On the road with Gov. Jack Markell
On a Tuesday morning at 9 a.m., Gov. Jack Markell is at his office in Dover. He’s been awake since 5 a.m., having already completed a live interview on CNBC at 7 a.m. in Wilmington.
Coastal Point • Laura Walter
Markell says it’s important to listen and understand what people think. Now in the car, he addresses concerns about Sussex County’s place in Delaware.
“There’s no typical day,” said Markell, who has attended as many as 22 events or meetings in a single day. “Because it’s a small state, everybody expects me to go everywhere.”
The Delaware governor can’t be everywhere at once in his 96 mile-long home state, but he certainly gets around. And today, Aug. 2, he’ll allow two reporters to follow in his footsteps.
After the interview in Wilmington, Markell drove down to Dover to meet with Dennis Coker, chief of the Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware. The private meeting takes place in Markell’s office, which is covered with family photographs of Markell’s wife, Carla, and their two children, Michael and Molly.
During the meeting, Communications Director Catherine Rossi and intern Andrew Donnelly review the CNBC interview in a side office.
Donnelly, a recent graduate from the Charter School of Wilmington, was on a search committee for a new school president with Carla Markell. Their meeting eventually led to his current internship.
“The first thing that really struck me was the schedule,” Donnelly said. “I certainly didn’t realize how much he works, the time commitment that it is.”
Even with that revelation, Donnelly said he hopes to one day get into politics himself.
Markell has more than 25 people on his staff, from receptionists to his legal counsel. The staff members come from all walks of life – some people Markell has known for years, others he’d never met before becoming governor.
“It really runs the gamut,” explained Markell. “A number of people were recommended to me by Tom McGonigle, my chief of staff. Many of them, politically, had not really supported me when I ran for governor, but that wasn’t important to me. Given the challenges facing the state, I thought it was critical that we get the best people, no matter what.”
He added that having people on his staff who hold opposing viewpoints improves his judgment when it comes to making decisions for the state.
“At the end in this job, I’ve got to make a decision, but I want to make a decision that’s well-informed, and that includes being well informed by the people that have a different points of view,” Markell said. “Once I make the decision, I expect that everybody will be on the team with me, trying to get it implemented appropriately, but we spend a lot of time – I spend a lot of time – reading.”
Rossi, who has worked as a reporter for Fox News in Philadelphia and as director of communications for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and AAA Mid-Atlantic, was not known by Markell until she joined his staff.
“We all know that we only have a certain amount of time to get things done,” Rossi said. ”That is, it’s four years – maybe four more years if he’s re-elected – but, really, there’s a concrete window of time to our jobs. We appreciate being able to work to make things better.
“There’s a sense that we are stewards of the state’s path for a limited amount of time. All of us think we need to keep things moving during challenging economic times to achieve positive long-term results. Not a day goes by that we take any of it for granted. We just keep moving forward.”
After the brief morning meeting, Markell and his staff regroup and leave for their third event, a bill signing with the Delaware State Troopers Association in Cheswold, establishing a fund to combat violent crimes.
On his way out the door, the governor pauses in the lobby to meet a student from Seaford Junior High. The young firefighter saved the life of a fellow firefighter by giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and CPR after he suffered a heart attack while fighting a structure fire, according to the nearby receptionist.
On the road in an SUV, Markell rides in the front passenger seat, his shoes off, reviewing talking points for the next speaking engagement:
“I spend a lot of time reading in the car, so that I’m as prepared as I can be,” he explained.
Markell flips through a binder in the front seat. It contains many folders, which have notes for each of Markell’s events.
Coastal Point • Laura Walter
Markell (l) meets with Dennis Coker, chief of the Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware. He only spends part of the day in his Dover office at the Tatnall Building.
But there is no more time for reading. Markell’s cell phone rings. It’s a newspaper reporter, calling for an interview that was already rescheduled once. He discusses education in the first state, pulling statistics from his notebook.
The interview continues until Markell hangs up the phone and exits the vehicle, though the car had arrived in Cheswold some 10 minutes earlier.
Markell seems to move faster than the reporters sent to capture the event. At each turn of the head, he is greeting and chatting with troopers all around the hall.
Soon, the event begins, and Markell is introduced. He explains the bill’s purpose: It will levy a $15 fee from people convicted of violent crimes. The money from the resulting Fund to Combat Violent Crimes will be distributed among local law-enforcement agencies and the Department of Safety and Homeland Security.
Several law enforcement representatives also laud the bill. Then several dozen spectators – which includes a gaggle of press – edge toward the table where Markell sits to sign the bill.
When he stands up again, Markell grins and presents a single sheet of paper: a new Delaware law.
Rossi says most of the governor’s time in July and August is spent signing bills, often with publicized events featuring the concerned parties. When the state legislature resumes in January, the staff will also spend time in a small Legislative Hall office.
