The Dive: Late to the Party

For three Saturdays next month, Wilmington will pilot-test a new social drinking designation in the Brooklyn Arts District. 

The General Assembly legalized social districts in 2021, allowing customers of bars and restaurants to walk freely with to-go alcoholic beverages in designated areas.

Most urban areas have already taken advantage of the opportunity: As of last spring, cities and counties had established 55 social districts across the state.

A group of 20 small business owners in Wilmington got together this fall to make their pitch to city leaders to establish one. In a 4-2 vote last week, city council OK’d the pilot program. 

The social district path will span 10 blocks along 4th Street, from Flytrap Brewing to Pizzeria Don Luca, from noon to 5 p.m.

Business owners will cover the cost of signage, trash collection, and provide the state-required labeled cups. At this point, the city won’t have to spend anything. “This is a blueprint for how you bring people together,” Councilman Luke Waddell said at last week’s meeting, complimenting the business collective for making the city’s job easy. “I think it’s about time.” 

Waddell—who also promoted the program in a Jeff Jackson-style TikTok this week–is among the camp that sees this as an economic driver. Social districts have been credited with revitalizing hurting downtowns across North Carolina and have been a staple in other states for decades.

But not everyone is a fan. Councilman David Joyner, who ultimately voted in favor, voiced concerns about straining already-stressed police resources and generating plastic waste. The police department is “apprehensive,” Deputy City Manager Chad McEwen told council.

Councilman Kevin Spears and Councilwoman Salette Andrews voted against the program. “Something about it does not sit right with me,” Spears said at the meeting. He explained he would be in favor of a similar program but closer to the heart of downtown and aired concerns about promoting day drinking next to a residential area. “You can put an economic spin on anything,” he said. “The driver of this social district is alcohol, and I don’t think we can get away from that.”

Later on Facebook, Spears expanded on his objections. The Brooklyn Arts District is one of many gentrified areas downtown, and many of Spears’ commenters reflected on the white privilege the area has been granted and the hypocrisy of the decision. “People who look like us, spending the same money, will not be treated the same,” one commenter wrote. 

Other folks worried about potential reputational damage. “Is this the vision we want for Wilmington, as a place to drink?” former councilman Paul Lawler wrote. “Let’s aspire higher.”

Wilmington—deserved or not—does have a drunk beach town reputation (check us out on Urban Dictionary). A social district certainly wouldn’t aid with that, but plenty of cities lean into it to benefit economically (think: New Orleans’ Bourbon Street). 

We’ll see if a few sloshed idiots ruin the fun for responsible drinkers. Come March, the city will review how it went and consider making the district permanent. 

– Johanna F. Still

Read this newsletter online or contact The Dive team with tips and feedback at wilmington@theassemblync.com.

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When Retirement Makes Cents

Last Friday, Wilmington Police Chief Donny Williams told city council he would retire by the end of June. Williams noted that when he accepted the position back in 2020, he “committed to a five-year tenure and not staying past 2025.”

Williams’ retirement caps an extensive career, starting as a sworn cadet in 1992 and spanning over thirty years. His unanimous appointment as the city’s first Black police chief in 2020 came as the department was shaken by revelations about three officers, caught on camera making violent and racist statements. Facing a national audience, Williams handled the crisis with confidence and candor.

But since then, I’ve heard from many WPD officers frustrated with Williams.

His announcement followed more public criticism. Several high-ranking former officers publicly voiced their issues after WHQR broke the story of a $75,000 third-party investigation into Williams’ allegedly toxic leadership style. 

Interestingly, at no point in the last four and a half years have I heard anyone–on or off the record–mention Williams’ commitment to leaving office before the end of 2025. 

There was plenty of speculation that City Manager Tony Caudle, Mayor Bill Saffo, and others were trying to wait out the crisis in the hope that Williams would retire. And several officers I spoke to said they wanted Williams to step down–some because they disagreed with his management, others because it would open up career opportunities. But none of Williams’ critics ever said, “If we can just make it through 2025, it’ll be okay.”

On Friday, I emailed Saffo and the three other council members who were there for Williams’ 2020 appointment vote, and asked them about his “five-year commitment.” None of them responded.

To be clear, that’s not evidence that Williams is making anything up; I take him at his word. It’s possible council is simply squeamish about further discussing the issue, which has proven radioactive over the last six months. Or, as some city staff suggested on background this week, because it concerns Williams’ personal finances.

Specifically, staff have gestured to the special separation allowance, something I first heard Williams mention during a private press meeting the chief called to address allegations against him.

Williams said he loved his hometown community, but that his time would come to an end because he was “competing against a separation allowance, and it’s going to get to a point where it’s not financially feasible.” (Williams didn’t say when that point would be.)

Essentially, the allowance was created by state law to help fill the gap between when many officers retire and when usual retirement benefits kick in. Officers are paid 0.85% of their current base annual pay multiplied by their years of service. Based on Williams’ salary of roughly $195,000 and about 32 years on the job, that comes to over $52,000 a year, on top of other retirement benefits. 

Importantly, retiring officers are only eligible for the allowance until they’re 62. Williams, born in 1971, is running out of time to claim it.

– Benjamin Schachtman

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Around the Region

Blues Cruise: Low-cost carrier JetBlue will launch service out of Wilmington International Airport with a nonstop starting in April to Boston, Greater Wilmington Business Journal reports. Growth at ILM has been on a tear in recent years with several new carriers.

Unregulated: Cape Fear Public Utility Authority still hopes to prevent the toxic chemical 1,4-dioxane from contaminating the local water supply after the state Department of Environmental Quality declined to take up its petition to immediately regulate it, Port City Daily reports. 

Crappy Timing: Brunswick County Public Utilities took 14 hours to respond to a sewage spill after residents in Southport reported it, State Port Pilot reports.  

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Around the State

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