Kent County is fortunate to have commissioners willing to lead. Let us give credit where it is due: the April 15 meeting called by the Kent County Commissioners was a textbook example of local government doing its job. As Kent County News reporter Will Bontrager chronicled in detail, Commission President Ron Fithian and his colleagues brought state and local officials into the public square and demanded accountability for the bureaucratic paralysis that is choking economic development in the county.
In twenty-seven years of public service, Fithian said he has never seen this level of frustration from constituents. And who could blame them? Contractors cannot build homes, developers are losing deals, and landowners are stuck in limbo—all because they cannot get a simple percolation test, the first step in obtaining a septic permit.
The permitting system is broken. And the Commissioners are saying so out loud.
The commissioners’ leadership in confronting the Kent County Health Department and the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) is a welcome change. The Commissioners will demand follow-through, and that is where the real test begins. Because while the commissioners have stepped up, the bureaucratic system beneath them must stop dragging its feet.
As Bontrager reported, Kent County has not had a licensed well-and-septic specialist on staff since June 2023. Meanwhile, MDE inspectors brought in to pick up the slack uncovered missing data, incomplete files, and inadequate recordkeeping going back decades. So yes, protecting groundwater is important—but what about protecting Kent County’s future?
Contrast this mess with what is happening just thirty minutes away in Middletown, Delaware. That once-sleepy town is now Delaware’s fastest-growing area, with a booming population, a thriving U.S. 301 commercial corridor, new housing developments, and even an Amazon fulfillment center. Middletown is attracting investment, families, and opportunities. Kent County, by comparison, is turning people away at the gate.
Builders here are losing business. Homeowners cannot rebuild on their own land. Developers cannot invest, because permits never arrive. A real estate agent testified to an eighteen-month wait for a single perc test—and no answers in sight. Middletown builds; Kent County waits. Middletown adds police forces and infrastructure; Kent County loses revenue and opportunity. Middletown makes growth work. Kent County makes excuses.
We are watching Kent’s economic engine sputter while Delaware accelerates past us. This is not theoretical. It is not a debate over policy. It is happening now—and we are falling behind fast.
To be fair, Health Officer Bill Webb and MDE’s Nony Howell have offered some interim solutions: clearer documentation, office hours for case-by-case issues, and continued state assistance while staffing shortages persist. These are fine first steps—but they are not structural reform. And they will not matter if the culture of delay, confusion, and cover-your-backside recordkeeping is not rooted out.
Bontrager’s reporting made it clear: Kent County residents are not objecting to environmental protections—they are objecting to incompetence. One cannot defend missing files and glacial timelines with appeals to “science.” And one cannot build a county’s future on a system that does not work.
The Commissioners have done their part by shining a light on this disaster. Now the agencies responsible must do theirs—and they must be held to it. Because right now, Kent County is becoming the place where projects die, and investments flee. And unless that changes, we will keep watching our growth, our jobs, and our young people disappear—heading north to a town that knows how to say yes.
The Kent County Commissioners have made it clear: they will not tolerate this dysfunction indefinitely, and if meaningful progress is not made soon, they appear more than willing to pursue stronger, more decisive action to ensure their constituents are not left behind.
Clayton A. Mitchell, Sr. is a life-long Eastern Shoreman, an attorney, and former Chairman of the Maryland Department of Labor’s Board of Appeals. He is co-host of the Gonzales/Mitchell Show podcast that discusses politics, business, and cultural issues.
Leonard Thompson says
CLAY, As usual you have hit the nail on the head. With the Maryland governor and government not being held responsible for the hole they dug and dropped MD citizens(subjects) in. The Maryland government and all 23 countries need to be overhaul.
Keep the great work you. Maryland needs to be revamped!