Friday, July 3, 2020

Former CLNCC President praises Meyer for Environmental Stewardship

From the Facebook page of Jordyn Pusey, former President of the Civic League of New Castle County and Candidate for County Council. We at Ogletown Resilience and the former Save The Orphanage Property (STOP) Campaign were shocked and dismayed to see her enthusiastic endorsement of County Executive Matt Meyer as an 'environmentalist'. The hypocrisy is staggering. There are simply no words that can describe the moral repugnance of Matt Meyer, an anti-environmentalist and ally of the building industry. But Ms. Pusey tries. For those with a Facebook account, you can read her post here, set for public viewing. Excerpts:

"Sustainability is both an immediate and long term goal, and we must support those who are following in [Russell] Petersons footsteps and presenting ambitious environmental policies of their own, as well as promoting equity and inclusion.

Matt Meyer has shown through his GreeNCC agenda that he is fully committed to protecting our environment for future generations. The County is leading by example in implementing best practices and policies that will have an impact on our water and natural environment while enhancing the quality of life for all of us. In my years of involvement in County government, I have never seen such a focus and dedication to the environment. The goals are as follows:
  • Enhance water and air quality;
  • Encourage healthy and eco-friendly lifestyles;
  • Conserve and protect local habitats;
  • Promote smart growth; Reduce harmful emissions by promoting renewables and improving energy efficiency.
Moreso, in today's political climate, it's imperative that we have leaders that exemplify our highest values and are in office for the right reasons; primarily the desire to serve others. We cannot discount the moral and ethical nature in which the Meyer administration has governed. That starts from the top, but the quality and talent of the entire administration shines brightly."

The Meyer Administration has shown itself to be corrupt and immoral from the time he was elected in Nov 2016. When Meyer formed his Transition Teams in January 2017, he put the very Developer who stood to profit from the Orphanage Property, Joseph Setting, in charge of the Parks Transition Team -- whose task was prioritizing parkland for New Castle County. He also appointed a land use attorney from the legal firm (Tarbicos) representing the Felician Sisters of N. America, those selling the Orphanage Property. Although STOP lodged a formal complaint pleading a conflict of interest given Setting stood to gain financially from developing the Orphanage Property, the NCC Ethics Commission (whose members are appointed by Meyer himself) dismissed it. They refused to hold Meyer accountable for this gross injustice and clear conflict of interest, even though STOP had presented objective evidence, and Community outrage against this injustice, to support our charge.

For the record, Saving the Orphanage Property (STOP) was a three year grassroots campaign (2015-2018) to save the last significant open space in Ogletown, Delaware, the Our Lady of Grace 180 acre Orphanage Property, for a regional park. This was the last chance for the community of Ogletown-S. Newark to fulfill and live the vision promised by Gov Ruth Ann Minner's Livable Delaware initiative. Livable Delaware proposed that we must control suburban sprawl and channel development to previously used or vacant land; that every Delawarean have local, ready and convenient access to healthy outdoor activities and parkland. Ogletown-S. Newark does NOT currently have access to parkland within biking and walking distance for most, and now never will thanks to Meyer and his Democratic cohorts in Legislative Hall. The effort was crushed and defeated by government corruption on the part of New Castle County (NCC) and State elected legislators with financial ties to development interests, and this newly elected pro-development County Executive Matt Meyer. STOP and Community residents watched hopelessly as he, along with Senator Bryan Townsend, Rep Ed Osienski, and Councilwoman Lisa Diller allowed this one-time chance to slip away forever.

It is ironic, because the Civic League of NCC , led by Ms. Pusey as President, supported STOP, and even granted a Resolution to back it. For Ms. Pusey to now openly endorse Meyer as an environmental steward and praise him for his efforts to "Encourage healthy and eco-friendly lifestyles, and Conserve and protect local habitats" while he has done anything but, is insulting and a slap in the face. She not only insults the Advocates who worked tirelessly for years to save the Orphanage Property, but obviously doesn't care about the creatures who inhabited it, the innocent wildlife -- many threatened or endangered -- who lost their lives as the bulldozers came through killing everything in their wake, replacing flora and fauna, open space and woods with the urbanized human footprint. Land in its natural state, containing critical habitat area according to DNREC , that also included the last open space suitable for a regional park and trail system, gone forever. The last significant open space in the region went from carbon sequestering and lush biodiversity, to asphalt and thousands more car trips per day on Route 4 and the countless tons of carbon emissions this produces. One can only question Ms. Pusey's motives for this support of  Meyer, given her own record of Community service and sacrifice.