Regarding growth: If you sit thru a Council Meeting, you will see that the County has made productive changes for communities to have open space, walking and bike paths. They have also voted down projects or placed stipulations that improve the development. And regarding signs - DELDOT does have stipulations and enforces the guidelines.

If the State imposes their views here (and Judd Bennet’s too) there will be no affordable housing due to “Level 4″ areas. What this means is that you will not be able to build a home unless you have a larger piece of land - say 4 or 5 or even 10 acres. Will that help first time homebuyers? It’s doubtful. Not only will you have to pay for more ground, you will also pay to commute to work and have to pay to gas up a riding lawn mower. Not the best time to do that in my opinion. If you have children, don’t forget all those trips to the doctor, school and church functions. More wear and tear on the car with soaring fuel prices. And lets not forget the farmers who want to get out of the business so their children don’t have to take a gamble on the weather each year. Ultimately, in “Level 4″ the farmer’s land will depreciate even more. Yes, we are experiencing a slump in the real estate market and most of the developers are gone too. But there are many approved yet unrecorded lots on the books and eventually they will loose those approvals. In other words yet another correction in the marketplace which will ultimately decrease the number of approved projects on the books. Do we want Judd making decisions about who has the right to represent the property owners who have - like him been around for years?

And a reminder for those whiners who came from Virginia, DC, Maryland, NY and Philly and protest development. Mostly I hear that you’ve been here maybe 3, 4 and some 12 years. If it were not for development, you would not have your home with the lowest tax base in the U.S. and I would not have to listen to you say you are against development the next time you swing your golf club or hop on your boat. And thanks to development, we have better libraries, grocery stores, restaurants and some of the best doctors - who could have lived anywhere but chose to raise their families here. Lets not be hippocrites or forget us locals who do appreciate the positives that our reputable Council has done to work for us.

And now, thanks to development a few of our talented kids have come home from college to work and they too care what happens in this community. These are the kid who guarded our beaches, rented umbrellas, waited tables each summer, worked on the charter fishing boats and enjoyed going to the State Parks or the movies when they weren’t crowded. And the great news is that they are intelligent and understand progress. It’s a different way of life here. We don’t want bullies, we want intelligent rational people doing what is right in our community.

Our Country was founded because of property rights. Lets not forget the “Boston Tea Party”. There is enough depressing news in the paper and on T.V. Don’t make things worse here. We want to retain our property rights. Just as our Ancestors did.

Mark Baker is my choice.

I can remember even 5 years ago when kids would go off to college and not come back simply because there were no jobs to be had. The boardwalk in Rehoboth was literally boarded up after Labor Day!

We had no jobs, we had no healthcare, and we had nothing to do. Now that we’re going through a national real estate recession, most of our working class folks are struggling to look for a job. There’s no building going on, people are hungry and looking for work. Small family businesses with strong and deep roots are looking at making difficult choices between closing up shop staying here and getting into a different line of work, or moving away.

Our economy is struggling. Bennett would just be the coup de grace.

Moreover, the point that Dan didn’t get with the lady caller worried about “unbridled” development was trying to make is that infrastructure must be synchronized by the County Council with development, otherwise we have grid-locked highways, inadequate emergency services, inadequate police protection, soon to be overcrowded schools, insufficient enforcement of county ordinances re drainage, set backs, sewers, water supplies, etc.

Your intimidation of this lady was not consistent with the good job you did in handling the debate and the subsequent calls. You pressed her to identify one bad development. She was not fast enough on her feet to redirect you back to the infrastructure issue which she was trying to raise. At times, you need to be more sensitive.

PS: Jud Bennett is trying to address these issues now before they come back and hit us in the face too late with much higher taxes. This is the concern of a true fiscal Conservative. How can we have high expectations for Mark Baker who doesn’t even know if the County Council meetings begin with a prayer. You can be sure that Jud knows, as he has attended numerous Council meetings over the years. Mark Davis is a novice!

“limiting growth to certain areas, or any similar ideas, WILL be negative for Sussex in my eyes”.

Then you may want to contact Mark Baker and ask his campaign why they are touting the Sussex County Comprehensive plan as controlling growth in a recent radio add against Jud (who claims we don’t have a plan to control growth)

I personally find it hard to believe that anyone supports the countless huge poorly planned development projects that are cluttering up our two lane country roads with no attempt to maintain adequate infrastructure.

Who says taxes will go up? Even his opponent has not make that case. For example, Jud has shown that the hiring of the five attorneys will actually save taxpayer money. Jud is a long time fiscal Conservative — you can bet he will squeeze every ounce of return from every taxpayer dollar spent. His opponent is a short-timer with little vision or passion.

Continuing on taxes, Jud is trying to prevent taxes from increasing, on farmers too, by demanding that the developers pay their fair share of infrastructure costs at the outset. You know already in these lean times that the reserve fund is disappearing. What is his opponent’s solution? — more of the same, as Jody Hudson, President of the PGA seems to dictate! Jody Hudson does not speak for me, nor do I think he speaks for most of us who love this place, farmers, land owners, and you and me.

Developers adapt to whatever the restrictions are, they always have and always will. Restrictions are put in place to allow for a managed growth approach to be followed for the benefit of all, farmers, developers, existing home owners. This has happened already numerous times all across the country, and it can happen here too. The wheel does not have to be reinvented here.

Who says land/housing is unaffordable? Jordan thinks so. I disagree. Mike Mock makes a valid point about the current situation of supply outstripping demand. This is a buyers market, a good time for Jordan and others like him to buy in. You can’t necessarily expect to start in the home of your dreams, Jordan, so you start with a condo or a fixer up (I’m sure your Dad can help, Jordan)), or a double wide in a well managed park. That’s exactly the same way it was for me in my first home, a row housee in suburban Philly 48 years ago. It was a real stretch for me at the time, $10,000, but most of us have to stretch to start out. In that respect, times have not changed at all.

Even farmers don’t benefit when 2 on 1 sprout up here there and everywhere, because they will pay in increased land taxes not too much longer down the line, as Jud is trying to point out.

I’m for Jud, because he is one of the few willing to stand up and warn us of the consequences down the road if we don’t do a better job of planning right now. And he has a plan. His opponent, however, is very shortsighted, because he wants more of the same. That’s negligent, in my view. And what is his opponent’s plan? I have yet to see one!

Jud’s message is the tough one and takes courage, because he is calling for change; his opponent’s is the easy one, because he is calling for more of the same. Shoot, I could do that!!!

Let us be foresighted and make the tough calls now, farmers, land owners, and homeowners alike, so that we take proper care of the land here that we cherish, so that we can protect ourselves from high taxes not too far down the road. This is the message of a true fiscal Conservative, and of a truly passionate lover of our County and State!