I’m proud to endorse Jane Gruenebaum for the District 3 Sussex County Council seat. Jane’s integrity, intelligence and visionary thinking distinguish her from her opponent. She will not surrender control of Sussex’s development agenda to special interests. The environment and residents’ quality of life will finally receive the attention they deserve. And we will have a fair and balanced approach to decisions that impact us daily.
Jane’s opponent claims he’s slowed overdevelopment. In truth, his long-term vision has been to densely pack the coastal corridor. As Smyrna mayor, he predicted housing would soon stretch as one continuous corridor up and down the state. Maybe he delivered the state’s first comprehensive plan, but he omits his annexation spree that led to overburdened infrastructure, overcrowded schools and a state penalty costing Smyrna nearly $3 million. When the county denied a massive mall on environmentally sensitive land near the Great Marsh, not only did he call that denial a mistake, but then he also fought on council to change that land’s designation to allow more intense development.
Jane’s opponent credits himself for everything everywhere all at once, often bending the truth, even convincing Lewes officials to parrot his misleading claims. He says he stopped Royal Farms, but later admitted it will likely return. He says he voted no on the Round Pole and Coral Lakes subdivisions; not true, he recused himself on the first, and, after a procedural vote, voted yes on the latter application. He claims he passed ordinances to stop overdevelopment, but we can’t find them.
Jane will protect our forests, vital flood mitigation resources. Her opponent misleadingly claims he passed ordinances that preserve forests. A recent ordinance protects only small, forested areas within a development’s buffer zone existing at the time of application, but does nothing to halt developers from clear-cutting and destroying tree canopy throughout the county.
Traffic solutions require close coordination with the state. Jane builds relationships. Her opponent shirks such responsibility and tells us to call state legislators to fix it – a dilettante mindset that others’ resources will infinitely expand to fix problems he creates.
Jane supports a voluntary school assessment to hold developers responsible for burdens their projects create. Her opponent opposes the VSA. Our schools’ needs are critical. Without the VSA, tax increases will happen. He now distracts by feigning concern about the tax reassessment’s impact, promising hail mary efforts to increase senior tax credits and a one-time county discount for seniors – token gestures that wouldn’t come close to the enduring reduction a VSA would achieve in future tax burdens.
Jane has dedicated her life to public service, demonstrating her ability to take action and effectively navigate challenges created by her opponent. With a new comprehensive plan imminent, if her opponent takes control of council, low-growth areas will be reclassified wholesale for development, continuing developers’ unchecked influence over growth. But with Jane on council, the county will have the opportunity to wrest back control and make more thoughtful decisions about growth.
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