A series of letters have appeared in recent Gazette editions, some requiring response to their inaccuracies. The letters tend to state or imply that, in Rehoboth, things have been poorly run and that change, particularly in the position of mayor, is overdue. More on that later.
First consider some confusing budgetary assertions that have been made.
One letter from a commission candidate claims that city hall building "overruns are at 33-40 percent." No data is presented to substantiate this claim and it is fully inconsistent with the fact that overruns on the project are limited to those unanimously approved by the commissioners and totaling near 15 percent (from $18 million to $19 million+) and not terribly unusual given the nature of such projects.
Another letter suggested that the cost of the city hall building divided by Rehoboth's small year-round population was an onerous $13,500 per head and a generational blight. Left out of this discussion was the fact that the new building involves no tax increase to voters, and that Mayor Cooper had been able to negotiate a loan at 2.36 percent, almost one and a half percent lower than that initially planned, representing a $120,000 a year savings on the city's loan payment.
And Rehoboth's year-round population represents but a small part of the total usage and value of the new city hall. Thousands of in-season and shoulder-season visitors make demands upon the city's resources and there is a rapidly growing number of pre-retirees who will be buying second homes and moving to the general area where Rehoboth is the centerpiece. And please! $20,000,000 is hardly an excess expense when we are talking about a multi-functional building that houses city offices, provides the only convention center space in the community and that was necessary to continue its certification as a police station with 911 emergency capacity (anyone in opposition who did not visit that paean to '50s incarceration nostalgia should been required to spend a night in jail there before they were allowed to vote again).
Back to Cooper, and indeed all of the commission. They are to be commended for the planning, foresight and follow-thru on this project, one that we can all take pride in. One letter wondered whether the Mayor and Commissioners had each member of his family in mind when they took on the expense of this project. The answer to that is a resounding "Yes!"
Finally, it is true Sam Cooper has been in office a long time, but this is an interesting problem for those who would oppose him. I think we would all have trouble counting the number of people who we have heard spontaneously express their joy and good fortune at living in Rehoboth.
Cooper's election opponent recently wrote that it is a "wonderful city." The afore mentioned commissioner candidate talks of living in an "amazing, top-resort destination." Who do these people think the single person having the greatest contribution to those outcomes might be?
To name anyone other than Sam Cooper would be a dishonesty.
Alan O'Leary
Rehoboth Beach
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