Two workforce housing meetings occurred this week. The first on Tuesday was at the Cornerstone Church off 896, and the second one took place with the New County Council in the Gillian building just off New Castle Commons…
The first meeting was put on by the new found work-group..Stay Out Of My Pocket. This group coalesced out of the early September meeting off Vance Neck Road…. Apparently citizens did not like what the County told them there…. (You can refresh your memory here to find out why…) Since that time research was done and an action and plan of attack has been determined…
The tone between this meeting and the last, was different as East Delaware is from West Delaware…(lol) Whereas the star of the last meeting was a map, this meeting was owned by a power point. In fact walking in ones’ first impression was “wow… this is a nice church..” complete with cafeteria, hotel informational desk, and gift shop. The inner sanctum gave new meaning to echo chamber, since only those who used a mike, could be understood, unless one was quite near the speaker…
But with little contention worth mentioning, here is the scoop from the meeting… Work force housing is a done deal. Stays can be executed but we can never go back and undo the bids that were placed before and between the first and last meeting… However, legislation can be passed in the General Assembly and signed by Jack Markell which can be retroactive before the bids were placed, and that can undo the damage… An arduous process to be sure. But a lawsuit in Chancery Court can stop it cold…
There are several reasons for following through with Chancery Court… First, the Chancery Court revolves around “equity”. And the current workforce housings provisions provide developers, as well as county government, some prime plums to be picked… But.. it penalizes every other citizen and homeowner in the county by doing so… It is not equal and therefore the Chancery Court is where it needs to be heard…
Furthermore, William Chandler III stated that our current rate of development will DESTROY DELAWARE FOR GENERATIONS TO COME…
The unions sent some representatives, not wanting to be blindsided as the were by the Vance Neck meeting, where in September they figured that workforce housing was a done deal, so why bother… They did get anxious and their blood pressure soared during the part where “slowing down the process” was discussed, either by filing historical claims, environmental claims, or more or less using every law on the books, to slow down the development until the court case could be heard… was mentioned…
That then is the way to start…
Most importantly was the implicit implication to Sussex and Kent Counties… Mark Baker, who is running for Sussex County District 3, himself on Maria Evan’s show stated that workforce housing, if he was elected, was to be Sussex Counties next big priority…..
Equally chilling was a video, made by developers in America’s most royalist state, Virginia, which told other developers how to game the local system in order to put up workforce housing.. To paraphrase…”having trouble with getting a project passed through County Council?…Just mention workforce housing (formerly known as low income housing) and poof, it gets passed”… Equally telling was that Hawaii had shut down workforce housing in that state… because the outcome was so horribly different from what they had been promised…So it is possible. Success can be accomplished…
As an aside, Cathcart and Lofink both stated emphatically that they were against the work force ordinance changing forever the quality of New Castle County. Steve Amick (retired) also was against the plan.. Bethany Hall-Long, no doubt due to an acknowledgment towards the union, hemmed and hawed until rousing discontent from the audience made her too see the light… (If she was ever to be elected…..) she too came out against the ordinance.. Earl Jacques stood up in back and said he too was against the ordinance… Four for four against was the call made by the moderator…
Again more can be found on their site: Stay out of my pocket.
The following day County Council met to hear the public’s view.. In fairness to all, it should be disclosed that your humble reporter chose to spend the evening behind third base at a certain athletic event that took place that evening… So I apologize for any inconsistencies and if notified, will correct them… (Fifteen years… man…) But from what I heard, the following is what took place…
To begin we had a presentation describing work force housing….. put on by the county.. You can see that display here….
Then came the citizenry up to the open mike…
Bill Williams blamed Democrats and organized labor that goes “whoop, whoop” at county meetings.
Next Mark from Caravel Farms had questions to be answered later..
Then a fisherman’s daughter from Seattle stepped up in support of Work Force Housing…
Appoquinimink School Board President said at $30 million per school, and 1000 new kids being the thresh-hold for a new school, and a net gain of 500 students over this past summer, schools could not be built fast enough if work force housing goes into effect… He stressed he was unaware that plans had been changed regarding density levels. Next a resident complained of traffic on his road, and wondered if Deldot could ever be counted upon to fix it.. Then a rep from Stay Out Of My Pocket asked three questions to be answered in full, later… We did find out that $4200 is assessed per household for educational needs, but costs could be much higher, with the difference impinging upon taxpayers.. A visitor from the State Education stood up an said he had pertinent information, if he could speak… He jumped the line and spoke.. He was in charge of determining the assessment fees for developments across the state… His formula was simple.. take the cost of building a school..divide it by the number of houses…. for Appoquinimink…around $4200 per unit.. (someone verify that formula?) The formula is determined by state law…that finger point was repeated a lot… so today,even as commodities rise, the cost is mandated at that low level meaning that is all the developers pay… the rest is paid by your taxes…
Then Chuck Mulholland, head of Southern New Castle County Alliance, gave his opinion that work force housing was a costly endeavor… for nothing.. There are 300 properties in Claymont sitting empty… put the workforce into those houses, before moving them down to Boyd’s Corner… an idea that makes sense… Brandywine school district is cutting back due to lack of students, and Appoquinimink can’t build schools fast enough…
Several other speakers spoke as well.
