Keeley responds to previous letter
Editor:
I am responding to Mr. Aaron’s rather lengthy letter published in the July 18 issue of the Coastal Point under “Lewes resident gives his thoughts on nation.” Mr. Aaron closes his letter by saying that he might be leaving. To that I have two things to say: First, where in the world would you go? And, second, goodbye and good luck.
It starts by suggesting that the phrase “there’s no place like America” is a myth. That’s just plain baloney. The USA remains the most envied and coveted country in the world! Why else are we faced with the huge numbers of illegal immigrants? I’m afraid that Mr. Aaron has consumed too much of that Kool Aid the liberal media and Left have been spewing since George W. Bush became our president.
He bemoans the blight of the housing industry and mortgage market. He is right – both are in trouble. The former because of an over ambitious and greedy industry and the latter because of fiscal laws, such as the elimination of our usury laws by the Democrats and the flat out elimination of basic requirements for granting a mortgage.
Next, he notes the decline of domestic manufacturing and the jobs that are lost with it. This is also correct. Unfortunately, Mr. Aaron, that is the normal cycle of civilization, but President Clinton gave the cycle a big boost when he gave us NAFTA.
Wal-mart is his next complaint, and again he is reasonably accurate. But to stress foreign ownership is misleading because we have always had a lot of foreign investment and business ownership. But he is also correct in that we are losing our edge on manufacturing excellence and the jobs that go with it. But after reading his observations, I have to wonder if Mr. Aaron has ever shopped there for a bargain. I know I have and so has virtually everyone I know.
That Wal-mart’s business activities are single-handedly destroying America and financing a war that Mr. Aaron is obviously against is silly at best.
And that brings us to FDR and the G.I. Bill. He is correct again, and shamefully so. However, we do have to be realistic and understand that no president today will be able to but this country to work like FDR is given credit for after the war. Basically, we had nothing because of the war effort, whereas today we already have everything!
Mr. Aaron moves on to education. Education is a tough one. I often wonder how we have gone from the best-educated country in the world to where we are today. I am no expert, but I do not blame a man who has been president for only eight years for this deterioration. But I have come to the conclusion that the Left’s liberalizing our culture and our society in general is largely to blame for our poor scholastic performance.
And, of course, health care is part of Mr. Aaron’s concern. Yes, there are Americans with healthcare issues, but by and large I believe and hope that they are taken care of.
I believe that we have the best healthcare system in the world. The whole world! Our system of capitalism justly rewards our doctors for their efforts. But I am fearful of the future because lawyers (that extremely well-paid group that makes very little productive contribution to society) think that they can improve our unbroken system.
And then there’s population, pollution and wealth. Don’t get me wrong, I do not support conspicuous consumption by the few, but to see these problems referenced from “Lewes” just doesn’t compute.
Mr. Aaron suggests that his references of the FDA, clean air and water are not the America that he remembers, and I agree. But I say let’s not dwell on FDA crises blown up by the media and, as I recall, our air and water is considerably cleaner than it was when I was growing up. Perhaps that’s because we had many more factories then. Sorry!
And, fittingly, global warming is mentioned. I have never been sold on global warming. Increasing temperatures, yes, but full-scale global warming, I do not think so. There is no consensus supporting it, except in Hollywood and by Al Gore (who is reported to have made $100 million from it). In fact, more and more real scientists are starting to speak up against it.
In closing, I would note that if a small percentage of the population is wealthy, it is not a monarchy nor does a sinful disparity in the pay of executives and their underlings make it a theocracy.
I have often seen the question “Is the glass half full or half empty?” but with Mr. Aaron’s letter, it becomes “Where’s my glass?” I cannot believe that someone who resides in relative comfort in Lewes actually feels as desperate as his letter suggests. But, if he actually feels that way, I repeat, goodbye and good luck.
Thomas M. Keeley III
Ocean View
Reader responds to Mitchell’s letter
Editor:
Mr. (Perry) Mitchell’s letter in the Coastal Point dated July 11, 2008, contained several issues I believe to be false and detrimental to the Town of Ocean View:
(1) Mr. Mitchell says he has forwarded a letter to the Delaware Public Integrity Commission in reference to a resolution passed at the June 10 council meeting. I attended this meeting and there was no vote taken on this matter. At the July 8 meeting, it was voted to have the town manager draft a letter to be approved by the council before it is sent to the Integrity Commission.
