Having run opposed for his second term representing Delaware’s 38th District, Ron Gray is ready to get more involved in the state legislature and Republican Caucus.
![Ron Gray]( "Ron Gray")
Ron Gray“As a freshman, I was kinda on the fringes to making decisions,” he said. “I feel much more comfortable going into this.”
The 148th state legislative session begins with a clean slate, so new legislators were sworn in, and returning members will begin writing new bills or resubmitting those that failed in previous years.
Gray plans to keep the public informed with regular public meetings.
Public safety
Gray recently gathered stakeholders in a discussion of how to improve police coverage in southeastern Sussex County.
Many of the area’s municipalities have their own police force, but the Delaware State Police cover all unincorporated lands outside of town limits, as well as some municipalities that don’t have their own police departments. Sometimes there are even pockets of unincorporated land within a municipality where property owners do not wish to be annexed and fall under DSP jurisdiction.
When people call 911 within DSP jurisdiction, they may wait several hours for a trooper to respond, depending on the situation. Municipal police often say they’ll all come running for serious crime, even outside of town limits.
“If you got a burglary going on, the state police or local police will be there pretty quickly,” Gray said.
But they’re not going to respond to something minor outside of town, and the DSP might not investigate that busted mailbox until the next morning.
Gray said he believes the DSP does a great job in their work.
“I think it’s more an educational thing, especially for folks that aren’t from this area and live in an unincorporated area. They might have lived here five years and never had a reason to call,” Gray said. Then he said, they get “get an uncomfortable feeling that public safety is not as high as they thought.
“The last thing you want to do is alarm people,” he added. “You probably have a state police car roaming five miles around your house” at any given time.
There is no plan to create a new county police agency, but, perhaps, to improve current funding or manpower.
Gray’s predecessor as 38th District representative (and now state Sen.) Gerald Hocker had hosted this same discussion 15 years ago, Gray said. The district’s population has leapt since then.
“I think that’s going to be ongoing. We came up with a bunch of questions that day. I’ve got to figure out who on that committee’s going to answer those,” he said.
“I feel we don’t have real severe problem here, apart from the drug thing.”
Drugs and jobs
In Baltimore, Gray attended a Council of State Governments (CSG) meeting regarding drugs.
“This heroin epidemic is terrible. I think anybody can get addicted. It’s not just an evil person,” he said. “It’s across the board. It affects everybody.
Gray said he believes that one solution could be to create more jobs.
“If I’m kinda bored, I don’t have anything to do, and somebody says, ‘Let’s get high…’” But he said he believes steady employment could keep people stable.
“We gotta get more jobs that are available to everyone, [which leads to] more taxes to provide the services we all want,” including more police coverage.
Gray said he isn’t 100 percent sure of the answer for how to jumpstart the job market. But a big company, such as the former Seaford DuPont plant, could turn a whole area around. He said the schools and economy were thriving in western Sussex County during the DuPont heyday.
But how could the area attract thousands of white- and blue-collar jobs?
“I don’t know how to get there,” he admitted. “It’s hard for Delaware to compete, as a small state.”
Although Delaware is known for low taxes, Gray said he has heard that electric costs are high because Delaware mostly imports electricity from other states.
One idea is to encourage small business and sell Sussex County as a great place to live.
“We need to talk about all the best things we do here. I think the population is caring here, not cutthroat. It’s a great place to raise your kids and retire.”
Aquaculture and other committees
The Delaware State Legislature will meet in Dover for several weeks. Then, during a six-week break, the budget is drafted and bond bills reviewed. The legislative session then continues until July 1, with three more breaks throughout.
Gray serves on six House committees, including Housing & Community Affairs; Revenue & Finance; Veterans Affairs; and Labor.
Gray said he especially enjoys serving on the House committee for Economic Development/Banking/Insurance/Commerce “because it’s focuses on small business, because that’s what I am,” a small-business owner, he said. So he gets to study matters when issues arise, such as minimum wage.
The Natural Resources committee oversaw the state’s new aquaculture bill, which was a hit with legislators for starting a Delaware aquaculture industry and the bonus of helping filter the bays.
