Rob Morgan seeks third term on Lewes council

Lewes Councilman Rob Morgan said he’s finally overcome the steep learning curve that comes with being elected to city council, and he’s ready to continue the positive work underway within the city. 

Morgan, 68, has officially filed to run for another term on council. He and fellow incumbent Bonnie Osler are the only two candidates in the race thus far. Though he’s near the end of his fourth year on council, he remains the junior member of council. 

“I feel like I’m hitting my stride,” Morgan said. “I enjoy working with my colleagues. I respect all of them. And I like knowing what’s going on, and I like being able to tell other people what’s going on.” 

From his perspective, the three biggest issues over the next three years will be traffic, land use and annexation. All three are connected, he said, as land use affects traffic, and the city can have better control of both through annexation. 

“It’s not a good thing to annex for annexation’s sake – just to be bigger,” he said. “If we’re going to have any influence on the development that takes place outside the city, it helps us to have that land inside the city.”

As for development outside Lewes that will inevitably go before county council or the county planning and zoning commission, Morgan said, the city must have a solid working relationship with county officials. 

“We’ve very lucky to have I.G. Burton as our representative on county council,” he said. “He’s been great to work with. He’s a smart guy and very savvy.”

He said County Administrator Todd Lawson has also been a great resource. 

“I’m trying to keep Lewes a great place to live as it inevitably changes,” he said. 

Morgan is also working to update city code. He said he’s worked with Osler to exhaustively review the code and note areas that need improvement. He said he hopes to see some of his recommendations addressed over the next year or two. 

Morgan is liaison to the Lewes Public Library board and Sussex County Council. He’s also an exofficio member of the city’s bicycle and pedestrian safety committee, and the parks and recreation commission. 

Though he’s not a member of the city’s finance committee, he said, he gets involved anyway.

“I think we all ought to with finance,” he said. 

With Osler and city staff, he worked on financial strategy and developed a list of possible cost reductions council could consider if money is ever tight. 

Morgan and his wife, Janice, moved to Lewes full time from the Washington, D.C. area in 2008, but they have been visiting the city since the '80s.

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 in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., 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., where he tried 75 jury cases and handled appeals.

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.