Three seats open in Dewey Beach municipal election
Three two-year commissioner seats are open in the Dewey Beach municipal election, set for Saturday, Sept. 23.
Seats held by Commissioners Paul Bauer, Elisabeth Gibbings and David Jasinski, who all ran unopposed in 2021, expire in September. Incumbents have not yet released statements regarding plans to run.
Bauer, a resident commissioner, was elected to his first term in 2017, and has served ever since. He has been council secretary for five years, and is commissioner liaison to the budget and finance committee and marketing committee.
Gibbings filed in 2021 as a nonresident commissioner and is liaison to the investment committee.
Jasinski, a nonresident commissioner, filed for his first full term in 2021. In May 2020, commissioners elected him to fill the remaining term of former Mayor TJ Redefer, who died in April 2020. Jasinski also served as commissioner 2014-15, and is currently the liaison to the infrastructure committee.
Commissioner candidates must be eligible voters at least 21 years old, must have been a qualified elector in the town for at least one year prior, and must not be convicted felons. Candidates file to run as either resident or nonresident commissioners.
A resident commissioner is a bona fide resident and domiciliary of the town. Such candidates must also be an owner of real estate in town, be both a settlor/creator and trustee of a valid trust to which real property is located in town, or be a leaseholder on town property with a term of five or more years.
A nonresident commissioner must own real property within town, hold a valid lease on town property with a term of five or more years, or be a trustee and settlor or creator of a valid trust to which real property is located in town.
Town charter states that no fewer than two sitting commissioners must qualify as resident commissioners; the commissioner with the title of mayor must be qualified as a resident commissioner.
Eligible voters must register and be 18 years or older. They must also be a bona fide resident and domiciliary of the town, an owner of real property within the town, a holder of a valid and recorded lease for a term of five years or more, or be a settlor/creator and trustee of a valid trust that is the owner of real property within the town.
According to town code, voter registration can be denied to anyone to whom a transfer of property is made or to whom a lease is executed for the sole purpose of qualifying the person to vote.
The deadline for candidate filing and voter registration is 5 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 24. Eligible voters can look on the town website to see if they are on the list of registered voters and find the voter registration application, if needed.
Ballots may be cast in person or by absentee ballot. Registered voters may vote early with an absentee ballot at town hall during normal business hours from Monday, Aug. 28 through Friday, Sept. 22. Absentee voting will also be available from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 9 and Saturday, Sept. 16 at town hall, 105 Rodney Ave.
Election day is set for 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 23, at the Lifesaving Station, 1 Dagsworthy Ave.
Town charter sets the annual election day as the third Saturday of September, except in any year when that day conflicts with either day of Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur. In such cases, the municipal election is held on the fourth Saturday of September.
An election has not been held in Dewey since 2020. In 2021, Bauer, Gibbings and Jasinski ran unopposed, and in 2022, Mayor Bill Stevens and Commissioner Gary Persinger ran unopposed.
Election information for candidates and voters, including the absentee ballot request form, is available at townofdeweybeach.com or by calling 302-227-6363.
