Huxtable snubs beaches
One of the worst ocean dunes breaks in recent memory occurred March 26 at Delaware Seashore State Park. The roadway was closed, and emergency vehicles from the Bethany Beach, Millville and Ocean View areas that normally take the inlet bridge to Beebe in Lewes were diverted “the long way.” There was never a mention of this dangerous event, or a word of thanks shared to those state employees who repaired the dune and roadway from local Sen. Russ Huxtable, in whose district the incident occurred.
In addition to the dangerous dune breach, the saga of Deauville Beach in Rehoboth continues, with no facilitation toward compromise and no support from Huxtable, who did as he normally does when tough moments arise. He went silent, and by doing so, sat on the sidelines as a 50-year relationship between the City of Rehoboth Beach and State of Delaware went down the tubes, leaving city residents, his constituents, to pay the price.
Huxtable’s recent beach snubs demonstrate, yet again, how his election to office has been a disappointment in the Cape Region, especially on the environmental resiliency front, where for years, a bipartisan team of legislative leaders worked together to ban offshore drilling and pooled state funds to help towns with drainage and dredging improvements, while also keeping the public aware of safety issues along our shoreline. Apparently, Huxtable spent the week emailing donors asking for money for his reelection campaign. Retiring Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf addressed the issue head-on with local beach town leaders at a recent Sussex County Association of Towns meeting held in Dewey Beach, a meeting where Huxtable again was not in attendance.
Protecting our beaches and working alongside our local town leaders to do so are all issues that appear to be too trivial to be acknowledged by Huxtable, and our area is currently relying on leadership from a senator whose silence grows louder each day. The Cape Region needs real change and a new senator in Kim Hoey Stevenson, now more than ever.