On resident of Denny Road decried the condition of his highway in front of his house, and that with several new developments, no work was anticipated to widen the road… “The shoulder is crumbling away”, said this resident. “Deldot’s answer was to zig-zag the white line edging the holes already formed on the highway’s edge… Boggles the mind… and density rates were doubled?
Jim Spencer, running against Earl Jacques in the twenty seventh, who is well acquainted with Deldot… said he lives on Porter Road… It takes ten minutes for him to leave his driveway because of all the traffic… Deldot is broke… they just paid 20 million for a pile of sand at Indian River… Don’t count on Deldot to do anything to alleviate your congestion, he said.. they can’t… and density rates were doubled?
One resident of Rose Hill, (always reminds me of that scene in the Wizard of Oz… oh,.. that was poppies.) had some good questions.. Forgetting what they were, perhaps they will show up later…
Several citizens said they were raised in the city, and left on their own… They agreed with the principal of work force housing, but not with the method which it was sprung upon them in their new developments…
Several plants were called in support of the principal of work force housing, creating a controversy over whether workforce housing was for fireman and policeman, or was for slum lords and riff raff.. One wife of a policeman contested workforce housing was necessary for them by stating “the families of policemen, don’t need workforce housing… we can find housing on our own”. One lawyer from New Jersey spoke until the audience began challenging her, then walked off…. but not before giving Penrose Hollins a hug….XOXOXO
A couple of liberal types spoke on the “egalitarian principles” of why we need work force housing, thereby giving liberalism a bad name…
Andy Taylor, a lawyer for the County, who occasionally shows up in the comment sections of these blogs, said he lives in Claymont, where the density level is higher than what is being proposed in and around MOT. And he is a happy person. Great.
Joann Christian, Asst. Appoquinimink Superintendent, spoke a little about how the plan had blindside them within the school district… One of the criteria for work force housing was that it be pre-approved by the school board.. Not quite… A call comes to the school board… Can you accept “X” number of new students?” “uh… no.” “Ok, we’ll assess the fee then…” and the houses are built anyway, with part of the fee assessed upon the developers, and the children get dumped on overcrowded schools…
After seeing his former opponent speak, State Senator Bruce Ennis signed in and stepped up to the mike… Upon opening his folder, he knocked the red, yellow, and green time clock on the floor, prompting county officials to holla’ “send him the bill.”…. Bruce discussed how he was unaware that the laws for development had been changed. He cited statistics showing that of all the new plans brought before the state… those in New Castle County were in single digits… That was because a circular had been circulated saying that the county ordinance overrode the state law, which had been changed to be subordinate to county law, by the same group of Democratic Senators who backed Minner’s veto on eminent domain… led, of course, by Tony DeLuca… (no wonder he is against open government).
Laura Brown, who is running against Bill Bell, the council person responsible for putting lower New Castle County in this predicament, spoke out that she was against work force housing moving into that region, and would fight to limit its extent… Bill Bell WILL have developers and union support.. It will take everyone in District 12 who is not union or a developer, to vote for Laura Brown if Bell is to be unseated… Remember, it was Bell who sat quietly in Hooters, sipping beers while looking out the window at the scenery (yeah right), while this controversy was brewing… He talked to no one about it before it blew up… It was his seat which was hottest during the August meeting… “psssss”.
Bill Dunn, hero extraordinaire, had a couple of questions…. Almost more important than what he said, was the reaction of one Paul Clark, who leaned against the wall… As Bill spoke, Paul Clark snickered, hardly unable to contain his glee… If he is ever put in jail, he not only would be a Clark bar, but a Snicker’s bar as well. As Paul turned his head, one could see where Pam had pulled a hair for each time he had failed to do what she wanted….
Attending but not speaking, were candidates Rebecca Walker, and Bethany Hall-Long who could be overheard at the end, “where can I get a program”….
This is probably Delaware’s next big battle: citizens against the developers.. affecting Sussex and Kent Counties, as well as New Castle County… It is time everyone begin to acquaint themselves with just how bad work force housing will affect them personally, and then “get themselves a program…”
Again the best start would be with Stay Out Of My Pocket.
16 comments
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October 23, 2008 at 4:30 pm
liberalgeek
Good round-up, kavips. And you are in luck, I know virtually every word that the Rose Hill Guy said.
