Rehoboth commissioners feel the heat during special meeting

Despite public calls for resignations and the threat of a lawsuit, Rehoboth Beach commissioners unanimously ratified the contract for City Manager Taylour Tedder during a standing-room-only special meeting July 8.

At the recommendation of the Attorney General’s Office, city commissioners held a special meeting after a deputy attorney general found city officials violated the Freedom of Information Act several times during the process of hiring Tedder earlier this year. The city announced the hiring of Tedder in early April. Among other things, his contract calls for a $250,000 annual salary, plus $50,000 in moving expenses and a $750,000 home loan that will be forgiven in full if he stays for seven years.

Mayor Stan Mills began the meeting by explaining that the proceedings would be narrow in focus. It wouldn’t have anything to do with the city charter or Tedder’s qualifications, he said.

This garnered a negative reaction from the crowd, with one person yelling out, “Then why are we here?”

Mills then went into a prepared statement, repeating much of what he’s already said to the media when asked about Tedder’s contract and how the city reached it. The city manager market is extremely competitive, with a small pool of qualified individuals, he said.

“I wanted him, and I did my best to court him,” said Mills.

At the conclusion of Mills’ opening remarks, he asked if any other commissioners had anything to add before going into public comment. Commissioner Francis “Bunky” Markert was the only one to speak up. However, it was simply to say he missed the vote taken in April, so it would be his first time voting.

Columbia Avenue resident Pam Biordi was the first member of the public to speak and she set the tone.

“Shame on you, commissioners. You’ve asked for our vote. You’ve asked for our voice. You’ve failed us. You wanted our vote and you failed us,” said Biordi.

Attorney Ted Kittila, who represents property owner Tom Gaynor, addressed City Solicitor Alex Burns, saying that Burns had an obligation to counsel the commissioners to comply with the laws of the state and the city charter.

“The actions of the city are illegal, and I ask the that city reconsider this before we get into expensive litigation,” said Kittila. “We are prepared to move forward with this litigation promptly.”

Grove Street resident Jeffrey Goode described the contract as outrageous. He said the city wasn’t living within its means. If a person can’t buy a Cadillac, they should buy a Chevy, he said.

Suzanne Goode, a candidate for commissioner, said she’d have preferred the city figure out a way to get a small housing allowance for police cadets and lifeguards instead of buying a house for Tedder, who, she said, seemed to get everything his little heart desired.

The silence from commissioners before the public hearing is what irritated the attendees the most.

Lisa Schlosser, a former commissioner, said the elected officials were missing the entire point of the anger of the people in the room and that they should consider resigning.

“You’re talking about justifying Mr. Tedder’s contract. We’re disgusted with the process and lack of transparency in the process. Not one of you commissioners, not one of you, said anything when you had the opportunity to explain to us why you made such a decision,” said Schlosser. “Look at them all sitting there. Not saying one thing. Not saying one thing to justify the lack of process and transparency that we had here.”

While almost all speakers took the commissioners to task, there were a couple members of the public who took a time-to-move-forward approach.

Country Club Drive resident Nancy Doyle said she probably would have objected to the housing allowance and the annual salary, but she was reluctant to do anything that would change Tedder’s career path. It doesn’t seem like citizens would get a good replacement after that was done, she said.

At the conclusion of public comment, prior to the unanimous vote, commissioners offered some comment, but not much.

Commissioner Toni Sharp didn’t defend the contract. Instead, she said it was interesting to see the demeanor toward the volunteer commissioners.

Commissioner Edward Chrzanowski said he appreciates the public concern. There was lively debate among the commissioners, and there wasn’t agreement on everything, but ultimately there was compromise, he said.

Commissioner Patrick Gossett echoed much of what Mills said about how competitive the market is for qualified city managers. There’s a very small pool of candidates, he said.

Commissioner Don Preston said commissioners will learn from this and move forward.

Markert said he understands the contract would be a tough sell to the public, but commissioners made the decision because they thought it was best for the city.

Commissioner Tim Bennett didn’t say anything throughout the meeting.

Tedder was present for the meeting, sitting in his usual seat to the mayor’s left, but he did not make any comments.

In all, the meeting took a little less than an hour and 15 minutes. Following the meeting, when asked if he was going to resign, Mills said, “Absolutely not.”