(2) In reading comments by Mr. Mitchell, it appears he has a personal vendetta against a certain councilman and against the Public Safety (Police) Department. What is Mr. Mitchell’s problem? Usually, people unnerved by representatives of the law have something to hide.
(3) All the hoopla about CAP and the Public Safety Building is just fancy footwork to distract Ocean View while they slide bigger costly projects by us, like the move to the Public Safety Building. (Budget move? Not when it will cost us another $175,000+).
Has the council ever heard of “making do”? Or are we about fancy new offices to accommodate our huge egos? Speaking of budget cuts, perhaps Mr. Conway (Gregory) should turn in the car he was only supposed to have for one year. Does he think Ocean View should foot the bill for his commute to Denton, Md., indefinitely?
Our council members need to remember they are not an entity to themselves but there to serve Ocean View. We have many senior residents here and many winter in Florida. It must be comforting to return home and find their homes have not been vandalized or burgled in their absence. A good police presence is to be thanked for that sense of security. We must maintain our 24/7 police protection and support our CAP volunteers for their outstanding performance.
Stephen Micciche
Ocean View
Millville man reaches out to DelDOT
Editor’s note: The following letter was addressed to Thomas Banez, project manager for the Delaware Department of Transportation with a copy sent to U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden Jr., and was forwarded to the Coastal Point for publication.
Your recent Route 26 on-site road alignment survey review to preserve the existing 150-year-old, 48-inch-caliper Heritage London Plane Trees has revealed positive results.
Shifting the proposed road expansion realignment adjacent to the north of the existing Route 26, in lieu of your currently proposed expansion realignment adjacent to the south of the existing Route 26, will preserve the existing 150-year-old, 48-inch-caliper Heritage London Plane Trees.
The date of the proposed roadway realignment project construction shall commence the year of 2010.
Immediate notification of the newly designed roadway modification must be made to the Sussex County Engineering Department, who will be installing sewer and water lines prior to the roadway realignment project construction start date.
We will require your newly designed roadway modification and implementation schedule by August 2008.
George Constantine Economos
Millville
A thank-you to Hocker and Hastings
Editor:
Sometimes we get a little involved with our own agendas and we forget to thank people that have helped us along the way. My time is past due to do just that!
As a past American Legion officer, I would like to personally thank Rep. Gerald Hocker and Rep. Greg Hastings for all their help given to me while I was trying to acquire numerous building permits, etc., to erect the new American Legion Post #24 building in Dagsboro.
I have found that Mr. Hocker addresses most any problem that people present to him. Even if the problem does not fall within his district, he contacts the appropriate representative for you. However, he seems to spearhead the resolutions.
He is presently working on a disability issue for a friend of mine who lives out of Mr. Hocker’s district, but that does not affect his attention to the issue. Within a week, Mr. Hocker has the problem 90 percent solved.
Thanks, Gerald and Greg, for a job well done.
Barry English
Dagsboro
Resident throws support behind Carney
Editor:
As a recent college graduate and registered Democrat, I just moved home to Delaware and started looking to get involved in the current gubernatorial campaign. After contacting both Democratic campaigns, I have started volunteering my time to help current Lt. Gov. John Carney become the next governor of Delaware.
John Carney’s campaign is organic, in the sense that his message is delivered to individuals through door-to-door routes and phone calls. I’ve quickly learned that the people of Delaware are eager to share their concerns and opinions when presented with the opportunity.
This type of grassroots campaign is becoming increasingly uncommon in a time when it is faster and easier to bombard voters with media messages. This type of campaigning is a reflection not only of John’s experience in his past 20 years as a public servant to Delaware, but also of his committed volunteers and their strong belief in his leadership.
John Carney is leading a campaign effort we can believe in, which will result in a governor that Delaware can trust.
Kendra Modzelewski
Magnolia
Reader: It’s time to get rid of the nay-sayers
Editor:
Have you ever noticed? The world is full of people who will tell you what you can’t do. They tell you: “You are no good at this.” “You are not capable of doing that.” “You will never be as good as me.” And on and on…
The insults and disparaging remarks are endless.
That kind of negativity comes in all shapes and sizes, and I call them “put downs.” And they come from those who only know one thing: how to discourage enthusiasm and eat away at hope.