The issues raised by him were about the price control measures that were being imposed by workforce housing. These price controls will have the effect of price controlling the surrounding homes. I’ll have some more on this very soon.
The other issue is of coordination by DNREC, DelDOT, etc. with regard to multiple WFH projects in close quarters. Basically, is there planning going on in a unified way or are they looking at each of these projects without insight into the existence of the rest of the proposed developments. The answer to that one is apparently, no. DelDOT has been working on a unified plan for the Vance Neck area.
Oh and Joanne Christian isn’t Asst. Superintendent, she is a school board member.
October 23, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Duffy
Thanks Kavips. You’re doing yeoman’s work here.
October 23, 2008 at 5:42 pm
RSmitty
Thanks, Kavips.
You are correct that Laura Brown is basically standing on a sand bar looking up at the tidal wave of Bell’s organized legions, hoping for a wave breaker to step in. Good luck to her. I certainly hope she gets it.
October 23, 2008 at 6:20 pm
RSmitty
I just got word that Walker’s campaign (which includes Powers and Bell) is planning a negative attack on Cathcart – accusing him of letting this happen and become an election-cycle issue. This is in addition to the fliers she placed on cars at Cornerstone church basically saying the same thing.
I’m being pre-emptive because it’s utter bullshit and it’s what losers resort to, plus you know where my support is in this.
October 23, 2008 at 7:39 pm
nemski
Thanks, Kavips for keeping us all updated.
October 24, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Nancy Willing
I agree that Cathcart is not the focus. At the meetings it was made very clear that the county is not working with the schools in getting them up to speed. I don’t know just how ‘out of touch’ the DOE is…except that their rep said that his density equation was adequate when in fact it was woefully short of the mark.
We should make sure to send comments to the county web site.
October 24, 2008 at 8:46 pm
rsmitty
StayOutofMyPocket/SNCCA’s correct assertion about this not being a state issue (in contrast to the blame-deflectors of the county) has been addressed in this PDF.
October 24, 2008 at 9:17 pm
kavips
Thanks for rounding that out….
The confusion lies in that only the state can fix it, because only the state can change the Delaware Code and specify that it can go backwards…
Therefore some people have made the jump that members of the state, because they were blindsided by this, were therefore complicit.
Not true… Apparently no laws were broken, hearings were held in County Council, proper legal advertisement were taken out.. … if any error or blame should be apportioned, it would be to each County Council member who did not relay to their constituency exactly how this provision would change Citizen’s quality of life to the worse…
If a failure can be put on anyone person, it would go to those County Council Person in those regions, who went along with the plan and did not hold a hearing to explain it to his constituency…
That would put the blame on two. Bill Powers and Bill Bell… Only one is running a contested election… A vote for Laura Brown, from everyone in the twelfth county district, would go a long way to help slow an out-of-control developer/building trade alliance from ruining every county citizen’s property values…
October 25, 2008 at 2:51 am
Nancy Willing
Actually, Chuck specifically stated that there was no retroactive actions possible by the state on the now-declared WFH plans.
It is only through Chancery that any remedey is possible.
October 25, 2008 at 10:06 am
kavips
Yes Nancy, but whoever spoke at meeting 1, seemed to say legislature can change code…and make it retroactive… She then called on Dick Cathcart, who said yes.
October 26, 2008 at 9:33 am
rsmitty
Make sure you are hearing/remembering that right. Here is a cut-paste segment from that PDF I linked in my previous comment above:
Legislation can not go retroactive in regard to the already-approved requests, which continue to mount (townhome development between Forest Glen and Rt 72 just approved), but can do something about plans not yet approved, but possibly in the pipe line.
October 26, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Randy Nelson
Leanne Ferguson, VP of the Southern New Castle County Alliance will be on DTR Monday at noon to discuss workforce housing and some new information on DNREC. Mr. Cathcart was on the program last week and said if the republicans retain control of the House, he will introduce legislation that would move some control to the state when it comes to land-use planning. The counties approve and profit from development, the state pays for the infrastructure. Follow the money. Your tax dollars are always at risk.
October 26, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Nancy Willing
The Clark stuff is a hoot, Kavips.
Did you know that his mom and dad had the audacity to name his brother Mark?
Yup, a Mark Clark walks the earth.
October 28, 2008 at 9:19 am
liberalgeek
It’d be great if he lived in Newark: Newark’s Mark Clark
October 28, 2008 at 1:00 pm
kavips
Off da Shark! Newark’s Mark Clark barks (snark)…
Truly….you guys really do bring out the best in me…. 🙂
October 28, 2008 at 5:15 pm
DEwind: The Week That Was October 20th
[…] right now he is Delaware’s Most Prolific blogger. But today, I’ll only focus on his Workforce Housing post from earlier in the week. But with little contention worth mentioning, here is the scoop from the […]