Rehoboth mayor candidates to square off July 28

The race for mayor of Rehoboth Beach pits the man who has held the post for a quarter century against a two-time commissioner seeking a change in the way the city operates.

Incumbent Sam Cooper and challenger Paul Kuhns will have their first debate at 6:30 p.m., Friday, July 28, at CAMP Rehoboth’s community center.

For Cooper, who is seeking his 10th term - which would take him to an even 30 years as mayor - he views this race as possibly his last, but one he wants to win to complete the city’s two major construction projects: City Hall and ocean outfall.

The City Hall project, estimated to have a price tag of $20.5 million, has engendered criticism for going over budget, which Cooper said was not entirely the city’s doing.

“Most of the more troubling issues have come with the plans. We’ve got a contractor that’s very aggressive in pursuing change orders. Some of it’s ours, if we had a bit better coordination in the beginning.”

Cooper is selling his consistency, track record and desire to keep Rehoboth as a great place to live and vacation.

“If you keep it a nice place to live, it will be a nice place to vacation,” he said.

Kuhns, on the other hand, wants to change the way the city does business. Under Cooper, he said, there has been a lack of transparency with both the commissioners and the public. Kuhns said Cooper appointed himself as the man to oversee the City Hall and wastewater projects, instead of delegating responsibilities to the commissioners or to the city manager.

“He is an autocrat. It’s a power he has assumed over time. The commission is made of seven commissioners and one has the title of mayor.”

He likens the role of the mayor to that of the vice president, where the mayor helps break a tie amongst the commissioners.

“The reason I’m running is not to go in and change all these ordinances. It’s to take a look at the way we govern, and let’s look at the process of our governance in Rehoboth.”

Kuhns said on the City Hall project, bids came in higher than expected. If he were mayor, he said, he would have stepped back to rethink the project.

Cooper rejects the notion that the city has not conducted business in a transparent way.

“A lot of times I think people argue things like transparency and communication when the issues aren’t on their side. If you don’t have the issue, you argue the process.”

Deflecting criticism he has taken over, Cooper said, “On the other hand, somebody would say, ‘Why doesn’t anyone take the reins on this stuff?’”

Cooper said someone had to take a leadership role to get things done. He called Kuhns a “stealth candidate.”

“He’s said that people approached him to run and I think they are my historical nemesis. Their whole aim is the zoning code.”

Cooper said recent zoning changes were intended to manage growth while preserving what people love about Rehoboth.

Kuhns said one thing he would do as mayor is bring back the use of committees. He said issues such as parking, mass transportation and bike safety should involve the citizens to help bring ideas to the commissioners.

He suggested trying to change the mindset of people who come into town on buses, use the city services but don’t spent money at the downtown businesses. Kuhns said managing transportation and parking in town could be fleshed out by a committee.

“We need to open that discussion up to the community.”

Cooper said the problem with committees was that members would use the committees for their own ends.

Kuhns said the commission spends too much time on minutiae and not enough on long-term planning. He said that was partly a function of how Cooper does business, preferring to run the city on a year-by-year basis.

“How long can you hope and pray for a little bit of a surplus when there are so many things that need to be addressed? That’s not a good way to maintain your city. We need to look at what we need to do over the next 10 years. Now we’re talking about it, and I guarantee if Sam gets back into office it will drop to the floor.”

Both candidates anticipate a close race when voters go to the polls Saturday, Aug. 12.

“I think it’ll be a lot closer than it has been the last five or six years,” Kuhns said.

“It’ll be closer than last time,” Cooper agreed.