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I hope you see this… I wanted to document a list of the damage the Pam Scott regime had done to New Castle County, such as destroying historical buildings, brushing aside traffic studies, mitigating necessary environmental policies, .. In general, everything they did that deteriorates the quality of life for people in New Castle County for years to come..
Then I realized it really should come from you… You have the archives in Delaware Way; you know how your archives are organized, and you with a quick email sent “To All” could rapidly receive a plethora of details your contacts had lived through and fought against…
I know it will be a labor of love, and may take some time… But I think the world should know how this erosion of resident’s rights for the accumulation of money for a few, was done. I figure it would probably take one day to go thought your archives, cutting and pasting links to all the articles on one page…
Often local struggles are rarely documented. However they touch our lives far more than state or national issues. It would be nice to have the truth out first for once… all organized in one volume.
I really feel it should come from you. 🙂
In today’s News Journal there is notice that Pam Scott had influence upon the letter announcing the compromise Chris Coons and Stoltz Reality worked out regarding the Barley Mill Plaza.
I just want to point out that this is not odd. I do it all the time. When an agreement is going to be made public, it is common practice to have the attorney’s on both sides trouble shoot it, play devil’s advocate, fling it against the wall to see if anything loose will fall out.
There is nothing more embarrassing than rolling out a plan whose flaw is immediately picked out by the public, and the whole plan has to then be rolled up and fixed.
This is why we send drafts back and forth to each other and ask for their approval, and if they choose to make changes they send it back to us for our approval.
This is a standard protocol in business and is nothing shady at all. Trying to make it into something sinister and heinous won’t stand. It is what we all do. It is how things work.
Just sayin’.
Tom Gordan has a chance to show what he is made of. If he comes down against Abbot’s developer, Frank Acierno, we will know he is the real thing back in action supporting the wills of residents over the wills of Pam Scott’s friends Briefly here is the deal. On one hand you have:
- Developed floodplains.
- Horrendous traffic intersections.
- Change in the actual character of the Community
- Shopping Center across from church and school
On the other hand:
- More money for Frank Aceirno and Rich Abbot.
You know who is for it; here is a list of those who are against it….
- City of Newark; City Government
- Holy Angels School and Church
- McDonalds Main Street Newark
- State Rep. Mike Ramone
- State Rep. Paul Baumbach
- State Rep. John Kowalko
- State Rep. Edward S. Osienski
- State Rep. Joe Miro
- State Sen. David Sokola
- Windy Hills Community Association
- Every single human being whose commute takes them through Possum Park intersection.
This is a healthy reminder as to why we have democratic government. The tract includes some nice forests – a 60 acred piece that is
almost totally wooded and has WCC frontage and 2 blue line streams with
forested buffers. All in all some great habitat.
The perpetrators are attempting to sneak through a rezoning of a piece of property considered green, consisting of protected resources – eg. Critical Natural Area, Creek, Stream, Floodplain, Wetlands, Steep Slopes, and Mature Forest and have it rezoned into Regional Commercial. Once that rezoning is complete, anything can be done to that property at any point into the future, no matter what the current assurances by the developers are. With this month’s rezoning if it takes place, in 10 years, with a more favorable administration, a hot, drippy sex club could be built on that property. Who knows!
However, a wall of bipartisanship has swelled up against this project. Every one, Democrat, Republican, Independent thinks it is a bad idea….. This again is the classic tale of people versus big money.
We know who should win; but we don’t yet know who will win….
Call Tom Gordan and let him know. We had an election. Developers don’t run New Castle County any more.
A wiser man than me once said… ” The electorate is divided as such… If you take a cross section of America, two thirds of them think like Democrats, (that the People should be in charge of their government), and the others don’t. But usually only one half of people thinking like Democrats even go to the polls, … which means we have this fine line of two armies who are almost equal, so that we constantly keep fighting over….”
