Exploring Other Issues

Health/Healthcare – Health Care Reform is an issue that affects all Delawareans. Eventually, every one of us will need health care services ...

Education – The State’s role in our public schools should be to educate, not medicate. Our public schools should not recommend or facilitate the administration of psychotropic drugs to our children, ever. The state education system should be reorganized or redirected in such a way so as to enable all Delaware students to reach their maximum potential by accurately evaluating their individual strengths and abilities. Students can be grouped accordingly and taught at their own particular levels instead of being taught at a level where all students are lumped as one. The policies that suggest teaching a curriculum based on a blanket statewide exam can somehow offer full benefits to the diverse student population are out of touch.

Crime/Safety – Delaware must be tougher on crime in general, and more so on repeat offenders. We should be confident enough in our laws to rely on the Judicial System to take swift action and justly punish those who would infringe on the rights and freedoms of others. If that means that we need to enact new laws to deal with crime, or revisit those already on the books, that’s exactly what I want to do. Although lower Delaware isn’t necessarily known for a high crime rate, this is no reason to sit back and wait for problems to move in before we act. I favor a proactive approach to law enforcement, one that encourages the many departments and agencies that serve the people to work together for the greater good. On a more local level, the unincorporated areas of Sussex County are under-patrolled. We cannot be proactive in our law enforcement efforts if we are non-existent in areas with no full time law enforcement agency. We need to take the necessary steps to correct this shortage of law enforcement presence. For that reason I support the Sussex County Sheriff’s Office, the Delaware State Police and the many municipal law enforcement agencies, because working together we can correct the areas that need addressing. In addition to the above steps which address issues from the top down, I support and would introduce legislation that would grant all citizens that are legally able to own a firearm the right to carry that firearm concealed. It is an undisputable fact that crime rates decrease when the number of armed citizens increases. What’s more, the State’s Constitution grants us this right via the 20^th Amendment, which reads, “A person has the right to keep and bear arms for the defense of self, family, home and State …”

Gambling – Revising the state’s gambling regulations to permit expansion would not only keep us ahead of neighboring and competing states, it would yield a wealth of new revenues for use in areas where we now have budgetary shortfalls. We can take advantage of these expanded gambling revenues instead of passing rising budgetary costs on to the taxpayers.

Environmental Protection –  By it’s own admission, the State of Delaware recognizes that more needs to be done to help protect the environment and the citizens of Delaware from various pollutants that, all too often, get too little press. DNREC is currently working on new regulations to target power plant emissions, some of which include nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and mercury. These are steps in the right direction, but they address only this particular problem. Environmental Protection efforts must be ongoing, and constant. We need to call on those individuals with the knowledge and expertise in such areas, work closely with those individuals, have them make recommendations, and then meet them.

Energy –  Starting right now, we need to develop working solutions to the energy problem by exploring the use of alternative energy sources that are sustainable and renewable, such as solar and wind sources. By utilizing new innovations and systems that have proven to work elsewhere these re-generating energy sources will offset the cost of utility rates that continue to climb. Because getting these new systems off the ground will take some time, we should also be seriously looking to attract other suppliers of electricity to the area. Monopoly is fun to play for a few hours maybe, it’s not fun to live with.

Government Spending – I believe, like many people would, that state spending is too high. The budget grows year after year, and as such so does the amount that citizens pay. Remember, the State has no money, the State uses money that belongs to the people, often times against our collective will and in ways that we do not agree with. But, who can argue with budget priorities such as education, health and safety, economic growth and the environment? Changes can be made to address budget increases by lowering the budget on or cutting altogether wasteful or nonproductive State services.

Economic Growth – Delaware enjoys an unemployment rate that is lower than the national average, which in itself is low. Generally, those people who want to work are working. On economic growth, attracting and retaining businesses, this is an area we can always continue to address. We can expand the number of businesses that want to do business in Delaware by looking at new, innovative and cutting-edge technologies. By supporting policies that seek to partner with and promote individual and corporate potential we can attract new businesses and let them work for us as employers, thus furthering economic growth.