Meet the candidates
State representative
Republican Rep. Gerald Hocker, a local businessman and lifetime area resident, is seeking re-election to his third term as state representative on Nov. 7. In this Coastal Point question-and-answer session, Hocker, who is running against Democratic challenger Robert Maddex, stresses the importance of affordable healthcare and praises efforts to clean up Sussex County’s inland watershed.
What do you believe is the most important issue facing the 38th district and why?
The most important issue facing the 38th District is getting the State and County working together, allowing infrastructure to catch up with development. Finally, we are requiring developers to put big bucks in infrastructure, 15 years too late. Look what Delaware has lost.
What can the state do to make outdated, local Sussex County roads improvement a priority?
The State needs to get DelDOT working with the County. Also, we need to correct the Transportation Trust Fund by shifting the expenses that were once in the General Fund back to that fund, in order to fund our much-needed road projects.
How well do you believe the spirit of Livable Delaware is being implemented in coastal Sussex County?
Livable Delaware is a fairly new initiative by our governor that once again is a few years too late but is a good concept that needs to be followed through. One of the first developments in this district that meets all of the initiatives of Livable Delaware is Millville by the Sea. Being in a growth district, it is a community within itself, where all infrastructure will be in place, offering many amenities that not only are needed for that community, but needed in our county itself.
How can the state make healthcare more affordable?
Today, health costs are the largest sector of the economy and getting larger. Also, it is the fastest-growing expense in business. The current health system cannot be reformed unless we change our approach.
We must emphasize early detection and prevention, and stop relying on paper medical records and paper prescriptions rather than modern computer technology. This alone has contributed to many hospital deaths due to preventable medical errors.
The health care system must become paperless to bring down costs. The payment method in our current system is a mess — one person pays, a second person receives and a third person provides the services. It invites fraud and corruption.
We need to concentrate on satisfying the patient and not the insurance company. Many health insurance policies are priced out of reach because of state mandates. We should offer a low-cost insurance pool that offers basic coverage to get the uninsured insured. I also feel small business should have the right to be part of the state pool.
What more can the state do to protect Sussex County’s inland waterways?
A great deal has been done and the bays are much cleaner today than just a few years ago. DNREC has stated that they were not polluted overnight and will not be cleaned up overnight. Just working and educating the farmer has made a huge difference. We need to give the farming industry a huge amount of the credit.
Also, the County taking thousands of individual septic systems offline and putting them on central sewer is a large contributing factor to our cleaner bays. Now we need to concentrate on getting all outflows from septic out of the bays. We need to keep our channels dredged and marked. I strongly feel that replenishing our bay grasses is important to a clean bay.
What is being done, can be done, or should be done to change the make-up of Sussex County Council?
I sponsored legislation to add two additional districts in 2008 and co-sponsored a bill to add two at-large (seats). Redistricting should be done by an independent firm to assure fairness.
Robert Maddex, a Democrat, attorney and Fenwick Island resident, is challenging Republican Rep. Gerald Hocker for the 38th District’s state representative seat in the Nov. 7 election. In this Coastal Point question-and-answer session, he stresses responsible growth.
What do you believe is the most important issue facing the 38th District and why?
How to balance growth and development with protection of the quality of life in the district:
The recent spate of growth in our district, especially the many new housing developments, has undoubtedly brought wealth into the community in the form of transfer and property taxes and increased profits for local businesses.
However, this growth has revealed a number of problems. One is that the local authorities who make decisions about new development do not do so on the basis of a well-defined plan. Another problem is that these local authorities do not require that those proposing the projects, who stand to make a large profit from them, pay for necessary improvements to the existing infrastructure whether roads or sewers or schools before beginning their projects. Infrastructure improvements should be in place or accounted for before construction can begin.
Another real problem is that, even at the state level, the input from developers far outweighs the input from experts on the environment and residents who believe that the quality of life is threatened by unregulated development.
For example, a recent Center for the Inland Bays report is highly critical of a revision in Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control strategy that was based solely on pressure from downstate property owners and developers. The proposed revision would narrow the buffer zones on developed land, increasing the potential for harmful nutrient runoff in our waterways and bays.
There is a reasonable middle ground between development and environmental protection in which each side and the community at large can benefit and be protected from irreparable damage to our unique environment, which supports the economy of our coastal zone. As DNREC’s secretary was quoted in a recent article in Delaware Today: “You can have every environmental law, regulation and policy in the world..., but if you’ve lost the land use, you don’t have an environment left to do much with.”
What can the state do to make outdated, local Sussex County road improvement a priority?
The basic problem here is the lack of funds. The state Transportation Trust Fund was raided some years ago in order to cover operating expenses. Some suggestions that have been made to restore the fund include placing DELDOT operating expenses back under the general budget, but revenue projections for the next two years are not encouraging, meaning that other budget items might have to be cut if that were done. Another suggestion has been to raise fees on automobile licenses and registration, but that most heavily impacts citizens who need their vehicles for work.
One potential solution that I support would be to assess impact fees on new development to partially offset the cost of local road improvements, which result from increased traffic brought on by new development.
How well do you believe the spirit of Livable Delaware is being implemented in coastal Sussex County?