Which is why, when that segment becomes engaged, we have these lopsided elections like we did in 2008, then bounce back to disasters like 2010 when they stay at home…
Now the primary reason that one third that doesn’t vote, is that they do not feel up to speed on the issues… For them the issues in national elections are sort of like what we may have felt back when we voted for the first time, and got hit at the bottom of the ballot with state reps, state senators, county councils, register of wills, and a sheriff….. As we checked them off, we were thinking I hope I’m doing the right thing… based on a name, a party affiliation, or some arrangement of tea leaves on the carpet floor the night before…. (It used to be such decisions came solely from the News Journal guide published prior to elections).
It is to this group, too afraid to vote, that we need to bring knowledge. Of course, on the opposite end it is also to this group, the business class needs to prevent that knowledge transfer from happening….
What we can do, is use real world analogies to dissolve the lies being made by the other side.
Facts in our favor…. If you are middle class, then…..
WE pay more in actual medical costs now, than we did before Republicans.
WE pay more to insurance companies, than we did before Republicans.
WE pay more in utilities now, than we did before Republicans…
WE pay more to big banks now, than we did before Republicans….
WE had higher incomes before, we had to deal with Republicans….
WE had safer food, before inspections of it were dismantled by Republicans…..
WE had a healthier environment, before Republicans dropped environmental controls and brought back pollution.
WE had cheaper food than we did, before Republicans…..
So ask them… Pivotal moment: who would you trust with your future? A party that builds itself up as being the protectors of your future? Whose credibility and power are won or lost solely on how well you do? Or,… a party that worries more how to protect those people stand to make money off of your future, and whose credibility and power are won or lost by how well they can deliver on THAT promise….
You see, there is only one answer.
The story goes that Warren Buffet, rather worried about his investments early 2008, wanted to talk to God… God told him to use his phone and he’d send him the bill… He got and paid the $333 million dollar charge. His investments flourished, too… That would be the end of the story, except he was down in Sussex County recently, following up first hand on a corporate case being processed out of Georgetown… once again, he asked God for the right to call, and agreed to accept the charges… When he got his bill, he was fuming… He was only charged 25 cents… “God”, he said, “you ripped me off on that first call, big time!”… God said, “Warren, don’t you get it? In Sussex County, that’s a local call…”
Local call or not, Sussex County is weighing in on whether to say a prayer before County meetings or to not… Here are a few takes on that policy: one, two, three, four……
As someone who grew up where prayers were always said before football games and county meetings, it isn’t a big deal…… That is, as long as everyone agrees it isn’t a big deal. You don’t see prayers before meetings conducted in New York.
Not because New Yorkers are heathens, but because in New York, you have a multiplicity of religions, so praying a prayer from one of them, is a slap in the face for all others…
Why it’s even an issue in Sussex County is because the Positive Growth Alliance, has been building condo’s like ants, and lots of people who did not grow up in Sussex County, now live there. Many have different ideas of religion than those who’ve always been there all their lives…
If everyone believe in the same version of God as does David Anderson, then of course, duh, why are we even arguing about it… Of course we’re going to pray to God to guide us through this meeting.. That’s what He’s for!
Suddenly, thanks to Rich Collins and the Positive Growth Alliance, we have tons of people who do object to having David Anderson’s version of God, one who dislikes Homosexuals, and one who casts pox on Democrats, one who believes married people should have sex only when they have children, one who believes sex between animals is immoral, one who believes taxes are caused by the devil, one who believes that nature was made to bulldoze and pave with a combination of petroleum and gravel. … one who believes that oil companies have the divine right to pollute oceans, one who believes that animals were made for us to kill. … one who believes a national religious holiday should fall on the first day of deer season.. one who believes pick up trucks and baseball caps are proof that homosexuality is a sin,… on who believes killing someone with a gun is not a sin, but taking that gun away for the safety of others is…
(yes, I’m having fun and talking tongue in cheek)…
The point I’m making is that Sussex County is changing; and it is changing mostly thanks to Rich Collins and the Positive Growth Alliance.
Can you make new citizens join the current religion? If so, then by all means, just like the days of old, they will see no qualms in having a tiny prayer before the meeting.
