Matt Meyer

Matthew S. Meyer is an American politician, teacher, and attorney. A Michigan native and Wilmington, Delaware, resident, he was elected New Castle County Executive in 2016.

Matt Meyer
New Castle County Executive
Assumed office
January 3, 2017
Preceded byTom Gordon
Personal details
BornBay City, Michigan, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic

Early life and education

Meyer was born in Bay City, Michigan, and grew up in Wilmington, Delaware. He graduated from Wilmington Friends School, Brown University (cum laude in political science and computer science), and the University of Michigan Law School (member, Michigan Law Review).[1]

Career

Meyer taught public school in Washington, D.C., for three years. He also taught at Prestige Academy in Wilmington. He won a Skadden Fellowship upon graduation from law school and used it to work for Community Legal Aid in Wilmington. He then became an attorney working in mergers and acquisitions with Simpson Thatcher and Bartlett LLP. He served in Iraq as a diplomat for the U.S. State Department, worked as an economic advisor to Delaware Governor Jack Markell and was a partner at Potomac Law Group.[2] He has started two businesses, Ecosandals and VituMob, both in Kenya. He appeared on CNN to discuss Ecosandals and on using technology to create jobs in poor neighborhoods.[3] In 2003 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Meyer was awarded the Sam Beard Jefferson Award for the Greatest Public Service by an Individual 35 Years and Under; at that same ceremony Condoleezza Rice received a Jefferson Award.[4] Al Gore's Current TV called him an "all around super human."[5]

New Castle County Executive

2016 election

In the Democratic primary for New Castle County Executive, Meyer's campaign focused on integrity and economic policy.[6] On September 13, Meyer defeated three-term incumbent Tom Gordon by a margin of 4.66% in the primary, winning 21,487 votes (52.33%) to Gordon's 19,678 votes (47.67%).[7] Meyer defeated Republican Mark Blake in the general election in November with 67% of the vote. He took office on January 3, 2017.

2020 election

On September 15, Meyer earned the Democratic nomination for County Executive, defeating challenger Maggie Jones in the Democratic primary. Meyer won 43,833 votes (56.51%), while Jones received 33,735 votes (43.49%).[8]

Tenure

Meyer has accomplished the following as New Castle County Executive:

  • Selected the first African-American police chief in the 106-year history of the 400-officer New Castle County Police Department.[9][10]
  • Facing growing deficits, reduced spending by over $5 million in the first 60 days and passed a $284 million budget.[11][12]
  • Announced, with the police chief, the kidnapping and safe release of a four-year-old girl and pleaded with the public to provide information to help identify a suspect. Several weeks later, using information provided by the public, announced an arrest.[13][14]
  • Hosted first-ever county Iftar dinner for leaders of all the mosques in the county.[15]
  • Proposed changes to contracting rules likely to save the county at least $2 million in annual construction spending and increase in-state apprenticeship opportunities.[16]
  • Attracted Del Monte Foods to Glasgow, Delaware, and announced the global food producer was opening its largest distribution facility in the company, likely to create thousands of jobs.[17]
  • Saved county taxpayers over $2 million by preserving hundreds of acres of county farmland at $3,000 per acre, cancelling a previous deal to preserve at $30,000 per acre.[18]
  • Announced a new and comprehensive program to address over 1300 vacant homes.[19]
  • Signed into law changes to the county's land use code to spawn job growth and innovation.[20]
  • Partnered with private sector to provide NCC firemen with naloxone to address drug overdoses.[21]
  • Selected the first African-American chief administrative officer for New Castle County.[22]
  • Instituted mandatory employee trainings on sexual harassment and expanded employee training opportunities, including on implicit biases.[23]
  • In response to rumors that a senior county police officer had sexually harassed female officers, took steps to enable any employee to file a grievance with Meyer directly; a female officer did so, and within hours the senior officer was under investigation and never worked another day as a County police officer.[24]

COVID-19 response

Meyer helped New Castle County government form a partnership with Biobot, a company that analyzes sewage to estimate the number of people infected with COVID-19 in a given area.[25][26]

In a July 2020 editorial for The News Journal, Meyer advocated for sending all teachers and students back to school in the fall during the coronavirus pandemic.[27]

