The public has expressed outrage in response to the appearance of conflicts of interest and the lack of ethical standards in the offices of Sussex County.
The current election campaign for District 5 has brought to the surface what the residents of Sussex County have long suspected.
On Aug. 30, Councilman Schaeffer called the public's attention to Councilman Rieley's taking a gift from a contractor – excess dirt dug out from the site of a stormwater pond was trucked to Rieley Brothers Farm to improve the pastures and wetlands. Councilwoman Green added it had a perception of a kickback.
Councilman Rieley countered that he offered the contractor a value – a place to dispose of the dirt the contractor had to get rid of before preparing home sites. He said this dirt is not like topsoil but has tree roots/stumps and cannot be used in grading the subdivision. Hauling away unwanted materials such as construction debris, appliances or household rubbish can be costly. For example, we pay for each load when we drop off stuff at a DSWA site.
Apparently, someone had followed the trucks to Rieley's farm, flown a drone over the farm to take aerial photos, and reported to DNREC for violating wetland regulations. DNREC promptly initiated an investigation and cleared Rieley of any wrongdoing. This case has also been forwarded to the Public Integrity Commission for review.
On Sept. 1, in a recorded radio debate, Councilman Rieley cited a list of 10-plus subdivisions P&Z Commissioner Keller Hopkins voted to approve and got contracts to work on! Hopkins is now running for the District 5 council seat.
Hopkins did not offer answers to this but asked Rieley for the list so that he could send it to the Public Integrity Commission for a quick investigation.
Rieley's list came from DNREC's public record. The question is: How could such a conflict of interest continue for nearly six years after Keller Hopkins was appointed to the P&Z commission in November 2016?
So, I am calling all Sussex Countians who have questions about conflict of interest on Sussex council, the P&Z commission, board of adjustment, etc. Let us ask county council to establish superior ethics standards and install a mechanism to ensure transparency and integrity in all levels of Sussex governance.
Please sign the online petition at https://chng.it/CBBfZsCC6r. We must demand county council take up this issue immediately. Yay, go for it, Sussex County!