But if they don’t want to join that religion, then, to force one group of religious people to impose their prayers on others, is not American…In fact, it’s kinda creepy…
If in an effort to show fairness, the Sussex County decided they would do prayers from all religions in alphabetical order, when they came to “B” and hit Buddahism, giving an Buddahist prayer before the session, most of those in the audience would be saying WTF! This is our nation, why do we have to listen to such crap…
Which is… exactly what those Buddahists think, who have opened a business in Millsboro, and have come before the county to ask for a variance on something or other that is in their antiqued code….
So… If it is unnatural for a Baptist to suffer a Buddahist prayer, it is equally unnatural for a Buddahist to sit through a Baptist prayer…
It’s not about one religion being right and the other wrong. It’s about who the citizens are that make up Sussex County. If you want to blame anyone over this controversy, the blame solely lies with those who built up Sussex County and brought in all these new people to begin with… Now that they are here, we have to make Sussex County as fair to them as New York, is fair to us, when we take our business up there……
Positive Growth, huh? Depends on your version of positive I guess………….
Sussex Green drops a bombshell…
Despite what Meatball says, there is something sick in Sussex County and it rhymes with taker….
Here in essence is the argument for open government… This type of stuff goes on all the time and those of us jaded by its constant misuse, forget that is really antithetic to representative government… Which is why we need citizen watchdogs… and Sussex County has one now….
This must be read… Not only by residents of Sussex County who have to put up with the antics of a family who thinks they can rule with impunity, but by every man, women, and child of the future, so they know exactly how these things are done, and can intercept their implementation before similar actions are finalized.
Here are several examples of the travesty those communists who represent the fine folks of Sussex County have levied against their own kind….
Instead, the list of parcels and areas being considered for inclusion on the future land use map were presented to the P&Z Commission as Old Business at a meeting on April 30, 2008. The parcels and areas were discussed by the P&Z Commission, approved or rejected, and that was that. There was no public hearing on any of them. Then, when the Comp Plan was finally approved (June 24, 2008) all those amendments, which had been approved at the April 30, 2008 meeting were incorporated into the land use map and became part of the ordinance that authorized the Comp Plan.
The Wilson Baker parcels case illustrates this. Baker got a conditional use (c/u) for the smaller parcel in 2005. He either owned or quickly acquired the larger adjoining parcel of AR-1 soon after being granted the c/u on the smaller parcel. He established a propane, kerosene, and diesel fuel business on the smaller parcel under the c/u requirements. However, he wanted to sell both parcels and that proved a bit too complicated because of the c/u, or so his representative testified at the recent change of zoning hearings before the P&Z Commission and County Council. As a result, he apparently decided that getting both parcels rezoned to heavy industry (HI-1) from their current AR-1 would be the most profitable option.
The P&Z Commission scheduled the Wilson Baker parcels for the June 18, 2008 meeting under the agenda heading “Additional Old Business”. The one item under that heading is “Comprehensive Land Use Plan”. The minutes state that Mr. Lank “advised the Commission that a request had been received for inclusion into the Town Center Area around the Town of Milton; that the request came from Baker Petroleum of Wilson Baker, Inc. for the inclusion of their properties; that they are intending to apply for industrial zoning and to create a railroad spur for access to rail service; that the site has been reviewed through the PLUS process” (P&Z Commission Minutes, June 18, 2008, Page 8). The P&Z Commission decided to incorporate the request of Baker Petroleum into the Future Land Use Map by consensus. There was no public hearing
.
On June 24, 2008, the County Council voted to adopt the ordinance establishing the 2007 Comp Plan Update, with amendments. There was no public hearing
.
The entire sketch of how this parcel was rezoned was not done in secret.. It is available on reruns of the Dukes of Hazard television series that was shot during the 1980s.. The faces may look a little different, but the characters who play them are the same…….
Is it just me, or do those two candidate’s names sound like twitter birds…. Unfortunately there is no twitter site for the Twenty-ninth Representative District, so this post will have to do….