However, the public has recently expressed its concern with the aquaculture locations proposed by the Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Control.
But the ball is now in the court of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which would decide whether to issue DNREC a permit for inland bays aquaculture. Many are waiting with bated breath for public record for that permitting process to officially open.
“We’re watching it carefully. As soon as that happens, we’re going to try to notify all those people,” Gray said. “I really feel the people have legitimate concerns about the locations that DNREC has chosen.”
People are worried about having shellfish cages and boats in areas traditionally used for recreation, especially along the eastern shore of the Little Assawoman Bay and the southeast corner of Indian River Bay, called Beach Cove.
Gray has more questions to ask, and he said he figures he and Hocker will send an official comment, but “I want to make sure the public has an opportunity to submit all their concerns.”
Most citizens aren’t against aquaculture, he noted, because of its economic and ecological benefits. They just don’t like the locations. Gray said he is certain there must be an amicable solution.
“When you look at this big footprint, it’s scary. But when it starts out, it’s probably going to be very small,” just a few fishermen to start, he noted.
“It’s a good thing to have, he said. “Just gotta make sure not impacting the state of the bays.”
Other waterways
In an effort to improve local waterways, Gray joined committee that just released a preliminary report with about nine ideas to pay for continued maintenance.
The Delaware Waterways Management & Financing Advisory Committee (which includes Hocker) has brainstormed ways to help DNREC pay for maintenance to navigable Delaware channels, from which the Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Coast Guard are backing away.
“I think one of the real important one is dredging. It cleans up the water because it allows extra flow … to flush the waters out to the oceans. It enables boaters to safely navigate the waterways,” Gray said. “We need to do things to continue to protect them … to make the oysters and clams and water live, and they’re safe to swim in and get fish out of.”
Rather than approach the state bond committee for piecemeal funding each year, DNREC estimated that it needs $3 million to $5 million annually for maintenance.
With a funding mechanism in place, DNREC could plan long-term.
“Going forward, I think we need to have a commitment of funds to help maintain our inland bays,” which might include dredging or shoreline protection to prevent erosion.
“If we do come up with sources of funding, it only gets used to support this initiative, like dredging. That seems to be hard in government” because a growing pot of money is attractive to other initiatives in trouble.
The committee is expected to begin meeting again, armed with various funding options, to consider the next step of action.
Bipartisanship
“There’s some people who say there’s one-party rule” because Republicans only hold about 39 percent of seats in either chamber of the state House of Representatives, Gray noted. But the Republican Party picked up two House seats and one Senate seat in the 2014 election, so Democrats no longer hold a clear two-thirds majority.
Gray said he believes bipartisan bills aren’t just a good idea, but a necessity for Republicans.
“We don’t have much choice. When I look at the bills we get through,” 11 might be Democrat-sponsored, and one by a Republican.
“I’ve learned if I want to get something done, go across the aisle. Hopefully, if it’s a good idea,” he said, it will catch on.
“Do I think we work together? I’m optimistic we can. I get along with the Speaker,” and will discuss ideas with him. “Is it partisan? To certain degree, I guess. But I think Democrats and Republicans realize we need jobs. We need a lot for Delaware to go forward.”
Last year’s legislative session had a lot of social bills (such as marriage equality) that were contentious, Gray said.
“I don’t think you can dwell on that. If you’ve got a good initiative, you gotta make sure [to work together]. You can’t expect to go forward on any issue alone.”
Although he first sought office in 2012 with an agenda of curtailing government regulations, several new ones have occurred, such as for septic designs and stormwater. While he admitted that septic systems are must be carefully maintained, he said he doesn’t want the regulations to scare anyone away.
The legislative team
With two more seats, House Republicans have secured funding for another legislative assistant. (Each assistant covers several legislators.)
“They do constituent support. I get an email, and someone’s got a problem on healthcare, drainage … I’ll look at it. If I can answer or get back quickly [I will].” Otherwise, he forwards the matter for an aide to further research, he said.
