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Rehoboth Beach Commissioner Paul Kuhns became the city’s first candidate for mayor Thursday, May 1, in what figures to be a hotly contested election year.
The mayor of Rehoboth Beach runs separately from the seven commissioners and must be a resident. Longtime Mayor Sam Cooper, who defeated challenger Bob Sokolove in the 2005 election, currently occupies the office.
Kuhns, 53, is a partner in the Summer House restaurant and Arena’s Deli. He has been a full-time resident for the past three years but has had a home in Rehoboth since 1987. He lives with his wife Anne Michelle, who is active in the Rehoboth Beach Historical Society.
In a press release, Kuhns said he decided to run for mayor because the current leadership is overdue in facing some major challenges, including rebuilding the Boardwalk, finding an alternative wastewater discharge method and funding the city municipal complex. Kuhns said the cost of these three projects could be in excess of $40 million.
“A strong new leader with a fiscal familiarity is what is needed in the city of Rehoboth Beach right now,” he said. “The wastewater discharge problem facing the city has been well-documented and yet only now, in the 11th hour, approaching an all-important deadline, is the current mayor beginning to view the dumping and the related cost to taxpayers as a concern.”
Kuhns said all major economic development should be administered in a well-thought-out, long-range plan. He said he has already called for a long-range form of budget by endorsing a capital improvements fund to help pay for city projects.
“It is simple. As a commissioner I have firsthand awareness we need to operate differently to be more effective and proactive,” he said. “I am satisfied the current leadership of our town hasn’t and doesn’t want to face some of the challenges I know we need to face. I intend to, and I hope to make certain everyone in our government will be able to work more productively and with as full an understanding of the facts as possible.
Kuhns also said he believes not enough information gets shared with the public, or even with the commissioners themselves. He said, as mayor, he is pledging to keep the public and the commissioners fully apprised of all city meetings, events and circumstances.
“This is a city manager and seven commissioner government and I don’t believe it should be run by one person making monumental decisions, or sometimes not, that affect us all,” he said.
Kuhns said Rehoboth needs a progressive, decision-making leader.
“It is always a bittersweet pill to swallow when we need to make changes in life to things that have become so familiar, but it is time,” he said. “I live here full time, have businesses here operating year round, and I want to be your next mayor. The town belongs to all of us – become part of it.”
Three commissioner seats are up for grabs in this year’s election, Cooper’s and commissioners Dennis Barbour and Ron Paterson. The date for candidates to file is on or before noon on Saturday, June 7. The election will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 9, at the Rehoboth convention hall.
Contact Ryan Mavity at ryanm@capegazette.com
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