How can the leaders of the great city of Rehoboth Beach continue to ignore their own actions? According to multiple online sites, the average salary for a city manager is around $115,000. Specifically, as of June 30, Zip Recruiter lists city managers' salaries from $26,500 to $223,500, with an average of $115,406. Salary.com shows $105,208 to $129,674, with the average at $114,545. Some states with large, complex cities of hundreds of thousands or millions of citizens, such as those in California and Texas, pay city managers more.
But I fail to find any examples of a city the size of Rehoboth Beach – with a population of 1,108 per the 2020 census, paying a city manager salary anywhere near $250,000. A quarter of a million dollars! I am thrilled citizens are questioning this outrageous use of funds.
Add to this bond payments on the Rehoboth government's not-too-long-ago constructed multimillion-dollar Taj Ma City Hall; the under-construction lifeguard station, which seems to be following the city hall example; the questionably needed expense of placing colorful stick obstacles at crosswalks on King Charles Avenue, and so forth.
No wonder taxes need to be raised and meter parking is at $4 per hour, which has stores on Rehoboth Avenue noting customers are staying away. It’s so expensive it increases the difficulty of hiring staff. Additional mercantile fees are being proposed too. Need I continue?
This city's leaders are spending like money grows on trees. In my earlier life, I might have said like drunken sailors. They should be ashamed. And if they continue such recklessness, they should be replaced.