I am supporting Kathy McGuiness for Rehoboth Beach Commission because Kathy has the experience, wisdom and values to serve the City of Rehoboth Beach well. She was born and attended school in Rehoboth, and after earning two bachelor's degrees, one in pharmacy, she returned to make her life in Rehoboth. She originally served on the commission for nine years and stepped down in 2012 to focus on her children. After many members of the community approached her and asked her to run again, she agreed and was elected to a three-year term in 2014.
I have known Kathy for many years and while I don't live in the City of Rehoboth Beach, I have been coming here for nearly 35 years.
I have owned in the 19971 ZIP code, just outside the city boundaries, for 20 years. Many of us know Kathy and recognize she has fought the good fight to open up the commission's activities, and all of Rehoboth Beach government, to the public for many years. She is committed to continue that fight to make all government actions more transparent.
She understands the fragile balance that exists between homeowners and businesses, full-time residents and tourists.
I recently attended a community meeting Kathy held at Browseabout Books on Rehoboth Avenue. Having gotten a commitment from the chief of police and the head of lifeguards that they would attend, she and the community were blindsided when the day before the meeting the city manager told those two officials they couldn't come to the meeting. Kathy went ahead with the meeting anyway, and passed on the questions people had for them and would have asked in person had they been there. For Kathy this was just another reason to commit to continue to fight such closed-door policies and the secrecy that appears to be the norm in Rehoboth Beach city government.
She believes she and all city officials have an obligation to be available to the public at all times.
For anyone who doesn't know Kathy, and there aren't many, she has served on numerous boards and committees over the years. She is a past president of the Rehoboth Beach Homeowners' Association, and served on boards with the VIA, BPW, YMCA and Rehoboth-Dewey Chamber of Commerce. Kathy was the founding president of national award-winning nonprofit Rehoboth Beach Main Street and fireworks founder, fundraiser and committee chair from 1997-2014.
Listening to Kathy tell it,"The Cape Region is where I faced my hardest challenges and where I have seen my greatest successes. I understood when I started in pharmacy that in order for my family and my business to thrive, the community needed to thrive. When I started in the public and nonprofit sectors, Rehoboth Beach was a beach resort town with a three-month season. My efforts helped turn it into a thriving year-round community that added economic dollars and new jobs, striking a balance between keeping taxes low while providing quality services."
She is committed to continuing to strike the right balance between year-round residents and the thousands of tourists that make Rehoboth the exciting place it is. She has been recognized by many groups for all her hard work including being named 1999 DE BPW Businesswoman of the Year and 2001 State of Delaware Tourism Person of the Year.
Kathy McGuiness deserves your vote for Rehoboth Beach commissioner. The city and all of us who love the beach are lucky she continues to be willing to serve.
Peter D. Rosenstein
Rehoboth Beach
-
A letter to the editor expresses a reader's opinion and, as such, is not reflective of the editorial opinions of this newspaper.
To submit a letter to the editor for publishing, send an email to newsroom@capegazette.com. Letters must be signed and include a telephone number and address for verification. Please keep letters to 500 words or fewer. We reserve the right to edit for content and length. Letters should be responsive to issues addressed in the Cape Gazette rather than content from other publications or media. Only one letter per author will be published every 30 days. Letters restating information and opinions already offered by the same author will not be used. Letters must focus on issues of general, local concern, not personalities or specific businesses.