Many of Markell’s appearances are positive in nature, such as school visits, bill signings and public recognition events.
But a governor must govern, and Markell must make tough choices.
“By the time they get to his desk, no one else has made the decisions,” Donnelly said.
Now en route to Georgetown, the governor remembers the most difficult decision of his term, when he took office in 2009 after the recession had begun.
“The budget collapsed. I had to propose any number of cuts, including the pay cut for state employees. I thought it was better than laying people off, but it was still a difficult thing to do.”
Markell knows he has limited power – he explains that on multiple occasions. He cannot control the national economy or federal law, but he can react to circumstances.
His CNBC interview came on the heels of Congress’s last-minute debt-ceiling vote, as he spoke to how Delaware and other states are affected by the federal debt.
Markell aims to be proactive by staying informed and promoting Delaware to companies that may be looking to expand. His constant goal is preserving and creating jobs. Delaware is considered a business-friendly state, so many corporate headquarters are centered here.
Yet when Markell took office, Chrysler had just closed its operations in Delaware, and General Motors soon declared bankruptcy, with plans to close its Delaware plant in June 2009.
Markell visited GM the very next day. He said the 50-year-old facilities had offered the best opportunities for Delaware high-school graduates to enter the middle class. Suddenly, these people were losing their jobs.
“So I walked in, feeling sick to my stomach, and talked to them for a few hours,” Markell recalled. “And by the time I left two hours later, I left feeling inspired. Because those workers weren’t done fighting for themselves, and I wasn’t done fighting for them.”
As governor, Markell is a leading figure behind the scenes of things that can impact the state. He and his staff will research, contact and travel worldwide to invite companies to invest in Delaware.
When Fisker Automotive gave late notice about their interest in purchasing the GM building, Markell’s team wrote and delivered a presentation in one day. Markell said the State had emailed Fisker an offer before the businesspeople had returned to California.
In October 2009, Delaware announced Fisker was re-opening the former GM plant.
“The best part of my job is when people thank me for getting their job back,” said Markell. “One of the more common ones is when people say, ‘I worked at the refinery for years. I lost my job. I thought I was gonna lose my house, and now, thanks to this, I’ve got my job back and my family has a future again.’
“It doesn’t get much better than that,” Markell said. “There are high highs and low lows, but all of them have to do with what’s going on in the lives of the people of the state.”
Markell describes himself as a steward who is held accountable for the taxpayers and their money.
“My success is never gonna be based on whether I gave a good speech or my rhetoric. It’s gonna be based on whether people in Delaware’s lives are getting better.”
Markell makes a quick lunchtime stop at the Georgetown-Millsboro Rotary Club, where again, he seems to shake hands with and say hello to every person in the room. Almost immediately he’s introduced to the gathered members and begins speaking about various issues within the state and county, including jobs and education.
Some Rotarians tell the governor he needs to do more, such as help expand the Georgetown airport. But, with his background as the former Delaware Treasurer, Markell says he must consider the effects of all spending. If the state invests in a project, will 10 jobs be created, or 500?
As the event ends, he’s whisked out to his car, almost as fast as he went in. With the busy schedule and nonstop speaking, it seems that he never has time to take a breath, or even eat lunch.
“I eat quickly,” he joked.
Back in the car, Markell addresses the perception that Delaware government at times neglects or forgets about Sussex County.
“If you look at a level of specificity, rather than just the abstract, then I think you’ll see there’s a significant and appropriate commitment to the county by the state government,” he says.
Markell lists local economic development initiatives – NRG, Mountaire, Perdue, M&T Bank – and the importance of tourism, poultry and other agriculture to the Delaware economy.
He mentions several projects that the state helped fund, like Cape Henlopen’s new high school and the upcoming Route 113 expansion.
“I can’t speak for others in terms of their perceptions or how it’s been historically,” Markell said. “I think that, over a period of time, people in Dover and lawmaking elected officials recognize the importance of focusing resources in all three places. Maybe that’s the benefit of a three-county state.”
Another man at the Rotary Club had derided universal healthcare, saying healthcare is one of his biggest expenses as a business owner. Markell reminded him that there was a lot of frustration with healthcare before the law, but Delaware must determine how to comply with federal law.
Markell said the benefit of governing a small state is that he can visit 25 people at a Rotary Club rather than bouncing around between television cameras.
“I think governance is a two-way street – getting feedback from people instead of just communicating my view to people,” Markell said. “I get a lot out of those conversations, and I appreciate the people willing to share their perspective with me.”
He said he hears a lot of frustration, understands it and feels comfortable informing people about the issues.
“People feel very free to share their opinions with me, and I think that’s a positive thing.”
Markell recalled a rally in Dover, in which unemployed trades people were throwing shoes at Legislative Hall for the “walk a mile in my shoes” theme.
