Monique Johns Doesn’t Seem To Stand For Anything

Guest Post By Accende Lucem:

On November 5, 2024, I walked into the polls and voted for Monique Johns for New Castle County Council President. As an old school Democrat (think: Franklin Roosevelt), I pulled the lever for Johns because her Republican opponent was no option. A darling of the Chamber of Commerce, Melissa Brayman would have not stood in the way of developers who would happily bury Delaware in four inches of concrete. Everywhere I go in Delaware, I see what the Chamber and developers have wrought. It’s heartbreaking to see the poorly planned, sprawling tracts of stucco and vinyl, the loss of so many of our forested and green areas, and the crushing volumes of traffic.

My vote for Monique Johns was based on the hope that she would help stanch this bleeding. She was not my first choice in the primary election which had offered two standout conservation-minded candidates like Jason Hoover and Val Gould. However, in the general election, it was either vote for someone who would give developers the keys to the store, or cast a ballot for someone who at least gave lip service to conservation issues. Sadly, I should have taken Monique at her word when she said something at a candidate forum you never hear from people running for office.

A few weeks before the primary elections in September, I wandered into a candidate forum for County Council President candidates. Each was asked a variety of questions to establish what they stood for and to discuss the various challenges facing New Castle County. Most sounded competent in varying degrees though there was the usual pivoting by a couple of candidates to avoid answering questions in a way that they might have to answer for later. At no point in the “debate” was this more clear than when the moderator asked each candidate why they were running for office. Everyone’s answer was what you’d expect to hear except for Monique’s, which was that she was “running for office because she needed a job.”

At the time, I just thought it was just a laugh line, but now after two months of watching her votes on County Council, it’s clear that she was telling us her actual position: she doesn’t have one. She ran because being on Council pays a salary and benefits. It’s either that or Monique’s votes – or ‘non votes,’ I should say – are her way of avoiding answering to her donors.

Council votes alphabetically so the person who ran as Monique Johns suddenly became Monique “Williams-Johns” once in office and now votes last. If the majority of Council has already voted YES, she will vote YES. But for any ordinance that developers oppose or one for which some council members have voted NO, she has simply avoided voting YES or NO by “not voting” (“abstaining”). In just two months, that’s several non-votes for critically important issues that would make developers pay their fair share and save current taxpayers money, make new housing stock more energy efficient, or compensate members of county boards and commissions with a small stipend.

At least with council members voting NO you know where they stand. Based on her non-voting record on critical ordinances, it’s not clear if Ms. “Williams-Johns” stands for anything. The residents of New Castle County did not elect her to not take positions. They went to the polls to put someone in office who would represent them on Council, to stand her ground on important issues that matter to voters, even if those positions are opposed by the developers who funded her campaign.

It seems Monique Williams Johns is trying to have it both ways.