Again, the conflict between landowners and developers on the one hand and those who want to implement Gov. Minner’s Livable Delaware policy is putting this policy in jeopardy. While the Livable Delaware program, together with the Coastal Zone Act, has worked to help protect our fragile environment in the 38th District, attempts have been made to compromise the policy. For example, a developer has proposed using state-owned land, including parklands, fish and wildlife areas, forest lands, and cultural and historic lands, as waste-water disposal sites.
The current trend seems to favor the needs of developers at the expense of the quality of life of the residents and vacationers, who are the economic mainstay of our coastal area. We need stronger, more responsible representation at all levels in the state, people who will support and expand the Livable Delaware policy.
How can the state make health care more affordable?
One way is to take beginning steps to reduce the cost of health insurance, such as those proposed by the state insurance commissioner in the last session of the General Assembly.
Two such measures; SB 146 and SB 236 were passed by a bipartisan vote in the state senate. But SB 146, which would have created a statewide health insurance purchasing pool to lower health insurance costs for families and small businesses, was kept from the floor of the Republican-controlled lower house in a closed-door meeting. SB 236, which would have given the state the power that some forty other states now have to regulate health insurance rates, was similarly stymied in the lower house’s Economic Development, Insurance and Banking Committee.
Reducing the cost of health care in Delaware will take creative efforts such as SB 146 and SB 236 and the courage of legislators to stand up to insurance lobbyists, who actively campaigned against the passage of the two measures referred to above.
What more can the state do to protect Sussex County’s inland waterways?
Approval of new development should be based on the potential for damage to the inland waterways. For example, site locations, the number of units, and the size of effective buffer zones between the developed land and the waterways should be important considerations in the approval process. State action to strengthen enforcement of this policy should also be considered.
What is being done, can be done, or should be done to change the make-up of the Sussex County Council?
Some proposals to change the size of the Sussex County Council have been introduced in the state legislature. One proposal is to expand the council by two persons who would be elected from the eastern part of the county to balance the representation of this growing area with that of the now-dominant western portion. However, the proposal would not be effective until 2012, after the 2010 census, which is too long to wait.
Another proposal that has some merit would expand the council by two at-large seats, which might then give eastern residents three council members to contact about matters of concern.
County sheriff
Republican Sheriff Robert Reed is seeking re-election to his third term to head the sheriff’s office on Nov. 7, facing Democratic challenger Eric Swanson, a former Delaware State Police official. In this Coastal Point question-and-answer session, the long-time supporter of a full-service sheriff’s department does not stray from that platform.
What do you believe the role of the Sussex County sheriff is?
The oath of office for the sheriff is to serve the people of the county and obey the Delaware Constitution, which reads, in Article XV, Sec. 1, the sheriffs of each of the three counties are declared, “to be conservators of the peace within the counties respectively in which they reside.”
In addition, Delaware Code defines the Sheriff in 11 Del.C. Sec 222 (14) (2001) as a “law-enforcement officer.”
This definition also includes police officers. In 11 Del. C. sec. 8302 (a) (2001) State Police are recognized as conservators of the peace, with “powers similar to those of the sheriffs.”
The sheriff is in ex officio Fish & Wildlife Agent as listed in 10 Del. C. sec 2114 (2001). According to Tile 7, “Fish and Wildlife Agents means a law enforcement officer employed to the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.”
There are numerous other references in the Delaware Code giving the definition and role of the sheriff. However, Constitutional law has authority over Delaware Code or Common law.
The Constitution and the laws listed have not been amended or abrogated. Therefore, under our State Constitution, the sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer of the county.
Why do you believe you are the most qualified for this position?
My accomplishments in management and leadership make me the most qualified person. For the first six years, we have returned to the taxpayer’s revenue profits of almost one-half million dollars.
Our partnership the National Child Safety Council has supplied education and literature to thousands at no cost to the taxpayers.
We have installed GPS systems in deputies’ vehicles and improved civil process service with a faster turn-around time.
Sheriff sales are conducted indoors and we have developed an elaborate Web site for advertisement and easier access for customers.
We have hired experienced police officers with impressive resumes, developed an in-house training program and provide training with other police agencies in our effort to enhance public safety and protection.
Eric Swanson, a Democrat and former Delaware State Police officer, who spent more than two decades in law enforcement before retiring, is challenging eight-year Sussex County Sheriff Robert Reed in the Nov. 7 election. In this Coastal Point question-and-answer session, he supports the idea of a full-service sheriff’s department.
What do you believe the role of the Sussex County sheriff is?
At the present time, traditionally and by our Delaware state law, the office of the sheriff is required to serve papers as an officer of the courts, to transport prisoners and to conduct sheriff sales.
Why do you believe you are the most qualified to fill this position?
I have 20 years experience in law enforcement, management skills, and a deep sense of fiscal responsibility. I firmly believe in cooperation, not confrontation. I fully recognize the importance of teamwork.
For seven years there has been conflict between the Sheriff’s Office and Sussex County Council. The office has been operating over its budget for the past several years. I firmly believe that more police protection is needed in our county, but it is not up to the sheriff to decide how and when that will be accomplished.
By working together with County Council and law enforcement I believe we can have that additional police coverage and at a cost we can all afford. That is what I will work diligently towards, while gladly and efficiently doing the traditional and required duties of the sheriff.
