I have to say to the friends of Tom McGlone who wrote to the Cape Gazette two weeks ago: nice try. But I’m afraid your attempt to portray Mayor Sam Cooper as outdated and out of touch is so far away from the truth as to be absurd.
As you say, the world was a different place 27 years ago when the mayor took office. It might have been a world where politics was controlled by middle-aged white men, but what is your solution? To elect your candidate, another middle-aged white man?
Have you not been paying attention to your own city? Rehoboth Beach is different than it was 27 years ago, too.
Under Mayor Cooper, the city commission has been a diverse group of white men, women, a Hispanic, members of Rehoboth Beach’s LGBT community, and full-time and part-time residents. Under Mayor Cooper’s leadership, the city has hired a woman as our city manager, who, by the way, your candidate admits is a great choice by the mayor and commissioners. This factual record says that our mayor is open to new minds and new ideas, and welcomes new commissioners to the team.
There are plenty of opportunities for people with new ideas to run for office: This year we have three candidates for commission and one for mayor who have never held public office before.
Term limits are elections for lazy people. Every year in Rehoboth Beach we have a chance to elect city commissioners, and every three years we have a chance to vote for mayor. Active and engaged citizens participate in their government, and elect the candidates they think are most qualified. That is what our democracy is all about. Should someone who is doing a great job for the city be turned out just because of the calendar? I ask my Democratic friends: would you have sent Ted Kennedy into retirement just because he served a proscribed number of terms? And to my Republican friends: when would you have told Bob Dole “Your time is up, old man?”
Let’s debate the issues that matter to our city. Let’s elect the best person for the job, instead of watching the clock. Clearly that best and most qualified person is our current mayor. Let’s re-elect Sam Cooper as mayor.
Carole Ellison
Rehoboth Beach
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