Again, featuring the best Delaware Voter’s Guide ever… we go to the top of the page, click voter’s guide, drop down to the Twenty-Ninth District, and click on Charles Paradee.
As is often the case with progressive candidates, the first selection is his campaign website.. I see we are to drop the Charles and call him Trey… Ok, with a quick click on Trey’s website we see….wow… Protect, Preserve, Prepare is his motto… He even breaks it down further… Protect Open Space (sounds what Sussex County needs as well)..Approximately 85% of the 29th District lies outside the Growth Zone. Despite this fact, the 29th District has been one of the fastest growing areas in the State over the past decade. As the results of the 2006 Levy Court elections show, the people of the 29th District want elected officials who are committed to protecting the rural nature of Kent County from unbridled growth. Trey will be your advocate.
Preserve the low tax structure (also needed in Sussex County)We need Representatives who are equipped to understand the complex budget issues facing our State and who are willing to make the tough decisions. Trey is a self-described fiscal conservative whose background and experience in finance and small business will serve Delaware well.
Prepare for future development–The future is bright for Delaware… if we make the right decisions! We have to recognize that people will continue to move here as long as our taxes are low and our quality of life is high. Growth will continue. Will we do it wisely or will we fall into to the same traps as our neighbors, leading us to higher property and school taxes.
Fascinating.. (This guy’s platform is right out of my post below this one, which advocates what Sussex County must do to save itself from a terrible fate… ie vote Joan Deaver)…There is a picture of him and his hunting dog setting out on the Leipsic River.. Now that is someone we can trust to keep the best parts of Delaware…the way they are now……. Thanks to the Coastal Zone Act I have been remarkably surprised at how many parts of Delaware resemble the way it looked during the colonial area… The view of many of the ships plying up the Delaware River differs little from what those first explorers must have seen. Try saying that while traveling up any other ships channel in the civilized world….
With all the controversy swirling around the Democratic Insurance Commissioners candidate’s resume, it is refreshing to see Trey posting his online… How open is that?…. We see UD all the way, and an English major to boot, always a good sign… At least we see that from having lived in Newark, that he knows what overdevelopment looks like, (unlike someone who grew up, went to school, and never left her hometown)….. We see he is familiar with stable duty; which means he already has a pair of high topped work boots to use while dealing with the lobbyists inside the halls of Legislative Hall…Being prepared he will be, as is always a former Eagle scout… We see he worked at Merrill Lynch… oops… oh so that’s why he is running for office now… 🙂 He is a NRA member and a member of Duck’s Unlimited…He’s a Chamber of Commerce guy, licensed for insurance, securities, and financial planning….
For those of you outside of Dover who as children used to travel through it on your way to the beach… he hails from the Paradee Gas Company lineage…and…. the dude plays drums…Awesome. (I don’t think the blogger’s band has a drummer yet….)
On his issues page, the first thing catching your eye is the title…Education is more important than cheap beer… He continues with this: I purchased some beer to enjoy with friends at a cookout. As I left the liquor store, I glanced at my receipt to see that I had paid $4.85 per six-pack of beer. I wondered for a moment how much my purchase decision would have been affected had I been required to pay $4.89 per six-pack. I doubt anyone would notice an increase of less than 1 cent per individual beer. In the waning hours of the 144th General Assembly, House Bill 518 was defeated in the State Senate, days after passing in the House of Representatives. HB 518 would have increased the tax on a six-pack of beer by 4 cents, 10 cents on a bottle of wine, and 37 cents on a .75-liter bottle of liquor. The tax increases would have generated an estimated $4.5 million in revenue for our cash-strapped State. Three hours after HB 518 was defeated, our lawmakers voted to slash $10.9 million from “programs for remedial readers and students who need extra schooling in the summer” and “funding that provides extracurricular academic help, professional support for teachers and school discipline.” I am proud that my State Senator, Nancy Cook, had the courage to stand up for the children of our State by co-sponsoring HB 518, and I am terribly disappointed that the current Representative of the 29th District, Pamela Thornburg, did not.” Shame on that Pam Thornburg who puts cheap beer before the education of those needing extra schooling. Shame. Shame. (We know how she likes parties)
Other issues… we see he is for open government… (his opponent was one of the few Republicans voting against House Bill 4, much to the chagrin of one Dave Burris..) He offers us his jobs proposal where he arguably points out the ineffectiveness of his incumbent who, in answer to the question what can be done to bring jobs to Kent County… could only come up with one: sports betting at three local racetracks….
