Dover’s proposed and controversial pedestrian safety ordinance came to a halt during City Council’s meeting Feb. 25. The proposal, sponsored by Councilman David Anderson and city manager Dave Hugg, was shot down 6-3 after a three-and-a-half-hour discussion.
The city of Dover has spent thousands of dollars doing studies on homelessness but has failed to provide any kind of help to those who are less fortunate. — Bobbi Costello
Good. This ordinance wouldn’t have helped reduce homelessness and wouldn’t have improved public safety in any meaningful way. It would, however, have encroached on our First Amendment right to exist on traditional public forums like medians, and worse, it would have punished good Samaritans for the simple act of giving to the needy. — Adam Yamada Kelly
Politics at its best. — Joe Kopach
A total lack of leadership and a crap excuse. The purpose behind this measure was public safety, which should be easily defended if challenged in court. Sitting back and waiting for somebody to get hurt, or worse, is not leadership. Neither is waiting for the state to act. Saying the police should be focusing on other issues is ridiculous. What if the state passes something that requires enforcement? Is the Dover Police Department going to enforce the law or ignore it? Take a ride on South Governors Avenue. There is litter everywhere and open-air drug dealing. People are slumped over by the effects of drug use, prostitutes are selling themselves, people are using the streets as bathrooms, people are sleeping in doorways, and on and on. The fire department needs to install a fence around its property to protect its building from predators that go unchecked by the DPD. Sad! Downtown Dover is a slum and a harbinger of crime, and nobody is doing anything to clean it up. FYI, building a multiuse apartment building and a parking garage is a complete and total waste of taxpayer money. The citizens and taxpayers of the city are going to see large tax increases in the near future to support this doomed project. — Fred Willey