Controversies

In June 2020, six current and former New Castle County employees filed a federal lawsuit against Meyer and other New Castle County officials alleging serial sexual harassment and assault by former New Castle County Police lieutenant colonel Quinton Watson. The lawsuit calls New Castle County government a “sanctuary” for sexual harassers.[28][29]

In July 2020, Meyer faced allegations he made "belligerent" calls to two mayors who are supporting his opponent, Maggie Jones, in the 2020 Democratic primary for New Castle County Executive. Both Elsmere mayor Eric Scott Thompson and Newark mayor Jerry Clifton said Meyer's phone conversations with them were heated, and they felt the county executive made threats toward their communities by telling them that he "will remember this." Meyer refused to specifically address the accusations.[30]

References
  1. http://michiganlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Vol.-100-Masthead.pdf
  2. "Matthew Meyer - Potomac Law Group". Archived from the original on 2016-09-17. Retrieved 2016-08-08.
  3. "Kenyan Company Launches a Line of Environment-Friendly Footwear - Transcript". CNN. August 26, 2001. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  4. "Jefferson Awards Foundation Past Winners". Archived from the original on 2017-06-23. Retrieved 2016-08-08.
  5. "Eco Sandals: Current TV | TeamJaded". teamjaded.com. Retrieved 2016-08-08.
  6. "Meyer for New Castle County". YouTube. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  7. "State of Delaware - Department of Elections · Office of the State Election Commissioner". elections.delaware.gov. Retrieved 2016-09-14.
  8. "2020 State Primary Election Report". Archived from the original on 2020-09-18. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
  9. "Bond named NCCo's first black police chief". delawareonline. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  10. Writer, Staff (2017-03-21). "Vaughn Bond Named As First Black Chief of Police For New Castle County". First State Update. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  11. "NCCo Executive Matt Meyer: No tax hike in coming year". delawareonline. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  12. Irizarry, Joe. "Meyer imposes immediate budget cuts to New Castle County government". WDEL 101.7FM. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  13. McAneny, DJ. "'This heartless monster': Police reveal Pike Creek girl, 4, was abducted and raped". WDEL 101.7FM. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  14. Cherry, Amy. "New Castle County Police make an arrest in kidnapping, assault of 4-year-old Pike Creek girl". WDEL 101.7FM. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  15. "Log In or Sign Up to View". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  16. "New Castle County loosens construction rules to increase local bids". delawareonline. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  17. "Del Monte plans processing center in Pencader area". Delaware Business Now. 2017-02-20. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  18. Cherry, Amy. "VIDEO | A better deal for Delaware taxpayers: Farmland preservation at a fraction of the cost". WDEL 101.7FM. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  19. "NCCo plan addresses growing number of vacant homes". delawareonline. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  20. Cherry, Amy. "VIDEO: Changes to New Castle County land use aim to spawn job growth, innovation". WDEL 101.7FM. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  21. McAneny, DJ. "Volunteer fire companies save 760 extra lives with New Castle County-Greenhill Pharmacy Narcan partnership". WDEL 101.7FM. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
  22. "New Castle County names Vanessa Phillips as chief administrative officer". Delaware Business Times. 2018-03-07. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  23. Phillips, Vanessa S. "Bold steps to a safe and equitable workplace in New Castle County". The News Journal. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  24. Phillips, Vanessa S. "Bold steps to a safe and equitable workplace in New Castle County". The News Journal. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  25. Leiber, Nick (2020-06-01). "A Startup Is Testing Sewage to Trace the U.S. Spread of Covid". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 2020-06-28. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  26. Alec Snyder and Susannah Cullinane. "Some scientists are using sewage to measure the prevalence of coronavirus in their communities". CNN. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  27. Hockstein, Neil; Meyer, Matt (2020-07-11). "Test every K-12 student: Delaware's schools must reopen". The News Journal. Archived from the original on 2020-08-13. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  28. Schmidt, Sophia (2020-06-18). "New Castle County government focus of federal sexual harassment lawsuit". www.delawarepublic.org. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  29. Cherry, Amy (2020-06-22). "'A safe harbor' for a 'serial sexual predator' | Current, former NCCPD officers file lawsuit against ex-second-in-command". WDEL 101.7FM. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  30. Parra, Esteban (2020-07-24). "Was Matt Meyer 'belligerent' to those supporting his opponent?". Delaware Online. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
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