Siskin: Gruenebaum’s ‘voice of reason’ needed on Sussex County Council

Like many of us, I have been inundated with mail from candidates this season. Many of these go straight to recycling. One caught my eye.

Mark Schaeffer, who is running for reelection to County Council, took credit for stopping the Royal Farms on Robinsonville Road. I attended meetings where Mr. Schaeffer said specifically that he could not speak about the potential rezoning because it was a pending matter. Residents were the ones who blocked the RoFo rezoning application — not Mark Schaeffer! Shockingly, Schaeffer’s mailing claimed he stopped the traffic that would have resulted from the proposed use of the site. This offended me almost as much as the unlawful campaign sign he had in the parkland along the Junction & Breakwater Trail.

Worse still, the political action committee that is supporting Schaeffer took part of the name of the Sussex Preservation Coalition to give the impression that it was focused on preserving Sussex County. The truth is that Mark Schaeffer did nothing to stop the RoFo, and the Preserve Sussex PAC is funded by developers.

We need people on Sussex County Council who understand that the county should not look to developers to determine our future. This community has suffered from rapid and seemingly rampant residential development. Many of these houses sit empty, except for a few days here and there. While such developments provide temporary employment of construction workers and transfer taxes upon their initial sale, such development is not without its costs.

We are losing tree cover. We are losing habitats. We are losing areas where workforce housing can be built. We need a change.

Mark Schaeffer is part of the problem. He makes his living off real estate transactions. We need people on County Council who care more about our quality of life than helping developers build more houses.

Fortunately, we have someone running for County Council who doesn’t make her living off real estate transactions. More, she is cognizant of the need to ensure that infrastructure is available to serve the existing population before even more demands are placed on our systems. I encourage everyone to support Jane Gruenebaum, who is running for County Council in the 3rd District against Mr. Schaeffer. Her website, janeforsussex.com, provides an overview of her positions and her commitment to change ordinances that permit unchecked development. We need a change. Vote for Jane Gruenebaum to bring her voice of reason to Sussex County.

Cheryl Siskin

Sussex County District 3 resident

Rehoboth Beach

Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.