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Two cabinet positions play pivotal roles

January 6, 2017

Gov.-elect John Carney’s press people sent out a release recently announcing his choices of Shawn Garvin as the state’s next secretary for the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, and Indian River School District’s Dr. Susan Bunting as the state’s next secretary for the Department of Education. Both positions deal with budgets in the hundreds of millions of dollars and are vitally important to Delaware’s success as a state. Dr. Bunting is highly regarded among Sussex County educators, as well as at the state level, for her clear and level-headed thinking. She may get tough queries during her confirmation process related to questionable appropriation of funds by a former Indian River School District finance manager, but her decades of successful management in the sprawling district should carry her through. We wish Dr. Bunting the best of success in her challenging new position. Shawn Garvin brings seven years of environmental stewardship to his new position. He served most recently as regional administrator for the federal Environmental Protection Agency and has many years of experience navigating the bureaucracy on behalf of the environment.

Carney laid out a tall environmental order for his administration generally and for Garvin specifically: “Protecting our environment, addressing the threat of climate change and cleaning up Delaware’s waterways will be a focus of the next four years ... ,” said Carney. “Millions of people visit Delaware each year because of our beaches and parks, and Shawn will help us make investments that create new recreational opportunities outside, keep visitors coming back, and improve the quality of life for all Delawareans.”

Cleaning up Delaware’s embarrassingly polluted waterways should without a doubt take top priority. All of the new governor’s legislative finesse and powers of persuasion will be required to get the General Assembly to make the tough decisions necessary to allow Delaware to make meaningful progress in removing the stigma of pollution. Our state’s economy depends heavily on tourism. Dirty recreational waters are not a turn-on. Anything less than a fully committed initiative to clean our waterways with specific goals defined and monitored will foolishly jeopardize our financial stability and quality of life.

  • Editorials are considered and written by Cape Gazette Editorial Board members, including Publisher Chris Rausch, Editor Jen Ellingsworth, News Editor Nick Roth and reporters Ron MacArthur and Chris Flood. 

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