Kenton, co-chair of the legislative Joint Finance Committee, which created Mr. Wagner’s job with language inserted into a budget bill in 2003, said that won’t happen.

"Not in this budget climate, where every job is precious,’’ said Sen. Cook after Thursday’s fiscal 2009 budget hearing for corrections.

Sen. Cook said that even if Mr. Wagner’s job was moved into the prison budget, Mr. Sullivan wouldn’t get a new position in the public defenders office.

"There is nothing I can do,’’ said Mr. Sullivan, a fellow Republican who first hired Mr. Wagner from a midlevel administrative post in the transit system in 1995 without posting the job or interviewing any other candidates. "It’s not that big in the overall scheme of things.’’

The General Assembly’s use of budget "epilogue’’ language to guarantee Mr. Wagner a job without identifying him was detailed in a recent newspaper article about Rep. Wagner’s intervention on behalf of her husband in a succession of state jobs since she was elected in 1992.

Delaware’s official misconduct law forbids public officials, including legislators, from obtaining a personal benefit through unauthorized actions outside official duties. The legislature’s separate conflict-of-interest law stipulates that "any effort to realize personal financial gain through public office’’ violates the public trust.

Sen. Bruce C. Ennis, D-Clayton, a veteran lawmaker but new member of the JFC, said the epilogue, often used to tuck legislators’ pet projects into the budget at the last minute, should not be used to give anyone a job. Sen. Ennis, who served with Rep. Wagner in the House until his election to the Senate last year, said he knew nothing of the unusual job arrangement until he read the article.

"I would prefer not to see the position, or any position, handled through the epilogue,’’ Sen. Ennis said. "I’d prefer to see it handled through the regular budget, which is the normal and proper process.’’

Sen. David McBride, D-New Castle, another member of the finance committee, also questioned the process, even though he was on the JFC in 2003.

"I have questions about it,’’ he said. "Let’s leave it at that.’’

Rep. Wagner, who has been on the panel since last year, left immediately after the meeting and could not be reached for comment. She has not made any public statements about helping her husband find employment, and Mr. Wagner has not returned newspaper calls seeking comment.

During Thursday’s budget hearing, DOC commissioner Carl Danberg apologized to lawmakers because the mandatory annual reports detailing Mr. Wagner’s work previously had not been filed. After the newspaper’s inquiries, a report for 2007 was filed.