Stenger Joseph challenges for Lewes council seat

Nancy Stenger Joseph is making a bid for a Lewes City Council seat, filing Feb. 27. Two city council seats are open, and her entry makes it a three-person race.

She said being elected “would be my way of giving back to the community, a community at large that I’ve been served well by.”

Stenger Joseph, 58, graduated from Cape Henlopen High School in 1973. She attended Wilmington College and is a former Cape Gazette employee.

She was publisher of two local guides, “Best Places in Town” and “Delaware Beach Weddings.” Stenger Joseph said the publications connected her with many local business owners. “I love my town; Lewes has much to be proud of,” she said.

She and husband Charlie Joseph have lived in the Bay Breeze community since 1996.

Stenger Joseph’s son Chad Tylecki sued the City of Lewes and Lewes Police Department alleging he suffered permanent injuries stemming from Tasering by police while he was shackled and handcuffed in a Beebe Medical Center examination room. The incident occurred in 2008.

In September, a U.S. District Court jury in Wilmington rejected Tylecki’s Taser-caused injury claims.

Stenger Joseph said her bid for a council seat is not directly linked to her son’s case. “I would like an independent body to oversee police department activity with the goal of bringing back a feel of community policing without being adversarial,” she said.

Incumbent City Councilmen Fred Beaufait and Victor Letonoff filed to run Feb. 1. However, Letonoff, 77, who served three-terms on city council, withdrew from the race on Feb. 20. He said a benign tremor he has developed would be a distraction for him and for the public.

Beaufait, 76, was first elected to city council in May 2011 and appointed secretary in June 2011.

Also on the ballot is Delaware native Dennis Reardon. He filed Feb. 5. Reardon, 72, served more than two decades in family court as a state deputy attorney general and later as chief master, presiding over criminal and civil matters.

Reardon ran unsuccessfully for a city council seat in last year’s election. In May, Lewes Mayor Jim Ford appointed Reardon to serve on Lewes Planning Commission.

The annual municipal election is Saturday, May 11, at City Hall. The candidate filing period closes at 4:30 p.m., Thursday, April 4.

For complete voter and candidate requirements and additional election information visit city hall or go to www.ci.lewes.de.us.