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Wilmington City Council fails to override mayor's veto on permanent housing trust fund
Summary
After extensive public comment urging action, the council fell one vote short of the two-thirds threshold to override Mayor Carney's veto of substitute 2 to Ordinance 26-019, a measure to create a permanent housing trust fund; the roll call was 8 yeas and 5 nays, where nine votes were required.
Wilmington 'On July 2, Wilmington City Council voted 8-5 against a motion to override Mayor John Carney's veto of substitute 2 to Ordinance 26-019, a measure that would have established a permanent Housing Trust Fund and a permanent advisory board to help direct affordable-housing investments across the city. Sponsor Councilwoman Shanae Darby called the ordinance a legal framework necessary to receive and grow housing investments and urged colleagues to act now rather than wait.
Darby opened the floor describing the measure's purpose: "First, it creates a permanent housing trust fund," she said, and argued that the fund would provide a dedicated place for future housing dollars ' from city appropriations, state and federal grants to private philanthropy ' so investments could be scaled over time. Darby said the trust was meant to bring transparency and shared governance to decisions about affordable housing projects, and argued housing is a prevention tool for violence and displacement.
Public commenters filled the meeting's public-comment period and urged council to override the veto. "It was really, really heartening to see that city council could come forward to pass the housing trust," said Cheyenne Miller, one of several residents who asked council to overturn the mayor's veto. Jonathan Tate, a resident who described the proposed fund as modest in scale, reminded members the measure would authorize a $1,500,000 trust allocation in context of a police budget of more than $67.5 million.
Opponents and some council members who declined to support the override said the ordinance as drafted lacked concrete, committed funding and raised implementation questions about who would administer funds and how they would be prioritized. Councilwoman Bracey and Councilwoman Cabrera said they supported the concept of a housing trust but favored working with the administration to align the ordinance with funding already approved in the budget and to ensure the city could implement the policy when the time came. Several speakers urged collaboration across the hall with the mayor's office rather than an immediate override vote.
After roughly two hours of debate and framing by the sponsor and multiple council members, the clerk called the roll. The recorded result was eight yeas and five nays; the council needed nine votes to override the veto, so the motion failed. President Trippie Congo declared the motion defeated.
Votes at a glance: the meeting recorded multiple formal outcomes after the housing discussion. The override motion on substitute 2 to Ordinance 26-019 (housing trust fund) failed, 8-5. Council adopted Resolution 26-055 (a planning/re-zoning timeline housekeeping measure), Resolution 26-056 (concerning federal Head Start grant transparency), Ordinance 26-038 (physician/medical practitioner services contract with Innovative Work Health Solutions LLC), Ordinance 26-042 (Christina Crossing major subdivision and dedication of Howard Street), Ordinance 26-043 (1st amendment to a professional services agreement with Mullen & Lonergan Associates), and Resolution 26-057 (disposition of rehabilitated properties using CDBG funds) by subsequent roll calls.
What happened next: Darby said she would continue outreach and revisions to address implementation and funding concerns; several council members said they were willing to work collaboratively on a revised measure that could win broader support. With the override failed, the ordinance remains vetoed and may return in a revised form or through other legislative steps. Council moved on to adopt other ordinances and resolutions later in the meeting before adjourning.
The meeting record shows significant public interest in homelessness, housing affordability and police transparency; multiple speakers demanded release of police bodycam footage related to the recent shooting of Kadir Skinner and asked the city and state to act on public-safety and housing issues. The sponsor and several supporters framed the trust as a long-term tool to attract and steward housing investments; skeptics repeatedly urged clearer funding commitments and stronger collaboration with the administration before expecting implementation.
