At their December board meeting, the League of Women Voters of Sussex County Delaware members voted to join the Sussex Preservation Coalition.

Board members unanimously agreed that SPC’s mission to preserve natural habitats for the well-being of all communities, and to promote resiliency, sustainability and climate adaptation, is consistent with the league’s positions on natural resource management, environmental protection, climate change and agriculture.

In early December, League President Martha Rothenberg and Membership Chair Sue Claire Harper met with SPC President Jane Gruenebaum and Vice President Jill Hicks, as well as Kerry Russo, a member of both groups, to discuss the common interests of the two organizations and how an alliance could be mutually beneficial. Russo agreed to act as a liaison between organizations, to share information as well as coordinate activities.

SPC’s work in education, advocacy and policy mirrors the LWV’s mission to educate and empower voters. League members believe that public understanding and cooperation are essential to the responsible and responsive management of the nation’s natural resources.

Beginning in 2017, the Sussex LWV coordinated a series of public forums in which officials and subject experts shed light on individual elements of the county’s proposed comprehensive plan, which sets the standard for how development occurs and how land use is governed in Sussex County.

Jack Young, director of the Sussex LWV’s observer corps, noted that the county council’s development design plan is considering 39 possible action items involving perimeter buffers, forest preservation, open spaces, interconnectivity and related code updates. Public understanding of and engagement in these decisions is essential to the healthy growth of Sussex County.

Both SPC and the observer corps provide transparency on the workings of county council and the planning and zoning commission. They monitor governmental bodies to identify issues that are important to the mission, learn how those issues are being addressed, and note whether proper notice is given, public input is solicited, and open meeting laws are followed before and while issues are discussed and decided. The shared oversight is a key benefit to Sussex citizens.

For more information, go to sussexlwv.org and sussexpreservationcoalition.org.