Further along he adds: While on the subject of alternative energy, I must also add that it is absolutely shameful how our current legislature has handled the proposed wind power farm. We have an opportunity to attract good paying “green collar” jobs to our State. The development of alternative energy sources is the next great growth industry for our Nation. Delaware needs to get its share of these jobs by providing a business friendly environment that will attract forward thinking
entrepreneurs and businesses.
Here is an inquiry into his family tree. And here is his answer to the News Journal Questionnaire.
Here we see his father owed the city of Dover $800.68 for a sewer tap that was annexed after he had installed it…(I didn’t even know they had computers back on September 13, 1965… lol. )
Here is a search engine report for the Heritage Gas Company, (also known as the Paradee Gas Company..)
From here, Google starts getting confused and substituting items with “parade” in place of Paradee.
Here is his endorsement from the AFL-CIO. And here is his PDD endorsement…. I don’t know how many of either live in his district…
Ok, Let’s Check Out The Other Contender
Click on Pam Thornburg and now we are ready to go.
Pam has an interesting fault.. She has a large wealth of Google data under two spellings of her name..Pam Thornburg (correct) and Pam Thornberg (incorrect).
One thing worth mentioning is that Pam Thornburg has no mention of it, but Pam Thornberg was one of the opponents of the Smoking Ban back in 2002 who introduced bills to water down or delay its taking effect….(Remember… she’s a party girl)….Here we have her at the 11th annual Delaware Standardbred Owners Association (DSOA) Awards Dinner at the Dover Sheraton Hotel on Friday, Jan. 11, 2008.
Here we have her lauded for her work with the Career Transition Project in Kilroy’s own Red Clay District for those with special needs… Hey didn’t I just mention that she voted to cut funding for them? Something like education versus cheap beer? And it was her special project that got budget sliced? Beer IS important.
From beer we go to her official state website… We see she went to high school and college and never left Dover…We see she has been in Legislature since 2000, riding in with Minner, and lists herself as a full time legislator…We see she has oversight of Corrections and she should be answering some hard questions there… since what happened, occurred on her watch…
Here is what she has proudly sponsored…
HB 85 AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES.
HB 175 AN ACT TO AMEND SUBCHAPTER III OF CHAPTER 31 OF TITLE 20 OF THE DELAWARE CODE PERTAINING TO THE EXERCISE OF EMERGENCY POWERS.
HB 189 AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 7 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO TAX DITCHES.
HB 224 AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 24 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO FALSE ALARMS AND SECURITY SYSTEMS.
HB 452 AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 7 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO TAX DITCHES.
HB 492 AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 19 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO WORKERS’ COMPENSATION.
HR 7 COMMEMORATING JANUARY 22-26, 2007 AS DELAWARE AG WEEK.
HR 37 ESTABLISHING THE GROCERY STORE BEER SALES TASK FORCE TO STUDY THE FEASIBILITY OF BEER SALES IN GROCERY STORES.
HR 39 COMMEMORATING JANUARY 7-12, 2008 AS DELAWARE AGRICULTURE WEEK.
HR 46 PROCLAIMING APRIL 21 THROUGH APRIL 25, 2008 AS SMALL BUSINESS WEEK.
HS 1 FOR HB 224 AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 24 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO FALSE ALARMS AND SECURITY SYSTEMS.
