While not a direct quote, Rep Osienski's actions/non-actions with STOP speak volumes about his union ties. The fact that he helped hide the Nun's plans from early 2013 thru mid-2015, then went on to say it was impossible to stop the Chestnut Hill so-called "Preserve" at such a late stage -- well, what more can we say. It's clear he had promises to fill for his union pals in the building industry.
Clearly, Senator Townsend did NOT put his constituents first by allowing Exec Meyer full control over buyout negotiations. Before that, he didn't put them first by failing to formally notify anyone in surrounding communities of the Nun's plans to build starting in 2013 -- fully 2 years before Diller leaked it in July 2015. When it comes to political leadership, the man is inept, incompetent, and little more than a cartoon character if there ever was one.
The Orphanage Property sits atop one of the highest water tables in the State, and is very difficult to build on without exasperating flood-prone issues in adjacent communities -- and a FEMA "100 year" flood plain down on Leathermans Run/Christina River. According to the NCC Dept of Land Use in a meeting with Advocates, that's exactly where all the water will be heading. Senator Townsend lives in or near the Wood Shade community, adjacent to Leathermans; maybe karma will have a say after all, if his house sits low and close enough by.
Delaware Wild Lands is another cartoon of an "environmental" advocacy organization. They are hypocrites that, like Sierra Club, just couldn't find it in themselves to assist in a grassroots effort to save the Orphanage Property. At least Sierra had the "decency" to come right out and say they "generally" don't endorse such efforts, but Wildlands thought it best to simply ignore Advocate's pleas. If it wasn't for DE Nature Society's enthusiastic support of STOP, we'd of all but written off DE's environmental community altogether.
Senator Townsend and Rep Osienski would NOT intervene, assert themselves and/or participate in Orphanage Property buyout negotiations; instead, they trusted and allowed their NCC Democratic colleague -- newly elected Exec Matt Meyer -- to handle all negotiations on behalf of saving the Orphanage Property. Despite pleas from Advocates to oversee Meyer's negotiations, and the chance of losing this one chance-only opportunity for a park, both would not get involved and they wouldn't even enlist the highest office for help - the Governor.
Not only did Senator Towsend not challenge the Chestnut Hill "Preserve" failed traffic impact studies and the blatant contempt for established land use code, he also didn't see fit to challenge what should go down in history as one of the worst conflicts of interest ever recorded in NCC govt. Further evidence that Mr Townsend thought that the development would simply sail on through without community backlash.