Candidate name: Stell Parker Selby

Party: Democratic

Age: 75

Hometown: Milton

Political experience: Milton City Council member and vice mayor.

Professional experience: Cape Henlopen School District teacher and administrator for over 30 years. Also served in the Capital School District in Dover. Elected to a five-year term to the Cape Henlopen school board and, during my tenure, served as vice president and president of the board.

What uniquely qualifies you for this office?

As a lifetime Sussex Countian, career educator in the Cape Henlopen School District and community leader, I am committed to being the voice of the people in Representative District 20, who will address their issues and concerns in a thoughtful and professional manner. I understand what it means to overcome adversity, and I know what’s important to the people of the Cape region. Historically, there has never been an African American male or female to serve in any political position, House or Senate, from Sussex County. I attended elementary through high school in a time of segregation and segregated schools. My college degrees were completed in Delaware. I am a native of this state, county and district, with my family going back for generations. My extensive involvement in a variety of civic and local organizations and groups, as well as my lifelong passion for education and mentoring, has given me a rich, deep and wide knowledge of this beautiful district. My concern and respect for my fellow RD 20 citizens call me to be involved and helpful to all.

What are the top three issues for this office in your view?

Smart growth and environmental preservation: Our future depends on it, and it is essential to sustain our economy, health and well-being. Growth in RD 20 must not go unchecked. The need for adequate transportation and safe roads is necessary, as well as protection of our waterways and preservation of our farmlands and forests. We can work together to ensure the county comprehensive plan is embraced and followed. I will work to find common ground and to identify how the state can support nonthreatening growth for our community and environment. An important first step would be establishing a task force on regulations on development and ways the state planning commission can work with the Delaware Department of Transportation to explore legislation to find ways to ensure our future is taken care of and our current needs are addressed. Smart growth includes smart thinking on roads and transportation to address support for workers, and those that live in these areas can include reliable and well-planned public transportation options, combined with hubs for work, retail, grocery shopping and other personal needs. These areas would contain the current sprawl that is occurring throughout Sussex County, resulting in destruction of massive amounts of farmlands, forests, wetlands and byways. RD 20’s economy depends on tourism. Tourism is based on the waterways, beaches, parks, forests and wetlands. Our families rely on a healthy environment. I will support and promote a healthy and friendly preservation plan beneficial to all our residents and visitors. Green energy is the future for all of us. Developing and building green technology is crucial. Green spaces support mental health, lower crime, instill pride, support our health overall and save our planet, while sustaining our parks, providing beach replenishment, supporting our tourism and our economy. A high priority for the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control needs to focus on land preservation. Our water source has to be protected. Smart growth includes environmental preservation. Education and safety: The key to our future. Education enables one to pursue their dreams and realize their full potential. As a lifetime educator, I have and will continue to support plans and programs that will promote and encourage successful futures, such as early-childhood learning, broadband access and digital literacy, vocational and technical training. I support full funding for our public schools, including our institutions of higher education such as Delaware State University, Delaware Technical Community College and the Delaware Institute of Medical Education and Research. To learn also must include safety. Everyone has a right to be safe. RD 20 residents expect to stay safe in their homes, schools and in their community. Lewes and Milton are among the top 10 safest cities in Delaware, and I want to continue to support them to retain that distinction. Safety includes adequate roads, so that our emergency services personnel can reach their destinations quickly. Adequate roads and transportation systems are also crucial for potential emergency evacuations. I will pay close attention to matters pertaining to keeping our communities safe and will do all possible to maintain our safety through sound and intelligent legislation. Crime prevention must include mental health services, job training and drug treatment services, as well as ensuring our police force is fully funded. Most rural towns and cities rely on the state police for services, so the state legislator must ensure they are fully staffed and have high standards for ongoing training. Human and civil rights: We must defend them. No person in our democracy should face discrimination on the bases of sex, race, national origin, disability, gender identity or sexual orientation. I am committed to protecting the rights of all residents in our diverse RD 20 district. We must expand and protect our right to vote. Voting is essential to our democracy, and we need to ensure that everyone is able to easily vote. Women’s rights are human rights and need our full protection for privacy and bodily autonomy. I support a state constitutional amendment for each of these rights to ensure they cannot be taken away based on decisions of one party over another or the decisions of a judge.

