What I Stand For

I will always prioritize our communities, not special interests.

• Protect parks, open spaces, and the environment.
• Prevent new development unless local roads, traffic, utilities, and natural resources can handle it.
• Ensure that development projects are consistent with community character. This is often not the case, as with the proposed McDonald’s on Limestone Road, carwash in Hockessin, or developments on Possum Park Road.
• Prioritize local businesses over billion-dollar corporations. When small businesses thrive, profits stay in Delaware and Delawareans benefit.
• Protect the aquifer that supplies water to Hockessin, Pike Creek, and beyond. Overdevelopment threatens this aquifer, which was listed as a National Priority by the EPA. We need independent experts to monitor the water supply and ensure that any development above the aquifer is done responsibly.
• End exemptions that allow developers to avoid county regulations. See this article for one example of how I successfully fought alongside my community to end one such exemption.

Delaware is a magnet for AI data centers because of our tax structure. But right now, they threaten our environment, health, and electric grid.

• Halt the approval of new AI data centers until local and state laws fully protect our water, air, electric bills, and quality of life. We wouldn’t be alone in doing this: five Maryland counties have already enacted pauses on new data centers, and Harford County has gone even further by adopting a permanent ban.
• Strengthen our county’s existing data center rules – require data centers to meet the highest standards for energy efficiency, water efficiency, and noise pollution.
• Improve county regulations regarding the cooling systems that data centers use. To conserve water, the existing law prohibits open-loop cooling unless reclaimed water is used. But even closed-loop cooling systems and reclaimed water are risky – flushing and discharge can still cause contamination, as occurred in Wyoming. We must require hyperscale data centers to comply with special disposal regulations.
• Prevent harmful noise pollution. Hyperscale data centers emit a constant, low-pitched noise known as ‘infrasound’ or low-frequency sound – but current noise regulations do not account for that. I will advocate for protections that mitigate low-frequency noise pollution.

Our government should be accountable to us, not to developers and corporations.

• I will host monthly meetings with constituents and send monthly email newsletters, which our district hasn’t had in years.
• Require developers to hold a public meeting in our district when they submit new plans — and to publicize such meetings widely. Yellow signs on the side of the road are not enough.
• Ban campaign donations from developers who have pending land use applications for at least the 90-day period before an election. As public servants, county council members should be focused on serving their constituents, not developers.

Local government needs to do its part to fix the affordability crisis in Delaware.

• Work with state officials to hold Delmarva accountable, address our energy crisis, and end Delmarva’s unsustainable rate increases. Invest in renewable energy generation and storage on County buildings, parking lots, and waste water facilities.
• Use the County code to expand the housing supply and reduce housing prices. For example, incentivize developers to build affordable, walkable communities where there is already infrastructure. We can do that through new impact fees and through positive incentives that lower the cost of building densely.
• Fix the county’s affordable housing ordinances. Increase the required percentage of Moderately Priced Dwelling Units (MPDUs) in new developments, and make it harder for developers to opt out of this program.
• Remove barriers to constructing accessory dwelling units or converting existing structures into multi-family lots.
• Increase public awareness of the County’s Tax Exemption programs and raise the income threshold of the Senior Tax Credit such that it matches the inflated cost of living.

Strengthen Public Services and Public Safety

• Increase funding for fire departments and emergency services.
• Keep our incredible libraries funded, staffed, and maintained.
• Expand the pilot programs conducted with ChristianaCare that send mental health workers, not just police, as first responders to mental health crises.

Civil Rights, Human Rights, and Workers' Rights

• Use my position to ensure that all residents of our district feel safe and included in our communities regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.
• Use County budget oversight to ensure that New Castle County police use their resources to focus on local safety priorities, not federal ICE operations.
• Use project labor agreements to ensure that infrastructure and development projects receiving County dollars promote fair compensation and safe working conditions. County contracting must balance four priorities: quality construction, reasonable cost, supporting local union members, and creating opportunities for local small businesses.