Cooke, Bauer and Redefer win in Dewey

Long-time Dewey Beach property owner TJ Redefer was the top vote getter on Election Day, Sept. 16.

All the candidates were about equal in absentee ballots, said Redefer, but pulling away with the votes from people who walked by to shake hands was heartwarming. People know they want to see change and a fresh, new look on council, he said.

Coming in with 417 votes, with 214 in person at the polls, Redefer was elected Sept. 16 to Dewey Town Council along with Paul Bauer, who finished with 411 votes, and incumbent Mayor Dale Cooke, who finished 18 votes behind with 399 votes. Commissioner Diane Hanson finished fourth, receiving 359 votes, while political newcomer Jill Compello finished last, with 309.

Cooke said he was happy to be re-elected, but he’s not sure what it means that he came in third. Maybe the voters wanted to force the two sides to work together, he said. Throughout the election season, it was Cooke and Hanson on one side, and Redefer, Bauer and Compello on the other.

Cooke said now is the time to move past the campaign rhetoric and try to do what’s best for the town. He said he would again run for mayor.

“We’ll work at it, and it will be a little tense because people will want to make their mark, but we’ll work it out,” he said.

Bauer said he was pleased to be elected, but he said he is set to get to work. “That’s the job,” he said. “And I think we’re on the right side of the issue.”

Tension has already emerged among Cooke, Redefer and Bauer. The town has scheduled a meeting for 5 p.m., Friday, Sept. 22 – the last day Hanson and Commissioner Mike Dunmyer, who did not run for re-election, are on council. The agenda calls for a vote to adopt recommendations by the town’s investigator to take action regarding Town Manager Marc Applebaum as a result of an employees’ complaint that has dogged the town all summer. The agenda also calls for a vote to indemnify Appelbaum and Dunmyer, who was named in a Public Integrity Commission complaint because his wife worked for the town. She has since resigned from her position.

Bauer and Redefer, who are scheduled to be sworn in the following morning – 10 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 23 – have asked for the meeting to be postponed until after they take their seats.

Why not let the people who were elected make the decision, Bauer asked. “If this wasn’t the election issue, it would be one thing, but this looks like they’re trying to keep us out of it,” he said. “I don’t know what a few hours is going to make.”

Cooke said he scheduled the meeting because the town needs to keep moving forward on the issue. “We need to get looking at the report done,” he said.

Redefer said the topics are very concerning. He said he’s asked for Bauer and himself to be sworn in before Friday’s meeting, instead of waiting until Saturday. He said he’s also contemplating putting in his name for mayor.

“Right now, I’m interested. I’d wear that hat proudly,” he said.

Hanson said she’ll be on a vacation that she planned a year ago.

For her part, Hanson, who has been on council for the past 10 years, spending six of them as mayor, said she was the collateral damage of a coordinated effort to get her off council. The town was doing just fine, but someone came in and threw a bomb in the middle of it, she said, referring to the investigation and recent revelation that Dewey businessman Alex Pires worked with police Chief Sam Mackert to draft the original complaint against Applebaum. In addition to his working with the police chief, large red and blue banners supporting the three challengers could be seen on all of the Highway One properties Pires owns throughout town.

“We got screwed,” she said. “We couldn’t respond to the allegations and by the time the report came out, it was too late.”

Hanson said it was disappointing to lose.

“I’ve given 10 years of my life to this town, and I’ve left it in a better place,” she said. “I have some very deep concerns for the future of this town.”

With the exception of one year in the late 1990s, when the two new commissioners are sworn in, it will mark the first time since a 5-year stretch in the 1980s that council does not have a single woman member. 

Hanson said it would be nice to have some diversity on council, but she said she didn’t think it was a big deal.

Cooke said he didn’t think it matters, male or female, who is on council. They are all trying to do what is best for the town, he said.

Redefer said it was disappointing, agreeing with Hanson more diversity is needed. He suggested it would be wonderful if there was a new town manager who was a woman.

Redefer said he would support Compello running again for office. She had a strong showing with little name recognition, he said.

“She’s a brilliant woman,” he said. “Hopefully, she’ll go for it again.”