On Sept. 13, Sussex County will have the opportunity to make a clear choice. Do we want four more years of sprawling housing developments into our back country farmlands and continuing gridlock on our roads, or do we want to try something new to correct those problems?
It is clear that we are experiencing uncontrolled housing developments sprawling into our countryside and onto or back country roads. It is clear that our roads are congested with unbearable traffic because there has been little to no planning to keep up with growth.
There is a primary election in the Sussex County Council 5th District Sept. 13. The incumbent John Rieley has been in office for four years and has made no effort nor has he offered any ideas or even attempted to correct these problems. He is a charter member of the Good Old Boys Club. We don’t have four more years to stay the course with his same old plan of continuing to run the county the same old way and not rock the boat. We need new ideas, and we must make substantial changes to county ordinances and rewrite the comprehensive land-use plan now. We don’t have time to wait.
I have offered a number of simple proposals and changes to county ordinances that would help prevent sprawl into our farmlands and onto back country roads. I have made proposals to amend the comprehensive land-use plan that dictates where housing developments are built. I am routinely reminded by the majority bloc of votes that Rieley is a member of on county council that I don’t have three votes to approve my proposals or even have them discussed in public. We can make a change. We can start to immediately address uncontrolled sprawl and make a meaningful attempt to correct the gridlock on our roads. But we can’t do that without a change.
If you agree that housing development sprawl and traffic congestion are out of control, then you need to take the time to vote, and vote for a change. That change is Keller Hopkins. Mr. Hopkins is not a member of the Good Old Boys Club, and he will support my proposals to make meaningful changes to the Sussex County development codes, require developers to fix our roads and rewrite our comprehensive land-use plan.
As I always make clear, I work for you, the citizens of Sussex County. I don’t work for the government. If you want to stop sprawling overdevelopment and fix our roads, then you need to vote the incumbent out and vote for Keller Hopkins. Nothing will change unless you the voters make the change. Your decision on these two issues will be heard Sept. 13, and I wait for your direction.
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