Green won't back down on P&Z nomination

Sussex County District 2 Councilwoman Cindy Green took time at the end of the Aug. 29 meeting to set the record straight, as she stated, concerning a recent appointment to the Sussex County Planning & Zoning Commission. She also blasted District 5 Councilman John Rieley for a personal vendetta against her.

Green's nomination for a vacant seat on the commission was denied by council, then Rieley's nomination of Brian Butler of Bridgeville was approved.

“For the record, the information I have is that this is the first time in history where another council member has appointed for another district,” Green said.

“Speaking for the people of my district, the way we look at it is that Councilman John Rieley has two nominations on the board. We feel we don't have our vote; we don't have our voice,” Green added. “I want to say to Councilman Rieley when we take an oath of office, we swear to place the public interest above any special interest or personal interest. The nomination of Bob Mitchell being voted down involved him and John Rieley's re-election campaign. So it's a personal vendetta and vindictive toward myself and my nominee.”

Rieley has reminded Green on several occasions that Butler lives in her district.

It's been council policy to have commissioners nominate a potential commission member who lives in their district. However, if a nominee is turned down by council, any other member can make a nomination.

Rieley, who has been frustrated by Green's comments over several meetings, said he could not support her nominee who had such a different point of view on land use in the county than he did.

“My no vote was based on the fact he had expressed a point of view on development, particularly on the eastern side of the county, that is an extreme variance to my point of view, where he supported a proposition to rezone Route 1 to high density on one mile on either side from Lewes to Milford. I will not vote to support a man and put him on planning & zoning with that point of view. That's the end of that story.

“I wonder how long we are going to have to endure the weekly diatribes about this,” Rieley said. “I did not appoint anybody to planning & zoning commission. I made a nomination and the council voted to approve that nomination. That's the story. I'm hoping this will be the last time we hear of this. The matter has been settled, and I don't understand why we have keep visiting it week after week.”

Following his comments, Green attempted to respond, which was denied by Council President Mike Vincent.

“We are not going to have this back and forth up here. I don't think it's very fair to the public. We are not going to debate back and forth,” he said.

Green was elected to replace the retiring Sam Wilson in 2020 after serving as Sussex County register of wills for 10 years.