What would be your top priority if elected?

There needs to be more state oversight, involvement and funding by state agencies in Sussex County issues. RD 20 residents deserve to know what Sussex County is doing with its surplus funds. Are services for RD 20 getting better? If not, why? I plan to focus on fiscal oversight and ensuring RD 20 has adequate road conditions to accommodate emergency service access, transportation options to get to work and school, green spaces, clean water and affordable housing. There are solutions to these needs, which include state involvement and oversight.

If you could change one state policy or law, what would it be?

We must protect and ensure that our democracy allows freedom to vote. In the last legislative session, same-day voter registration, which allows voters to register up to and including Election Day, passed and was signed by the governor. Also vote by mail — which would allow voters in Delaware to request a vote-by-mail ballot, complete the ballot at home and then mail it back to the Department of Elections or use one of the sanctioned drop-boxes — was passed and was signed by the governor. Both of these laws were blocked by a judge, stating they needed to be enacted through modification of the Delaware Constitution, which requires two-thirds majority to pass. In the last session, House Bill 75, a bill to eliminate the restrictive absentee voter language from the Delaware Constitution, needed two Republicans in the House to vote yes. No Republican House members did. Delaware needs a supermajority in the legislature, who can ensure that voter rights are protected and expanded. I support a constitutional amendment to protect our right to vote.

What can Delaware do about its workforce issues?

Invest in our public education system. We need to ensure coordination between the state, the county and our school districts to foster the best outcomes for our students and the needs of employers. Also, encourage investments in green technology, which will bring in jobs and save our beautiful environment. We have a need for child care that is affordable and accessible. We have excellent vocational and technical colleges, which can work with employers, focusing on our economic development needs. We need to fully fund and support them. There is a need for affordable housing for our teachers, construction workers, landscapers, medical technicians, nurses, restaurant workers and all those who support the retirees who are moving here. Affordable needs to be available, so these workers can get to their jobs without driving for hours through congested, inadequate roads. We need a public transportation system with enough bus routes and well-scheduled service routes, so that workers can realistically use it to get to and from work.

What, if any, gun laws would you change?

As an educator, the shootings in schools have shaken me. I ask, why are we allowing our future generation to live through these horrific criminal acts? I fully supported the passage of a ban on assault rifles and military-style weapons, and enforcement of red-flag laws for reporting of threats or concerns of violence, which passed in the last legislative session. The safety of our citizens and police officers is threatened by the proliferation of unregulated guns and military-style weapons.

How would you protect or change abortion rights in the state?

Reproductive rights are women’s rights; freedom of reproductive choice is personal and belongs to the individual and not the community. We need to strengthen safeguards for this fundamental right of privacy between women and their doctors. I would support a constitutional amendment to protect the right to provide, enable or receive an abortion, as well as additional statutory protections of these rights. I strongly support the rights of access and provisions that were passed in the last legislative session.

Do you support the State Employee Benefits Committee’s move to a Medicare Advantage plan for state retirees? Why?

As a retiree, I continue to question this new medical plan for state retirees. I understand that changes were needed to reduce the state’s unfunded liability, but I have concerns on how this change will affect coverage. I support the state legislature bill addressing accountability, that will create an ombudsman at the Department of Human Resources who would be tasked with helping retirees navigate benefits under the new plan and will also create a subcommittee — with members to include state retirees, sitting legislators, union representatives and other state officials — who will monitor performance during the three-year life of the current contract. I will work closely to make sure this monitoring piece is adequately in place and will continue to be aware of how this new plan is provided and coverage given.