Sometimes you get a bargain. Sometimes, you get what you pay for. With Mayor Sam Cooper, you get neither of the above.
One would think that a salary of $1,000 per year is a bargain for the mayor of any town. When that mayor is at the helm of a public works project which has had cost overruns of $2,000,000 in a period of one year, it is obvious that residents of Rehoboth are not getting a bargain with Sam Cooper.
After mismanaging a $16 million public works project and trying to conceal his cost overruns from the public in off-the-record meetings, now Sam Cooper wants you to entrust him with a $52.5 million public works project (Mayor Cooper's pet project, the effluent pipe).
Rather than run the city in an accountable fashion like most mayors are forced to do, for nearly 30 years he has held public city council votes only when it is convenient for him to do so. Otherwise, he manages the city behind closed doors and out of the eye of the public [that man behind the curtain, he's no wizard!].
Cooper has a city manager to manage areas of the government which are too complex or politically delicate for him to take personal responsibility. Yet, Cooper only listens to the city manager when it is convenient for him to do so. When the city manager has recommended hiring a professional tooversee public works projects, Cooper protests. By saving the city millions in cost overruns, a public works manager would pay for himself, but Cooper is too out of touch to realize this.
One would think that a $22 million city hall would be worth $22 million. The real value of this city hall is arguably much less than $22 million, meaning Sam Cooper has severely overpaid for this building. Despite a few bells and whistles like an employees' gym, a tower and a 911 call center, there is nothing extraordinary about this building, except for its price.
Taxpayers should be asking how much they have spent per square foot in new, useable, finished space. Such a question should be asked in public forums and not in closed door meetings. The Convention Center is simply getting a minor renovation and the city has indicated that a portion of the City Hall will be left unfinished; thus, neither will be new, useable, finished space.
For far too long, Mayor Cooper has feathered his own nest at the taxpayers' expense. He has nurtured loyalists in important positions in the city, who he protects (regardless of their own performance) in exchange for his own protection. Cooper has looked the other way while these loyalists have run down once-thriving public service institutions and have done atrocious things to good people (like former Rehoboth Beach Lifeguard Chief Tommy Coveleski). I am most sad about what has happened, in this respect, to the Rehoboth Beach Patrol and to Tommy.
Rehoboth's next mayor should look closely at the leadership of once-thriving public institutions and not be afraid to replace Mayor Cooper loyalists, where necessary.
Sam Cooper has gone on record to say he cannot be beat in a mayoral election. Let us prove him wrong. If Cooper feels he cannot be beat, then we ought to be asking if Mayor Cooper is simply out of touch or if something more sinister is not taking place, behind closed doors. The public has the right to pull back the curtain and see what kinds of levers this man is manipulating, to convince himself that he's a wizard.
No public servant should feel unaccountable to his or her voters, particularly when his mismanagement of public funds has cost Rehoboth taxpayers $2,000,000 in the past year.
Ashley Smith
Rehoboth Beach
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