Two candidates file for Lewes election
Councilman Rob Morgan and newcomer Carolyn Jones have each filed to run in the 2021 Lewes municipal election in May.
Morgan is seeking his fourth term on council, while Jones looks to fill the seat vacated by Deputy Mayor Bonnie Osler, who announced earlier this year she would not seek re-election.
The election is set for Saturday, May 8.
Carolyn Jones
Jones, 79, moved to Lewes in 2008 after spending some time in Dewey Beach and Ocean View. She retired to Delaware following a long career in the Washington, D.C. area.
She’s been involved with the Historic Lewes Farmers Market since 2009 and is currently serving on the city’s police ad hoc committee.
Jones was very active in the effort to preserve the Fourth Street Forest several years ago.
She said she was approached by a group of people who asked her to consider running for city council. She had not thought about it, but after contemplation, she decided it was a good idea.
“I have a lot of skills, so I decided to throw my hat in the ring,” she said. “I’m not a politician. I would come at it like a resident. If nothing else, I want to make sure my community understands what’s going on.”
She was attracted to Lewes because of its sense of community. If elected, she said she hopes to tap into the great brain trust of the community to take Lewes to the next level.
Communication with residents is important, she said, and it is something she would like to improve.
“I think they mean well, but [messaging] is not getting out the way it should,” she said. “I sort of pride myself on my ability to communicate. Every job I’ve had was working with people, and that’s my strong point.”
Jones was born in Jersey City, N.J. She left the Garden State in her 20s for a banking job in New York City, then moved on to Washington, D.C. She learned sign language and eventually got a job in the bursar’s office at Gallaudet University, one of the nation’s leading universities specializing in higher education for deaf and hearing-impaired students.
She then took an accounting and staff development position at a secondary school for the deaf that was affiliated with Gallaudet. While there, she attended community college before transferring to University of Maryland College Park, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management.
In time, she took a job with Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., a strategy and technology firm in Washington, D.C., where she was responsible for administrative services at branches in Bethesda, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles. While employed there, she continued her education and earned a master’s degree in finance from Southeastern University.
In 1983, she took a new job as a financial analyst at the Smithsonian Institution. She eventually became chief financial officer for the institution’s mail-order distribution division. She also became director of the Smithsonian’s office of human resources before retiring in 2003 after 20 years with the institution.
She said she was considered a problem solver while working at the Smithsonian.
“I just go in to see what I see and work with people,” she said. “I’m very much a team person.”
Jones has enjoyed volunteering since retirement, serving as a Big Sister and helping children learn golf with the First Tee of Delaware. More recently, she helped with estate sales.
Rob Morgan
Morgan, 71, was elected to council in 2014, and ran unopposed in 2016 and 2018.
Morgan and his wife, Janice, moved to Lewes full time from the Washington, D.C. area in 2008, but they had been visiting the city since the ‘80s.
“There are a couple things I want to see through,” Morgan said.
Near the top of the list is improving Lewes Mayor and City Council’s relationship with the Lewes Board of Public Works, which has soured in recent years as the city’s two elected bodies have clashed on issues related to requiring pre-annexation agreements before providing utilities to a property outside the city.
“I’ve never been part of the two-person team that negotiates with the board,” Morgan said. “It’s always been Ted [Becker] and someone senior, but I’ve tried to help from the sidelines. We have to improve the relationship.”
If re-elected, Morgan would be the second longest-tenured member of mayor and city council behind Mayor Becker.
Morgan would also like to make the city’s finances more understandable. He said the city is doing just fine financially, but it’s very difficult to navigate through the budget process every year.
“I’ve gathered a lot of notes and put them all together,” he said. “I’m hoping to make a first draft of a guide to our finances. Of course, I would need the help of [Finance Officer] Ellen Lorraine McCabe in editing it.”
Other issues he’d like to tackle in his fourth term include cleaning up overlooked or ignored code provisions that carry criminal offenses. One example, he said, is that a person is supposed to be fined and imprisoned if they do not display house numbers on their home.
He said he’d like to see such infractions become civil offenses and find out if the city could begin to enforce them to improve quality of life.
Other goals, he said, include improving the city’s cybersecurity and organizing management of the city’s many contracts, leases, licenses and vendor agreements so they are easy to track and to better indicate when key dates are approaching.
“I’m very proud of being a part of the council,” he said. “I would like to keep helping. I will try to continue to be transparent and encourage the citizens to come forward with their own ideas.”
Morgan majored in history at Yale University. After graduating, he joined the U.S. Army and volunteered to serve in Vietnam, where, as a lieutenant in an airborne unit, he was awarded a Bronze Star. After military service, he earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a law degree from the University of Virginia, where he worked on the Law Review. Morgan clerked for a judge in the Second Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals, followed by five years in business litigation for a D.C. law firm. He also spent five years as a prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C.
He operated his own practice before being asked to join H. Ross Perot’s company, Perot Systems. There, Morgan led teams negotiating technology contracts for up to $100 million. He worked for the company 21 years, retiring in November 2010.
Registration info
Candidates have until Thursday, April 1, to submit paperwork to run in the election.
To be an eligible candidate, a person must be at least 21 years old and a full-time Lewes resident for at least one year, and shall not have been convicted of a felony.
Candidates should drop off necessary paperwork at city hall. If they are concerned about in-person interaction, they may call the city manager to make other arrangements.
The voter registration deadline is Friday, April 23. To be eligible to vote, a person must be 18 years old as of May 8, 2021, and a full-time Lewes resident. A person is removed from the city’s voter registration list if they have not voted in two consecutive elections – 2020 and 2014 are Lewes’ most recent elections.
Unlike the 2020 election, the city is not planning to send absentee ballot applications to every registered voter this year. People can make a personal choice to vote in person or via mail-in ballot, which can be requested by calling city hall, 302-645-7777.
To download a voter registration form or find other election-related information, go to ci.lewes.de.us/273/Election-Information.
BPW incumbents file
Three seats are up for election this year on the Lewes Board of Public Works. Incumbents Robert Kennedy, Tom Panetta and Earl Webb have each filed to retain their three-year seats.
Anyone wishing to challenge the incumbents has until Thursday, April 1, to submit necessary paperwork.
Kennedy joined the board in 2016 after running unopposed. He won re-election in 2018. He worked for 21 years as executive director and senior regulatory officer at Delaware Public Service Commission.
Panetta was elected in 2018, ousting then-BPW President C. Wendell Alfred. Panetta joined the board with 30 years of experience in the electrical power generation and distribution field, working for General Electric and as a consultant.
Webb was appointed to the board in September 2020, serving out the remainder of the term of Jack Lesher, who resigned due to health concerns. Webb began his career with AT&T in Georgetown. He started as a temporary, part-time employee and worked his way up the ladder before taking an executive-level position with General Electric.
Information on candidate qualifications and filing, voter eligibility and registration can be found at lewesbpw.delaware.gov/information/election-news/.
