The Issues We Can't Ignore

New Castle County is facing proposals for enormous data centers that could place unprecedented demands on our electric grid, water supply, infrastructure, and communities.

I do not believe we should keep approving projects first and figure out the consequences later.

I support a freeze on new hyperscale data centers until strong protections are in place.

Before these projects move forward, we need rules that protect residents from higher costs, excessive noise, water demands, pollution, and long-term infrastructure burdens.

And the companies building them should pay the full cost of the infrastructure they require.

If the profits are private and the costs are public, it’s a bad deal.

Housing affordability is not an accident. It is shaped by the rules we create.

Right now, many of the modest homes that generations of Delawareans once relied on, such as duplexes, rowhomes, small apartment buildings, accessory units, and homes on smaller lots, are difficult or impossible to build in much of the county.

At the same time, our system often makes sprawling, expensive development the easiest option.

We should change that.

I support making it easier to build a wider range of homes, especially near jobs, transit, shops, and existing infrastructure.

That means more choices for young people trying to stay here, seniors looking to downsize, working families, and anyone who simply wants a home they can afford.

We have to stop building a county people have to leave.

New Castle County does not need to choose between economic growth and protecting our communities.

We already have enormous opportunities for growth in places that have roads, utilities, businesses, transit, and public infrastructure in place.

Vacant shopping centers. Empty parking lots. Underused commercial properties. Aging corridors that could become thriving neighborhoods again.

Yet our system often makes it easier to pave undeveloped land than to reinvest in places we already built.

That makes no sense.

Redevelopment can create housing, businesses, jobs, and tax revenue while using infrastructure taxpayers have already paid for.

It can also strengthen existing neighborhoods instead of pushing growth farther and farther outward.

Before we build farther out, we should make it easier to build better within.

Stop Building a County People Have to Leave

Young people are not leaving New Castle County because they do not like it here. They are leaving because we have made it increasingly difficult to build a life here.

We have prioritized development patterns that favor car dependence, large single family homes, and high costs, while making many affordable and practical housing types illegal. The result is a county that works well for some people, but shuts out young adults, working families, and the workforce we depend on.

If we want young people to stay, we need to build places where they can afford to live, move around without owning multiple cars, and feel connected to a real community. That means housing near jobs, walkable neighborhoods, and public spaces that create a sense of place.

This is not just about fairness. It is about economic stability. Young people are the backbone of a healthy workforce and local economy. When they leave, businesses struggle, services weaken, and costs rise for everyone else.

If we want a stable and inclusive future, we have to stop pricing the next generation out of it.

Open space is not a luxury. It is infrastructure. Parks, trees, and green space improve public health, reduce flooding, cool our neighborhoods, and raise nearby property values.

Preserving open space depends on using land efficiently. Dense, walkable development protects land. Sprawl consumes it. I support clear Open Space zoning so public land is permanently protected and transparently designated for what it is.

Green infrastructure lowers long-term costs and pays dividends over time.

Good policy also depends on who government is listening to.

Developers, corporations, lobbyists, and political organizations have enormous resources to influence public decisions. Residents rarely have the same access.

That imbalance matters when County Council decides what gets built, who pays for it, and which communities bear the consequences.

I believe residents deserve to know who is trying to influence their government, who is funding political campaigns, and who benefits from the decisions being made.

That is also why my campaign does not take corporate or developer money.

Billion-dollar corporations already have lobbyists fighting for them. You deserve someone fighting just as hard for you.

District 4 contains some of the most productive, established neighborhoods in New Castle County.

These communities should not be treated as an afterthought while public resources subsidize expensive growth elsewhere.

They deserve reinvestment.

That means protecting neighborhood parks, improving streets and sidewalks, supporting housing people can afford, strengthening local business districts, expanding greenways and public spaces, and making sure county resources come back to the communities helping support the county.

Development should benefit the people who live here, not simply the people who profit from the deal.

Whenever a major development proposal comes before me, I will ask three questions:

1. Does it pay its own way?
2. Does it strengthen the community around it?
3. Will we still be glad we approved it 30 years from now?

I am not against growth. I want growth that makes us stronger.

Growth that creates opportunity without pushing costs onto everyone else.

Growth that gives young people a reason to stay, protects the places we love, strengthens our neighborhoods, and leaves New Castle County in better shape than we found it.

That is the kind of development I will fight for on County Council.