When I ran for election in 2008 and in subsequent re-elections, I made several promises to the voters: that I would listen to everyone; that I would have no agenda except what was best for the city; and that I would do my homework.
I did my best to keep those promises, so I'm asking all of you now to do your homework in yet another critical election.
Speaking from almost nine years on the commission and having worked with both mayoral candidates, my support remains firm behind Sam Cooper.
Sam Cooper is the face of Rehoboth - he was born and raised in this little gem we've all come to love. He has seen it change from the sleepy little summer town to the successful, vibrant, year-round town it is today and has been at the helm while that transition has taken place. It's one thing to look at the city as a business, and quite another to look at its core, its sense of place, at the reasons people keep coming back. Sam Cooper does that. He knows where the city has come from, and you need that background to steer where and how it is going forward.
So I ask you again - do your homework!
The city is successful. Our businesses are thriving. Our neighborhoods are still neighborly in spite of the development that surrounds us. Our beaches are clean and safe. The city efficiently provides all essential services. Most importantly, this has been accomplished with a balanced budget and without tax increases. How do you think that happened? It was not by chance, but by hard work and the strong leadership of Mayor Sam Cooper whose fiscal responsibility over his years as mayor has allowed the city to maintain its quality of life while still accumulating a $5 million surplus in the city's rainy day fund - all under the fiscal guidance of Mayor Cooper and without a tax increase.
In addition, under his leadership the city, its residents, visitors and businesses benefitted from:
• The design and completion of the Rehoboth Avenue streetscape project, which included burial of all utility lines and a new Bandstand
• Reconstruction of the Boardwalk
• Complete redesign and construction of the Lake Gerar Bridge
• Two new water towers
• A new city well and treatment facility
• Redesign and upgrade of Lake Avenue
• A new municipal complex that is nearing completion.
All of these city projects were completed with a balanced budget and without tax increases. Those touting overruns with the municipal complex do not tell all the facts. The budget is balanced this year with no tax increase, and the change orders were under 10 percent of the project, below the norm for this type of project with so many moving parts.
So, I ask you - why change now, especially when the city is facing probably its most critical infrastructure project with the upcoming ocean outfall? Now more than ever we need Sam Cooper. He has demonstrated his skill and ability to lead our city through good economic times and bad, through the pressures of regional development, bringing to the city the progress that makes us all proud while still retaining our essential unique character. We need his continued leadership, his engineering experience and his contacts with the state and county. He knows the design and has worked with the engineers every step of the way. This project is too big to fail. It needs to be done right - it's too important to the city's future.
That's why my vote is for Sam Cooper. I know from my nine years on the commission with him that he is more than up to the task, and if you do your homework, your vote will be for him too.
Lorraine Zellers
Commissioner, Rehoboth Beach
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