Jones to retire from Lewes council

Carolyn Jones is not running for re-election to Lewes City Council.

Jones has decided to focus on retirement after serving one three-year term.

“I had a mindset that I wanted to make a difference. I feel good about what I’ve accomplished,” Jones said.

She pointed to several achievements, the first of which was helping to smooth out what was then a rocky relationship between the city and the Lewes Board of Public Works.

“We resolved the issues between them, and they work strongly together now,” she said.

Jones said she is also proud of helping to broker a new contract for the Lewes Police Department, helping to rewrite the city’s code of ethics and chairing a subcommittee that wrote regulations for short-term rentals.

As chair of the finance committee, Jones said she was focused on bringing more money to the city.

“We looked at new revenue streams, parking, boat rentals. We are always looking for additional dollars,” she said.

Jones was a driving force behind the now-defunct Lewes Line bus service. Mayor and city council voted Feb. 12 to end the three-year pilot program a year early because of high operating costs and low ridership.

The goal of the Lewes Line was to provide traffic and parking relief, not to turn a profit.

“It would be nice to have the Lewes Line continue,” Jones said. “I think it will roll back around in some form.”

Jones said she supports Deputy Mayor Khalil Saliba’s re-election bid. She said she also is supporting Lewes Planning Commissioner Amy Marasco to replace her on council.

Saliba and Marasco were both expected to file paperwork to run Friday, March 1.

Candidate filing forms will be accepted until Thursday, April 4. They are available on the city’s website.

The City of Lewes municipal election will be held Saturday, May 11, at city hall.

Jones said she now plans to pay more attention to getting her garden back in shape.

“If you serve on council, and you do it right, it takes up a lot of time. [At this point] we should all be doing what we want to do,” she said.