Newark council awards three-year lobbying contract

James Dechene, who has helped represent the City of Newark's interests in Dover for the past four years, will take over as the city's sole lobbyist.

On Monday, city council awarded Dechene a three-year lobbying contract.

Since 2019, Dechene has worked for the firm headed by Rick Armitage, who has been the city's lobbyist since 2015. Armitage is retiring this year, and Dechene has created a new lobbying firm called Blue Hen Strategies.

Newark will pay Blue Hen Strategies $56,000 in 2024, $57,000 in 2022 and $58,000 in 2026, with the option to renew for two more years at $58,000 per year.

The firm was the sole bidder for the lobbying contract.

Dechene said that in the four years he has been lobbying on behalf of Newark, his and Armitage's accomplishments include shepherding approval of amendments to the city charter, advocating for funding for street repairs and the Unicity bus program, and securing an annual $400,000 state grant to make up for lost revenue due to UD's tax-exempt status. This year, that grant was increased to $450,000.

His new firm's other clients are T-Mobile, the Wine Institute and the USAA auto insurance company. However, his contract with the city stipulates that the city's needs take precedence over other clients if there is a conflict of interest.

Before joining Armitage's lobbying firm, Dechene served as senior vice president for government relations for the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce. In that role, he was responsible for developing the chamber's policy and advocacy positions on legislative and regulatory issues impacting Delaware businesses.

He has also worked for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the New York and Massachusetts chapters of Associated Builders and Contractors, the Grocery Manufacturers of America and U.S. Rep. Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican.

A Delaware native and graduate of the University of Delaware, Dechene lives with his wife, son, and daughter in the Oaklands neighborhood of Newark. He also serves on the board of directors at Newark Charter School.

Council approved the contract with Dechene by a 5-1 vote. Councilman Jay Bancroft cast the dissenting vote, arguing that council and the public did not have enough time to review Dechene's bid. Documents related to council agenda items are typically posted to the city's website seven days in advance, but the bid information was not made available until Monday morning in what the city's secretary's office described as an oversight.

"I have no ethical issues with the applicant," Bancroft said after the meeting. "However, we don't have good comparables to evaluate value, for at least $174k from taxpayers. We violated our own rule on public access. In addition, council should have done their due diligence in vetting."

Additional bids approved

City council also approved several other bids and purchases Monday night, including:

-$304,000 for a new security fence surrounding the city's maintenance yard on Phillips Avenue

-$129,000 for a new system for storing video footage from surveillance cameras around the city

-$211,000 for a new knuckleboom truck, which is used to pick up heavy items for bulk trash collection service and also to clear fallen trees and other debris from culverts

-$262,000 for a new street sweeper truck

-$113,000 for a new vehicle lift system for the city's vehicle maintenance garage