We got updates on a convention of the states, a common interest community and Rich Collins bares his soul. So why did he not cast a vote for Sussex Tech? The answer will move you.
===================
Before reading on…..I will not change the original Blog post but I was texted by Senator Pettyjohn with a correction.
The senate has not even voted on the Sussex Tech bill yet. I tended to lump all the Sussex Republicans together but consider….the Senators have NOT voted yet nor was Pettyjohn involved in the crafting of this tax increase proposal….so perhaps Pettyjohn might also vote No?
But I speculate.
Please read my narrative with this correction in mind.
On 5/5/15 Senator Pettyjohn voted NO to HB100. The bill did pass but Senator Pettyjohn did not want to vote to raise taxes on his constituents. Thank you Senator Pettyjohn!
There are times, ahem, and as hard as it is to believe, that I get things wrong. Not quite so bad, at times I misstate what I wanted to say. Whatever the case, at times I feel the need to correct some things but don’t want to spend an entire Blog post on one item.
Tulips on Tulip Drive….NOT!
I went into a bit of a rant about a new development coming up around my church, “Reserves at Nassau”, HERE.
Be advised that there will be a hearing on this matter at Sussex county council on Tuesday, 1:30 pm, 5/5/15.
The big concern here is NOT the damaged wetlands, you should read the post for more on this, but that teeny tiny exit by St. Jude the Apostle, Tulip Drive and Route 1, that will not handle a new development back there….no way. And DELDOT does not demand a properly working light be put there.
A Common Interest Community IS….
I simply cannot find the link where I puzzled over just what the hell is a common interest community and fretted that it might be some Communist attempt to take over our housing.
Here’s a pic of the local Association of Realtors attending a meeting on such communities and it turns out they are just condominiums and the like.
Makes sense.
Blogger Update
A bit full of myself, I wrote an article about my new story in Chicken Soup for the SoulHERE .
I waxed on about my strange addiction to writing, well, just like this….Blogger type writing.
While I have a history of writing for many Blogs and will probably continue to do so for the rest of my life, I don’t think I mentioned the independence of a Blogger and would like to take a moment to honor such spirit here.
Bloggers are free spirits, out there writing about whatever interests them. They don’t want to be edited or told what to write.
My point being that I don’t think I elaborated on the independence of the Blogger. It’s heart and soul of what drives them.
It’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Right to Work Bill dying in Delaware Senate Committee
Since I’m not sure when I’ll be writing my next post on the Delaware legislature and its activities, I’d like to take a moment and update yon reader on the status of the Right to Work bill, discussed HERE.
Seems the thing is now stuck in committee in the Delaware Senate. The Republicans wanted to exempt certain areas of Delaware from requiring union membership to obtain a job but you know the unions are powerful here in Delaware, the Democrats love them, and so this bill will soon die.
Alan Levin, the fellow who would have been responsible for establishing these right-to-work zones, is quitting his post, didha all know that?
Levin did an okay job in this appointed position but Fiskar was really a mess and should not have received a dime of Delaware money.
Messed up on that one, Alan.
Why Rich Collins is a NOVOTE for Sussex Tech.
I’m not sure where all the confusion came from over Rich Collins’ non-vote on a proposal to raise taxes to finance Sussex Tech, discussed by me, HERE
Dan Gaffney reported that via a phone call to WXDE, Collins asserted that he didn’t want to “embarrass” his colleagues such as Brian Pettyjohn and Ruth Briggs-King, who voted FOR the bill.
Now the tax increase, as proposed, would raise the local taxes for Sussex Tech by some 25% over a two year period and in the third year would go back to the old rate. I got a bridge to sell anyone believes taxes will ever go down.
The confusion is exacerbated by the fact that Sussex Tech is financed by ALL of the school districts in Sussex county so that the fellow from Long Neck or Laurel or wherever is assessed increases for Sussex Tech. Whereas local schools, such as my own granddaughter’s Georgetown elementary, are financed by property taxes within each district….such as Indian River.
Add to all of this the bittersweet fact that Sussex Tech is one of the best schools in Delaware, indeed possibly the country. The words are endless in praises for the school both from parents of currently attending students to former students who’ve gone on to a wonderful career.
So there’s a bunch of mixed emotions because, riding on the laurels of all the praise, the current management of Sussex Tech is just spending money, boom, whenever they want. With the praises ringing in their ears they are somehow involved with building a new building and have expanded their student population by some 20%, based on whose instructions is unknown.
Somebody’s got to stop these people so a couple of our local Sussex guys, too with ears burning with praise for Sussex Tech, a school that does churn out good graduates but I’m thinking they might have real good teachers, throwing it out there, drafted up this tax increase as guess what again? Sussex Tech tax increases are legislated, not voted on by the local electorate. This was a Joe Booth/Mike Castle thing from long ago as my aging memory recalls.
Whatever, the Sussex guys are faced with voting to tax their own constituents, along with the Democrats from Wilmington, you should smile, to get this most cherished of schools, financed for their current budget over-reach.
Truth is Pettyjohn, et al came up with a pretty good plan to increase taxes for a couple of years to make up for the deficit. No doubt hands were slapped over this new building and runaway enrollment, all in the name of politics my dears.
