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Ken Woods sworn in as newest New Castle County Council member

Megan Pauly
/
Delaware Public Media
Ken Woods is sworn in as the newest New Castle County council member

 

Democrat Ken Woods was sworn into New Castle County Council Tuesday afternoon by Superior Court President Judge Jan Jurden.

 

Woods won a special election last week to fill the seat of Joe Reda, who died in April from heart complications linked to pulmonary hypertension.

Woods received around 70 percent of the vote, easily defeating Republican Doug Suiter.
 

Woods works for the Sheet Metal Workers Union as a business representative, and says reducing Delaware’s unemployment percentage - and bringing it down to where it was a decade ago -  is his No. 1 goal as a council member.

 

“You know, when we lost the auto plants and some of the other facilities that were here, it devastated Delaware. We lost a lot a lot of other facilities that supplied those plants. And we need to figure out ways to bring those jobs back.”

 

He says he’s looking forward to working with constituents, listening to their concerns and finding solutions.

 

“We need to have good paying jobs back in the county," he said. "So I’ll do my best to work with DEDO and the rest of the development in the county development and try to figure out how to bring back some light industry and other jobs that would put people to work.”

 

Woods is also the son of former New Castle County Councilman J. Robert Woods, who retired in 2004, and attended the swearing in Tuesday along with other friend and family members.
 

When the elder Woods retired Joe Reda was appointed to replace him, but new rules enacted after Reda’s appointment now require a special election when a council seat is vacated.

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