Which one jumped out at you? Yep… me too…
ESTABLISHING THE GROCERY STORE BEER SALES TASK FORCE TO STUDY THE FEASIBILITY OF BEER SALES IN GROCERY STORES. (I guess the liquor stores close too early in Dover). That bill was laid on the table only to be strickened upon the opening of the next session… The Girl loves to party…
So much that only three of her bill got to the governor’s desk… 1) One NRA piece saying the state could never confiscate ones firearm in a Katrina style emergency; 2) one grandfathering encroachments on Tax Ditches, and 3) one fining those with false security alarms… But thanks to her… January 7 – 12 was Delaware AG (Attorney General…lol) week, and April 21 – 25th was Small Business Week… Shucks… I missed it…
Next we have the Delaware Task force that was created by Pam Thornburg who sponsored House Resolution 69,, From the minutes we see the task force met two times and then…Rep. Thornburg stated that she did not feel the task force need to meet again.
Next we have project Vote Smart synopsis of Pam Thornburg’s voting record… There we see that she did not vote on one of John Atkins bills HB 537 back in 2006, even though she was a sponsor.
We see she voted for the 2008 budget, and voted no on the bill to raise her beer 4 cents….She voted yes to collective bargaining…She voted against increasing the cigarette tax,…She voted against raising the minimum wage from $6.15….She voted yes to prevent state employees from paying dues or fair share fees without written consent….She voted “no” against a sterile needle programs, and against a ban on open alcoholic containers in one’s motor vehicle…. (That’s what the drive to the beach is for…) and she voted yes to repeal the statutes of limitation on child abuse cases and to ban the exemption of state employees from being charged under those statutes…
Next we have a wonderful little piece of satire describing here role on the House Committee of Energy in its approval hearing on Bluewater Wind’s proposal… (Like Charlie Copeland, she fought for Delmarva all the way until the final bill was signed…) The piece is appropriate.
Next we have some beautiful pictures of Pam Thornburg as she performs her daily duties as a member of the General Assembly…..
Next we see that on May 8-9th, 2006, the person representing the 29th district, got to party in some really swank digs… The Greenbrier of White Sulphur Springs.. I hope she got a chance to play a round of golf… It is one of the most beautiful courses east of California…. And if she is ever in jail, her supporters can get “Free Pam Thornburg” signs here…
Here is Pam Thornburg’s answer to the News Journal Questionnaire….
Next we have Nancy from Delaware Way’s description showing Pam Thornburg as a tool of Delmarva Power in its battle against Bluewater Wind… It would be wise to remember that even after it was proven that Bluewater Wind cost much less than Delmarva could offer from other sources… Pam Thornburg emphatically backed Delmarva Power against the wishes of 90% of her constituency….She is a special interest legislator… (No doubt, Delmarva Power threw better parties, thanks of course to her fellow party-er... Joe Farley…)
In an effort to stifle John Kowalko, (totally ineffective) she used Joe Farley, lobbyist for Delmarva Power to filabuster most of the time allotted for discussion.. More from Delaware Liberal…
We see another party this time closer to home.. December 2-4, 2005. Minutes of the Kent County Transportation meeting from March 2, 2005 .... are here…
Here, much more pertinent, are the opening minutes of the early meetings of the SEU, that infamous board which tried to scarf $100,000,000 into McDowell’s hands… and still might… A piece is ready for the new session which as shown last June, is full of some shady dealings…..
We see why she is the way she is… As the state chairman of ALEC, American Legislative Exchange Council, she shares with them a common belief in limited government, free markets, federalism, and individual liberty. Just to name some of the original founders, two of which were Henry Hyde (he liked to party as well) and Jesse Helms… But before we go on… isn’t the whole problem we are facing with our economy the result of the policies that organizations like ALEC sneak through our legislative bodies? Isn’t what we are feeling this economic session the result of deregulating and not supervising adequetely those in charge of the money… Doesn’t it seem reasonable that someone who is so into a failed policy of the past, would do our state much more harm than good?
And then we have this.
And from here we see that the Twenty-Ninth District is split 40% Democrats, 35% Republicans, and 25% other.. The key for both candidates is the other…..