If you’ve stayed with me this long, thanks. Because Rich Collins, one of my favorite people for his conservatism and champion of small business, defeater of the infamous John Atkins though took him two tries, did NOT vote on the bill. At all.
I got a chance to speak to Rich the other day and lookit, I don’t want to sound maudlin or look like a kiss-butt, but Collins told me why he did what he did and it’s all off the record.
ONLY KIDDING!
Rich told me that he promised his constituents that he would not raise taxes and this Sussex Tech bill was raising taxes on his constituents no matter how noble the cause or stellar the product.
“In the end,” Collins told me, after pulling off the highway to better converse with me, “I just couldn’t vote to raise taxes on my constituents when I’d so recently told them I would not. Couldn’t do it, Pat.”
Insert big silence here.
I mean, come on, here is an elected politico who chose to stand by his constituents as he promised them. He chose the constituents over his colleagues though I know that Rich loves his fellow Sussex Republicans because of things he said off the record.
Heh.
Why does he have to apologize for that yon ladies and gems?
Obviously Collins didn’t like the odd situation he was put in, hence his NOVOTE.
Frankly I was moved. The cynic in me knows that soon these newly elected and idealistic politicos lose this sort of nobility, alas.
But the guy made a promise to his constituents and HE’S KEEPING IT!
Why is this a bad thing?
This Sussex Tech thing….it’s a mess. It’s government….why we need less of it. Nobody’s in control. And a couple of local politicos here in Sussex county tried to solve the morass with the best of intentions, every one of them.
Rich, I told your story and you have my admiration.
Hope this helps.
This Convention of the States
HERE is the post where I noticed an upcoming meeting at Lewes library concerning this convention of the states….COS.
I got a hold of Al Radke, the contact in my post and got some information on this COS.
If you’re thinking Mark Levin….you’re right.
Radke did a great job explaining the concept of achieving a constitutional amendment via this convention of the states thing and I was mesmerized. In the end it wasn’t so much the procedures involved in this….and make no mistake this is a big endeavor, it was intriguing to me that such a thing was being seriously undertaken.
A Representative from this COS group will speak at the Lewes Library on May 5, 2015, 6-8pm.
34 states are needed to make this work and yes I listen to Mark Levin from time to time. I hear lots of talk that this impossible, it’ll never happen.
This I know, if one assumes something will never happen, then it probably never will. Our constitution provides for an over-ride of those political elite via this convention of states methodology.
As I am to understand, the current push, should a convention of states come to pass, is for a balanced budget and government restraint to become amendments to the constitution.
I’d encourage yon readers to give this a look-see.
Imagine a government answering to the will of the people? What a concept!
=====================
Note this is a new post I want to make. For there are times, ahem, and as hard as it is to believe, that I get things wrong. Not quite so bad, at times I misstate what I wanted to say. Whatever the case, at times I feel the need to correct some things but don’t want to spend an entire Blog post on one item.
===================================================
I do not respond to comments on my posts. I certainly have no problem with such commentary and, indeed, encourage it. But I’ve written my piece and I don’t want to argue it further.
Please feel free to email me at patfish1@aol.com if you want to send me a special comment or have any ideas or information you want to share.
NEXT : Time for some Delaware tidbits. Got lots to reveal.
Sorry, but you are kissing a$$ big time Pat Fish. If he promised his constituents that he would not vote for any increase in taxes, then he should have voted NO. To abstain from a vote for any reason other than a conflict of interest is a dodge, a subversion, a smarmy maneuver to placate all and offend no one. You had a big mouth when running for office and fighting DNREC, and now suddenly silence on the vote that may define the future of ST? Shame.
Pat. Mr Collins told John Budler on GMD two days before the vote that he would NO VOTE twice. The audio is still on their website and that is different from what he did. While it is good he still took a stand to saying no he was not entirely truthful.
Being ” not exactly truthful ” is the definition of a dodge, subversion, smarmy, and I will add guile. Not a quality we are looking for in a freshman representative in my opinion.
Arguing over a no vote vs not voting is just a petty waste of time. It is functionally the same thing. Some people just can’t get over the fact that Atkins lost! Atkins raised taxes. Collins didn’t. Get over it.
No, it is not a waste of time. It is a discussion of a freshman representatives voting record, or should I say a lack of it. It was a play. Poorly executed and not well received. A choice to not vote, is a scared individual who is playing both sides of a contentious issue that effects all of Sussex County and his district. In effect he failed to do anything but play games. His constituents were not represented because he failed to vote. Is that democracy?
Pretending this has anything to do with Teflon John is just an attempt to change the focus of discussion. Did John tell him not to vote?
Rich Collins is a self-serving lobbyist for polluters and land raping developers. The fools in Sussex County voted out John Adkins who was one of the most dedicated and constituent responsive legislators in DE. Similarly the mindless rubes in western Sussex voted out Venables, the bond bill chair because of their obsession over political party and being duped by the talk radio republicans to vote against their own obvious interests. You reap what you sow. The conservative republican ilk in this state and nation have created a giant reeking pile of bad karma which will eventually fall their way. Mostly angry uneducated rubes full of hate and tribal resentment duped by political opportunists in the GOP who pander to the ugly side of human nature. How sad for us all!!!!