Rehoboth to propose voting rights for LLCs

Rehoboth Beach officials are working on a charter change that would give limited liability companies, or LLCs, voting rights during municipal elections.

Mayor Paul Kuhns said he intends to have the change ready to be submitted to the General Assembly when it reconvenes in January.

Kuhns said two major changes under discussion are a path to allow property owners who own their property in an LLC to vote. A second change is eliminating the requirement to remove from voter rolls anyone who hasn’t voted in two consecutive municipal elections.

The commissioners will discuss voter reform at their regular meeting, 7 p.m., Monday, Oct. 30, at City Hall. Kuhns said he hopes to have a working draft of the ordinance ready for discussion at the Nov. 6 workshop meeting, and he plans to have a town hall meeting for citizen input Saturday, Dec. 2.

Commissioner Kathy McGuiness is working on the draft ordinance. She said this issue has been a concern for a long time. “I have been called, texted, emailed, stopped personally to have this conversation with those denied the ability to vote, since first elected in 2000,” she said.

Kuhns said the city already allows nonresidents who own their property in an irrevocable trusts to vote. What’s being discussed now, Kuhns said, is allowing nonresidents who own their property in an LLC to vote as well.

Kuhns said restrictions would be required, primarily that the property owner would have to own at least 50 percent of the property. He said this would prevent 10 members of an LLC from having 10 votes. Kuhns said he wants to avoid a situation that came up during the June 2015 ocean outfall referendum, during which people were allowed to vote as a registered voters and as property owners in an LLC.

Kuhns said he wants to make it fair for everyone to vote, while at the same time not allowing people to vote willy-nilly.

Commissioner Stan Mills said he has not formulated an opinion yet, but he is looking forward to the Oct. 30 discussion to go over the pros and cons of entity voting. He said he was also looking forward to getting more input from the public.

Regarding changing the policy towards removing voters from the rolls, Kuhns said this change would be in line with national elections: once voters register, they can vote when they want. 

Public comment period changed

One of Kuhns’ first decisions as mayor was to change the public comment period during meetings.

Under his predecessor, Sam Cooper, citizen comment took place at the end of the meeting, but the public was also allowed to chime in during the meeting and ask questions. Under Kuhns, that has not been the case. Public comment during the meeting has been limited, leading to criticism that citizen input has been stifled.

Kuhns said citizen comment at the beginning of a meeting with a limited time period is not unusual, noting Sussex County Council and Fenwick Island conduct meetings in this manner. He said he changed the citizen comment period because meetings had become too long, with a lot of back and forth between the audience and the commissioners.  

He said he would like to be flexible going forward to let people comment while also moving meetings along. Kuhns said he may decide to let the public speak prior to taking votes, but he has not formally decided on a policy.

Busy night on tap Oct. 30

Besides voting issues, Oct. 30 will be a busy night for the commissioners.

First, there will be a special meeting at 5 p.m. to discuss a proposed five-year capital improvement plan and revenue sources.

At 7 p.m., the commissioners will start their regular meeting. The commissioners will once again consider the appointment of a new commissioner to take up the seat held by Kuhns prior to his election as mayor. Kuhns had previously nominated Pat Coluzzi but her nomination met with a deadlocked 3-3 vote. Kuhns said he has discussed a replacement with the other commissioners, but he refused to identify the person he intends to nominate. 

Other topics include discussion of change orders for the City Hall project, and the commissioners will approve a contract with Asset Management Alliance to handle maintenance on City Hall.

They will also discuss a threshold amount that would trigger commissioner approval of change orders on the ocean outfall project. Rehoboth Beach Main Street’s business plan and the possibility of reinstating city funding for the organization will also be discussed.

Discussion will continue on committee structure, and the commissioners will consider appointing Steve Simmons to the Board of Elections. There will also be a resolution to set a public hearing on side yard setbacks.