VIEWPOINT: Medicine for the People of Sussex, Homes for All of Us and Arts for the Many

Joe Conaway

Let me give you a quick update on Sussex Economic Development Action Committee, Inc. (SEDAC) efforts to bring a medical school to Sussex County. Work continues since the final report indicating that a branch of a medical school would work in Sussex County.

In addition, in this past legislative session, House Concurrent Resolution #160 was passed by the General Assembly, sponsored by Representatives Valerie Jones Giltner, Representative Jeff Hilovsky and Stell Parker Selby as well as Senator Brian Pettyjohn creating a formal steering group to bring a medical school to Delaware and specifically names Sussex County that would benefit the most from such a move. All of the Sussex County delegation supported this resolution.

SEDAC will continue its efforts to open lines of communication with an existing medical school to determine their interest in coming to Sussex County. All three Sussex hospital continue their cooperation in the hopes of achieving just that. We hope that politics doesn’t get in the way but this IS an election year and we all know what that means. Let me make it abundantly clear, Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall Long has been with us from the beginning, unlike those who would either like it to locate in New Castle County or think that it will take fifteen years for anything, if at all, to take place. One of the candidates, on two separate occasions, refused to endorse a medical school in Sussex County, but, then again, he felt that if we tinker with the timing on our red lights, our traffic problems would be solved.

The Governor has signed a number of housing bills sponsored by Senator Russ Huxtable that begin the process of addressing both the shortage of workforce and affordable housing. This is just the beginning. SEDAC’s two committees dealing with both types of housing are working towards recommendations that will make it less costly, time consuming and over-regulated. We expect to bring those recommendations forward by the beginning of next year. It will not be a surprise that increased density, more funds for Sussex County road projects and housing options will be part of those recommendations. The State of Delaware, through the Department of Transportation must reverse its priorities by bringing major projects on much faster than they do now. Fifty years to start the Georgetown bypass and thirty-five years for the Millsboro bypass is outrageous. I don’t want to hear that it can’t be done. The improved intersection of routes 404 and 13 in Bridgeville was done very quickly. Could it have been that we had a governor, Ruth Ann Minner to be precise, who was from Sussex County and knew the problems? Just asking.

In May of this year we heard from the Freeman Arts folks. Their outstanding program , which began in 2008, has impacted over 850,000 people through its arts program. As a former educator I can attest to the impact that this program has had on our young. The Freeman Arts Pavilion, that was always part of the original Bayside Americana rezoning, has had a cumulative economic impact of over 120 million dollars since 2008. Hats off to the Freeman people for filling a huge gap in the arts in Sussex County!