“My trooper would prefer I avoid the scene altogether,” Markell said of his security detail. “I went and stood on top of a Durango. They gave me a megaphone, and I talked to them.”
Markell said he doesn’t get nervous speaking in front of people, especially if he is well-prepared.
“I think you’ve got to be willing to step into the lion’s den, and you’ve gotta be willing to hear from the people directly how they think.”
Markell said he always felt a duty to serve, which he said stems from his parents and the time he spent with his family overseas.
When Markell was 17, his father took a sabbatical from teaching at the University of Delaware. The family spent half the year in England, traveled across Europe and Asia, and finished the year in New Zealand.
“It may sound cliché, but four days in India was a life-changing experience for me,” he explained. “Having grown up in Newark – basically within a 3-mile radius of Newark High School – to see the level of poverty that I saw in India was just an incredible eye-opener.
“I realized for the first time the that I was here on earth for some reason greater than I ever appreciated before, and I didn’t know exactly what it meant, but I knew I wanted to help. … I wasn’t sure what path it would take me down, but I’m glad it took me down this one.”
Family is clearly a top priority to Markell who, when he’s not governing, spends his time with his family. A favorite family pastime is ping-pong, along with biking, walking and attending Phillies games.
Markell said he is not naive to the stress that comes along with being the family of the governor but that he tries to make it work.
“I think they like it,” he said of his children. “Last year, another governor was telling me his daughter wrote her college essay on the topic of why it’s so awful being the daughter of the governor. So I went home and asked my daughter, and she said she really likes it. I think in Delaware we feel fortunate that our kids can live their own lives without a whole lot of scrutiny.”
He recalled the trip he took in late July to attend the annual national Governors Association meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, when he brought along his family.
“The vacation we took in Utah was fantastic. I like being with my family, no matter where I am. ... I could be happy anywhere really, and I am very blessed I got a great wife and two great kids.”
Markell said his wife was apprehensive about his campaign for governor but is seizing the opportunity to work on issues that their family cares about. He noted that her parents, who were both alcoholics, divorced when she was very young, and her childhood was not always a pleasant one.
“I’ve had kids come up to me and say, ‘I didn’t know that about your wife. Now I feel like I can actually achieve something because of what I’m growing up with.’ The fact that people can see what she’s been able to achieve is an inspiration to me.”
Markell said that recycling, volunteerism and mentoring are issues that are important to his family and he hopes to positively impact those issues while serving as governor.
Markell’s fifth event of the day is a closed meeting at Sussex Technical High School with state Sen. Joseph Booth and school administrators. When he arrives, Sussex Tech administrators and several of his staff are already there.
Rossi explained that the Markell’s staff arrives early at events to meet the organizers prepare for his arrival. His security staff finds the quickest route in, and other advisors take notes and gather background information.
After meeting, the group tours the campus, but Markell is running late for his next event. He asks to return in autumn, when he can better tour the school and meet students and faculty.
As the Suburban whisks Markell’s entourage away, Rossi explains that an education advisor will remain behind to talk further to the Sussex Tech staff. It’s one way the governor’s staff members help smooth the edges of his tightly scheduled day.
Markell is driven to Shields Elementary School in Lewes to visit a summer school program, the STARTALK Chinese Language Summer Camp.
“I’m a huge believer in foreign language instruction,” noted Markell. “Our kids are gonna be much better off if they can communicate in languages other than English, so I’m going to see a bunch of 5- to 8-year-olds and 10- to 12-year-olds learning Chinese.”
The 66 children are participating in the two-week immersion program through which they learn Chinese language and culture.
Markell himself can speak some Spanish, and he emphasizes the importance of being multilingual. He explained that he lived in Chile for six months when he was 23 years old, which helped him learn the language.
After introducing himself to the children at the camp, he asks them why it’s important to be able to speak another language.
“Because when you go to China one day and they’re talking another language, then you’ll know what they’re talking about,” shouts one child.
“Because it’s easy to get a job,” answers another.
Markell agrees, adding that knowing another language could help the kids get better jobs and be “productive in our global society.”
On the way out, there seems to be more pep in his step. Markell’s rule of thumb: If you want to brighten your day, visit a school.
“I love meeting with young children. I like meeting with adults too, but … [children] are smart. They are interested. They are incredibly honest. It really makes me feel good to meet with these kids.”
Following his visit to Shields, Markell will travel back to Dover before heading home to Wilmington. He won’t get home until around 8:30 p.m. And it will all start again the following day at 6 a.m. But, as confirmed by the fact that Markell plans to run for a second term, he wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.
“I’ve never said, ‘What have I gotten myself into?’ I feel so fortunate. This is just an amazing job, an amazing opportunity. I feel very blessed to have it.”
Markell quickly adds that he could only be successful by surrounding himself with good people.
“I’m fortunate in that I have a job that deserves and demands 100 percent of my attention, so that’s what I give it, and what happens next, we’ll see.”
