Solloway runs for re-election

Commissioner Rick Solloway is running for reelection in Dewey Beach.  In the two years Solloway has been on town council, Dewey Beach has seen its largest infrastructure project reach completion and a four-year legal battle with a major developer in town nearly settled.  Solloway said he plans to use his experience on council to help pull Dewey Beach out of tough financial times.

Solloway grew up in Smyrna, but he said he has been spending summers in Dewey Beach for more than 20 years.  In 1999, Solloway said he bought his first property in Dewey Beach, and he has been a full-time resident of the town since 2002.  “I’ve spent my whole life at the beach,” he said.

Solloway said Dewey Beach is a young town, and some procedural kinks are still being worked out.  “The citizens have seen town council not seal things,” Solloway said.  “It’s not intentional mistakes from commissioners.” He said in the coming years, he plans to address infrastructure problems, like storm drainage and street lighting, to increase property values and public safety.

If reelected, Solloway also said he plans to use his financial expertise to resolve some of the town’s budget woes. Solloway said legal fees are a major expense in the operating budget. To reduce legal fees, he said he would put the town attorney on a flat-fee retainer.

Solloway also said all contact with the town attorney should go through the town manager.  As it stands, he said, the mayor and commissioners can all separately contact Town Attorney Glenn Mandalas.  If contact with Mandalas were instead sent to Town Manager Diana Smith, she could serve as a liaison and legal fees would decrease, Solloway said.

Solloway spent his first year on town council as mayor, and he said he has maintained a good relationship with town employees.  He said Smith’s Aug. 22 request for termination could mean the town will face more lawsuits.  “We are faced with an unfortunate situation,” he said.

Solloway continued to serve as a commissioner after Diane Hanson took over as mayor in 2010.  Solloway said he worked to enhance public safety through legislation to improve the safety of pedi-cab services and taxi services in Dewey Beach.

He said he is proud to have protected a local icon – the Jolly Trolley – from potential profit loss because of unregulated cab companies.  “This was partially inspired by my 3-year-old daughter, Quinn, who said, ‘Daddy, I want to ride the Jolly Trolley forever.’”

Solloway said he has built strong ties with the state legislature, and he would continue to do so if reelected. “It’s a tough thing to have to admit, but Dewey Beach simply does not have the best image within the state legislative branches,” he said.

Dewey Beach officials had to lobby in June so the Senate would allow the town to borrow money from Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to complete a drainage repairs project on Bayard Avenue.

Solloway said Smith and Mandalas asked him to testify on the Senate floor after an initial Senate vote did not give the town clearance to accept the DNREC loan.  “I made the trip to Dover the following week, testified on the Senate floor and helped turn four Senate votes to successfully allow the Bayard Avenue project to reach completion,” he said.

Solloway addresses criticism

At an Aug. 12 town council meeting, Solloway added an agenda item to discuss possible changes to a hotly debated town ordinance.  Solloway agreed to table the discussion until the September meeting because Mandalas was concerned it related too closely to pending lawsuits against the town from Ruddertowne developer Dewey Beach Enterprises.

In September 2010, a majority of town council voted to clarify the intended meaning of “relaxed bulk standards” as written for the Ruddertowne zoning district in the comprehensive development plan.  The clarifying ordinance says “relaxed bulk standards” does not include height.  Solloway, who was mayor at the time, vote against the clarification.

Solloway said he has no intention of repealing the clarifying ordinance.  “I want to keep it exactly like it is,” he said.  Although he would revise the ordinance so it was not retroactive to 2007 and would instead apply only to future projects.  Solloway said this would better protect the town against future litigation to challenges the 35-foot height limit.

Town Council’s Feb. 26 vote to approve an agreement between the town and DBE has been criticized by some citizens, while others expressed relief the issue had been resolved.  Solloway was one of four commissioners who voted to approve the agreement.

The day before the vote, Solloway said, he asked Darwin Insurance, the town’s provider, if the company had a statement regarding the proposed agreement.  According to Solloway, a Darwin representative said in an email, “You are correct that upon any rejection of the proposed mutual agreement which is acceptable to DBE – and which Darwin recommends – the town and its commissioners would immediately face additional and significant uninsured exposure…Please impress on everyone who will be participating in tomorrow’s vote the magnitude of this.”

Solloway said the threat of definitive loss of insurance coverage, escalating legal fees, the Supreme Court decision that allowed unlimited density at Ruddertowne and the threat that DBE could build a 68-foot structure if they won another court battle made his vote to approve the agreement an easy one.

According to the mutual agreement, DBE can build a 45.67-foot, mixed-use structure to include restaurants, condominiums, a hotel and a parking garage.  In exchange, DBE will give the town 3,000-square feet to use as it wishes, a publicly accessible baywalk and public restrooms.

Solloway said he is proud to have participated in the best possible agreement with DBE.  “If you want to vote for someone who wants to rip off that Band-Aid and reopen the Ruddertowne issue again, then frankly, I’m not your candidate,” he said.

The election for Dewey Beach Town Council will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 17, at Dewey Beach Life Saving Station on Dagsworthy Avenue.  For more information, visit townofdeweybeach.com.