Hicks announces run for Sussex County Council seat

Five years after Jill Hicks tried unsuccessfully to block a housing development near her home outside Lewes, she announced March 11 that she is taking her fight to limit growth much broader.

“It’s time for me to move from advocacy to action,” she told about 50 people gathered in Georgetown Public Library March 11, as she announced her candidacy for a Sussex County Council seat.

The Democrat said she is challenging incumbent Republican John Rieley, vice president of the council, who is running for a third four-year term.

After the county approved the subdivision five years ago near her house, allowing removal of 110 acres of wetlands and forest, Hicks and Councilwoman Jane Gruenebaum co-founded Sussex Preservation Coalition.

As she began her campaign, Hicks stepped down from leading the SPC, a nonprofit citizens advocacy group that lobbies to influence county decisions. The group has grown to 4,000 members.

Hicks has led SPC since Gruenebaum left to run a successful campaign for a seat representing District 3.

Hicks was chosen to serve on the 10-member Sussex County Land-Use Reform Working Group established by council last year. Over seven months, it formulated 20 recommendations to limit and improve development.

Council on March 10 introduced five proposed ordinances based on those recommendations. A sixth, which would set rules for forest preservation, is expected to be offered soon, after a review and recommendation from the state forester.

Marty Rendon, a commissioner for the Delaware Human and Civil Rights Commission, said at Hicks' announcement that many issues affecting residents’ lives are governed by county council.

“We know that Jane has done an incredible job already in the short time that she’s been there,” Rendon said. “But we need more people on the council. Jane needs help. She needs backup, and we’ve got that here from Jill Hicks.

“I was always struck by Jill’s intelligence, her ability to dive deeply into some of these very complicated issues,” Rendon said. “To bring in enlightened minds. To bring dialogue. To bring a diverse group of people together in the county to discuss things in a calm, rational way.”

This will be Hicks’ first run for political office. She said she worked for the Wawa convenience store chain for 27 years, many of them directing logistics and coordinating development of stores. Hicks then began an 11-year career as a music teacher, her first calling and a discipline she studied in college.

“I can say without reservation that Jill Hicks will devote more than full time to the job,” Gruenebaum said. “Because she understands that the issues before council are complex, the answers are not easy and that every decision will affect the quality of life in Sussex County for years to come.”

Hicks called for more environmental protections, ensuring infrastructure is in place before development occurs, and projects include an adequate amount of affordable housing.

“Our most-needed workers right now could not afford to live here or even within a reasonable distance of their jobs,” she said.

Hicks said she wants to be involved in the process as council drafts the next comprehensive plan by the end of 2028. It will be a blueprint for development for the following decade.

“If you want to see the environment and the farmland preserved, smart land-use codes and decisions, infrastructure that keeps pace with growth, a champion for public education and emergency services, livable, affordable communities, then I ask for your vote,” Hicks said.  

“Today, the forest and wetlands behind our home are gone,” she said. “They were destroyed in short order. The damage is done and the damage is permanent, but this fight is no longer about the forest that we lost; it’s about saving what’s left of our county.”