8 - CAPE GAZETTE - Tuesday, Feb. 21 - Thursday, Feb.
tions and overdevelopment that
now permeate living there. They
refuse to give the residents there
an equal voice on the Council,
Continued from page 7 : :':- aided by their friend Thurman
sands of units developers arepro-
posing tO swamp poor little old
Milton with and destroy its peace-
ful little town character. No con-
sideration is made to those who
oppose this; the Council merely
tolerates their opposition and
keeps steering the developers
toward a development conforma-
tion that they can appear to
approve. The don't know how to
say no and make it stick. It makes
you wonder why.
To make matters worse, the
Council is composed of members
who do not live inthe most heav-
ily populated eastern part of
Sussex County, but they heavily
dictite the stagnant traffic condi-
Commentary
Comtinued from page 7
far greater than ever seen in the
past. This is only one of the rea-
sons why we established our
United Open Water Lifesaving
Program with its economies of
scale, better coordination
between various agencies, result-
ing in more efficient use of tax-
payers' dollars. It is also why we
have to prepare for an increase in
demand for offshore rescue/pub-
lie safety needs.
• An absolutely critical part of
meeting this and related demands
is the availability of the larger,
twin-engine helicopter currently
under consideration for purchase
by the state. I have seen my state
police friends risk their necks so
many times in extreme rescue cir-
cumstances that not obtaining the
said helicopter frightens me both
because of the risk to my brave
friends and because of increasing
public needs which will not be
met without this aircraft.
Remember, again, that the closest
Coast Guard helicopters, while
always gung ho in cooperating
with emergency services on the
Delmarva, are really not that
close by.
Last summer, Delaware was
Adams in the legislature who will
not allow a vote on permitting
election of two more council
members, which may give voice
to eastern Sussex. This is just an
unfair lack of action on Adams'
part. It effectively denies a voting
voice on the Council to those liv-
ing near the coast.
The concentration of western
Sussex council members wants to
continue to dictate to the entire
county. They are presently plan-
ning to play the same overdevel-
opment game on the eastern part
of Sussex with their plans to add
sewage systems and other infra-
structure that will then allow
heavy development there. The
presented with the National
Oceanographic and Atmospheric
Administration's very first Storm
Prepared State Award in the
country. Furthermore, the U.S.
surgeon general visited and par-
ticipated in our United Program
last summer and declared it the
best new activity he had seen in
his four-and'a-half year tenure
and "second to none." As I like to
put it, The First State Leads the
Way. Much vision has been
shown by the state and the results
already speak for themselves in
helping to make Delaware the
safest coast in the country - some-
thing which impacts heavily on
Delaware's economy, not to men-
tion pride.
In this respect it is my sincere
hope that the necessary allocation
of resources to purchase the new
helicopter for use by the
Delaware State Police will be
approved. Delaware needs to
continue to lead the way in devel-
oping better means to meet
increasing public safety needs in
the most efficient manner possi-
ble. On the personal side, I want
to see my state police colleagues
have the resources that not only
help them to meet public safety
needs but which s!gnificantly
shift the odds in favor of my
friends returning alive from some
I
Young Life
2oo6 Fundraising Gala
Thursday, February I6th
6:3opm to 8:3opm (auction ends at 7:3 o)
at Fish On
The Villages of Five Points, Lewes
For tickets or more information
call Carrie Currie at (302) 841-8292
23, 2006
plans are already in place, and
when the sewage goes in, the for
sale signs go up - and who knows
who on the Council or their bud-
dies will personally profit by it?
The chief driver of all of this
mess is that overdevelopment is
behind all of the above problems.
A 60 percent increase in electric
rates cannot be attributed to a like
increase in crude oil. Could it be
so Delmarva Power can cover the
cost of past and future electric
utilities it must provide to the
developers? How many other
costs are being dropped and con-
tinue to be dropped onto the tax
load on current residents to allow
the continuing development
seams to go on? Keep in mind:
They cannot happen or continue
without the cooperation of some
those of our elected administra-
tion, top to bottom. It is left to us
of the most dangerous rescue situ-
ations imaginable.
Dr. Peter L Hartsock is captain
of the U.S. Public Health Service,
codirector of the Delaware United
Open Water Lifesaving Progra, a
national board member of the U.S.
Lifesaving Association and a
member, Sussex County Lifesaving
Association
to determine who they are, for economy. We must create an
they exist behind the scenes, environment where innovation
It seems to be up to us to look drives growth. We must be able
out for our best interests and not to attract capital. All of that
to depend on those we have elect- requires the best people no matter
ed to do this for us. , :ii :; hat their sexual orientation is."
Charles Vale:-i Bttt American values and good
Rehoboth Beach business sense must not concern
oar Delaware senate. With 17
Innovation must states and D.C. having passed
drive future growth sexual orientation workplace fair-
Stunningly, Jerry Falwell stated
on MSNBC's "The Situation" on
Aug. 5, 2005, "Civil rights for all
Americans - black, white, red,
yellow, rich, poor, young( old,
gay, straight, etc. - is not a liberal
or conservative value. It's an
American value that I would
think that we pretty much all
agree on...Housing and employ-
ment are not special rights." He's
correct: A2003 Gallup poll found
88 percent of us believe in sexual
orientation nondiscrimination on
the job. Not just an American
value, employment fairness
toward gays is good business.
Our own Delaware Treasurer Jack
Markell wrote in a 2004 op ed,
"In competing for the jobs of the
future with other states and for-
eign countries, people are our
greatest assets. They are the key
to ensuring that Delaware compa-
nies compete in the new global
ness laws, Delaware is not "the
first state" here; we are not even
close,
Douglas Marshall-Steele
Milton
Cape says thanks
On behalf of the students and
staff of the Cape Henlopen
School District's four elementary
schools, we would like to express
our gratitude to the members of
Zwaanendael Women's Club for
their donation of books to our ele-
mentary school libraries. This is a
welcome demonstration of the
Greater Federation of Women's
Club commitment to libraries and
literacy. Their gracious and
thoughtful efforts to help our
libraries and students are appreci-
ated.
Kathy Lindemer
Library Media Specialist
Cape Henlopen District
Seafood Grill and Bar
17300 North Village Main Boulevard,
The Villages of Five Points, Lewes, DE
For directions and information call 302.645.9790 or visit www.tishon.bz