The Inevitable Conclusion
That depends entirely upon you…. however if you want my synopsis, it would be that we need forward thinkers now, and not someone playing around in the past to dally in “little” things… I saw Thornburg in action during the Bluewater Wind controversy and it was scary… Why someone would hurt the citizens under their care, who as you all know were struggling so hard to keep up with their utility payments, support the entity beating them down, and be glib and laugh about their plight sarcastically…. I didn’t know people like that ever got elected…. A “small business week” sounds nice, but really…. what does it do… what does it accomplish… how does it make anyone’s life even a little better?
The twenty-ninth district is so lucky to have someone like Paradee who reflects their values, but looks to carry those values into the future rather than return them to the past…. There are some trying times ahead… someone tackling new problems with an antiqued set of tools is not what the twenty-ninth needs right now… Thornberg’s philosophy dates back to 1973… as a nation we have moved on since then…
Every two years the Legislature gets shuffled… (but unfortunately not as much lately as it has needed)… Pam Thornburg has, on every one of the great issues that affected this state’s positioning of itself among its neighbors, been on the wrong side…… She was against cheap clean power from Bluewater Wind almost chasing away 500 high paying jobs…… She is against open government; she voted against House Bill 4. She way back when, was against the smoking ban, in a state with one of the highest cancer rates in the nation for heavens sakes!… On the other hand if it involves gambling, liquor, beer, wine, cigarettes, open containers in motor vehicles, or any other vice… whoopi… she is all for it…(or so her record would make it seem….) That’s the small town mentality…that comes from never opening ones horizons….
One thing is certain. Someone good needs to fill that post…Someone forward looking, smart, conservative, family oriented, knowledgeable in business, conservation, the locality, and interested in preserving what is best of western Kent County. Protect, Preserve, Prepare. The twenty-ninth district could do no better than put Trey Paradee into the House of Representatives on November 4th….
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.
More on it here……
Courtesy of Projo.com
The following is from a fellow trooper, one who carried the flag for awhile…….
(And that is why I’m breaking my tradition of not posting press releases… but sometimes a hero calls upon one, to step up and join the battle… And one does.)
There will always be causes needing ones help, and there will always be those out there asking favors… But at least once in everyone’s life, someone we know actually has the necessary character to continue pressing on when most others have given up. At least once in everyone’s life, someone we know chooses to fight back for those who can’t fight for themselves, instead of siding with those who will reward them well for their acquiescence….. Joan is that person.
And so… a tradition is being broken here… It’s being done for Sussex County…….
Below: the press release in full….
FROM: Citizens for Clean Power, Lewes, Delaware
The Executive Committee of the grassroots organization Citizens for Clean Power endorses Joan Deaver for Sussex County Council. Ms. Deaver was an early, effective voice for cleaning up the Indian River Coal Plant, the state’s biggest industrial polluter. Her organization, Citizens for a Better Sussex, labored tirelessly for almost two years to share facts and information about the damaging effects of pollution from the coal plant. Because of her determination, she became a pivotal force in bringing the nation’s first offshore wind project to Sussex County. As a local homeowner herself, Joan understands the need for County Council to lead efforts in reducing air and water pollution which damages our health, and seriously impacts our quality of life. Joan is a fiscal conservative who expects polluters to pay for their pollution, not the taxpayers. Her moderating voice on land-use decisions is urgently needed at the County level.
Ms. Deaver’s opponent, Mark Baker, has offered no commitments to clean up air pollution in the county, or address damage to the Indian River estuary system from the Indian River Coal Plant. His website says nothing about the need to move toward clean energy or mandate energy efficiency standards for all new home construction in the county. To our knowledge, Mr. Baker has no experience working for the public’s interest with state legislators. He never responded to questions from two months ago regarding his positions on the environment and zoning. On the other hand, Joan Deaver understands that in order to attract more jobs and increase property values in Sussex County, we must offer a healthy environment, improved infrastructure, good schools, better home construction and energy-efficient construction standards which will actually be enforced. We believe Joan will continue to work tirelessly to protect the Sussex County way of life, promote clean energy alternatives, and restore Sussex County as a great place to work and raise a family.
We urge voters to elect Joan Deaver to the Sussex County Council.
kavips 