They are the people who discourage you because they don’t want you besting them. They are the people who prefer the status quo. They don’t want to see anyone get ahead. And they don’t want anyone to get wise to them and their little scams that allow them to get away with doing nothing. And they are endemic; you find them everywhere.
I literally despise such people. I hate people that feel sorry for themselves. Who blame the world for not being good to them. Who feel a sense of entitlement.
I have known them all my life. I grew up with them, in fact. Their modus operandi is that they don’t want to see you get ahead — especially ahead of them!
They love to take the credit for everything. And, to my mind, they diminish life. They are always the “negativists.” They only see what can’t be done. And what you can’t do. And they’ve probably been around since the beginning of time. They are the ones who laughed at Noah! Who thought that leaving Africa would be a waste of time. Who said to others, “Why build a shelter? It will never stand up to the elements.”
We all know who I am referring to.
What if Christopher Columbus listened to the nay-sayers? What if Thomas Edison was told: “Why try all those filaments; it will never work anyway?” What if somebody said, “Why bother, Mr. Pasteur? What’s the big deal anyway about homogenizing milk?”
And that kind of myopia and narrowness of view has not gone away. In fact, only a few years ago, somebody said that there was an end to history. Nothing else new could happen under the sun.
Another person at the end of the 19th century said that every invention that was going to be invented was already invented.
The point is that you can’t listen to anyone when it comes to charting your course. Only you decide. And that’s how it should be.
When people tell me “it can’t be done,” I enjoy proving them wrong. We Internet people should know about such things. Back in the ’60s, the big communications companies laughed at the “black box” makers, saying these things will never work!
IBM said, “Why bother with these kids’ toys, the PC? The future is in the big IBM mainframes.
And you wonder how people can be so wrong.
Here’s my little motto: Most people are mostly wrong most of the time. And whoever says there isn’t room for innovation is simply an obstacle and should be fired. If they worked for me and thought that way, they would be gone in 24 hours.
I like a “can-do” atmosphere. I don’t want to hear it can’t be done because, mostly, it can — if you have the moxie to do it. And it’s that kind of spirit we have to find again: the spirit that we can do anything.
I think it will come back if we can wrestle power away from the negativists and those who tell us it isn’t worth doing. There’s plenty of us out there; all we have to do is find our courage once again.
Les Aaron
Lewes
Frederick wary of ordinance changes
Editor:
I attended one of the two workshops on proposed changes to building ordinances in Fenwick Island. The presentation was arranged by a local real estate agent and made by a builder, architect and surveyor from the Fenwick area.
Many attending the presentations felt that the objective was to generate increased business for the presenters. While that may or may not be true, I believe the primary purpose was to generate public support for changing Fenwick Island ordinances to allow the construction of houses with 7,800 square feet of living space on three floors. Such properties could be profitable investment properties.
Contrary to the extremely well-done PowerPoint presentation, the proposal will do nothing to alleviate the flooding conditions on the west side of Fenwick Island. The proposal is to increase the height limit for a residence from 30 to 34 feet and measure from the base flood elevation (BFE) rather than the center of the road. This change would add an additional 4 feet of height for many houses.
The most significant result of the proposal is that all living space in the houses would be above the base flood elevation and therefore insurable. There would be no reason not to build a house with three floors of living space within the current set back restrictions.
The Town’s floor area ratio (FAR) limits the living space on two levels to 70 percent of the property area. Under current ordinances, the third floor of the structure is below the base flood elevation and should only be used for storage and parking.
Two distinct items determine property value: the land and the structure. The value of the land is dependent on market conditions, while the value of the structure is determined by “comparables,” e.g. the value of other existing or possible structures. If an investor has the opportunity to build a 7,000-square-foot house within the proposed ordinances, a 3,500-square-foot house on the same piece of land has little or no value.
Adopting this proposal will dramatically change the character of Fenwick Island. There will be an increase in large investment properties and decrease in the family homes that have created the character of our town.
I have talked with many property owners, well over 95 percent of whom are opposed to the proposal. Over 600 property owners in Fenwick Island have built very nice homes within the existing ordinances. I encourage all of them to contact town hall and ask town council to stop this divisive proposal before lines of animosity divide our home town.
Peter Frederick
Fenwick Island