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Incumbent Dewey Beach town commissioners Dale Cooke and Claire Walsh announced they will not seek re-election. Running for the two available seats in the Saturday, Sept. 20 election are Kris Appel, who lives in Baltimore, Md.; Marc Appelbaum of Chevy Chase, Md.; and Martin Seitz of Silver Spring, Md.
According to the charter, the commission must include at least two resident commissioners, but that requirement is satisfied by Mayor Dell Tush and Commissioner Diane Hanson. Two nonresidents are eligible for election during this election.
Kris Appel filed her candidacy for town commissioner Monday, Aug. 18. A resident of Baltimore, Appel said she owns a seasonal house at 101 Chicago St. that was acquired in 1996. She said she and her husband visit the property most weeks from April through October. “We come down quite a bit in the winter to check on the house,” Appel said.
Appel said Dewey Beach is facing critical issues regarding declining revenue and building height restrictions and that she feels she has the skill, availability and energy to help.
Appel said she owns Encore Path Inc., a medical device development company started in December 2006. She was previously employed as a vice president of operations for Absolute Quality Inc., a global technologies service company now known by the name e4e.
Appel said she has been treasurer of the Canton Gables Homeowners Association in Baltimore for two years. She said she also founded The Apple Harvest Giving Circle, also in Baltimore. “It’s a small group that raises money for educational charities,” she said.
Also running are Marc Appelbaum and Martin Seitz. A resident of Chevy Chase, Md., Appelbaum filed July 29 and is listed in the Citizens to Preserve Dewey website as one of the group’s supporters. Appelbaum said he spends a good deal of the summer with his family at Dewey where he bought a condominium at Bayview on Rodney Street about 25 years ago. Appelbaum was appointed to the town’s Budget and Finance Committee Feb. 9.
Seitz, who said he acquired a condominium in the Bermuda Sea Mist during December 1999, announced his candidacy Aug. 8. He said he visits Dewey Beach about 30 times a year, spending much of September, October, May and June and nonrented summer weeks there with his wife and two children. He said he has attended town meetings periodically through the years.
A resident of Silver Spring, Md., Seitz said he served as president of a civic association with more than 425 homes and that he contributed to the development of a community park and walkway over the Washington, D.C. beltway. He said he served on advisory boards that focused on issues including community safety and the development of the Silver Spring, Md. business district. Seitz said that he has dealt with several zoning issues.
All candidates have been invited by the Dewey Beach Civic League to participate in a public forum at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 23, at Venus on the Half Shell on Dagsworthy Avenue.
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Dewey incumbents will not seek re-election
Commissioners Dale Cooke and Claire Walsh are not seeking re-election to Dewey Beach Town Council.
Three-term incumbent Cooke informed the Cape Gazette on Wednesday, Aug. 20, that he will not seek re-election because two things of great importance were about to happen to him.
“The very first and most significant is that day [Aug. 21] I bury one of the most beloved people in my life - my mother. After very nearly 93 years of existence, her life on earth came to a peaceful end,” Cooke wrote. The second, he continued, is that Aug. 21 was the final day to declare if he would run for election as a town commissioner.
Cooke, whose mother, Mildred, died Aug. 13 after being plagued by Alzheimer’s disease and other medical conditions for many years, has a brother who has also been ill.
Cooke wrote that meeting his family and personal needs at this time would preclude him from fulfilling the responsibilities of a town commissioner. Dewey has entered rough financial times and the demands of doing a good job as a commissioner are great, Cooke wrote. “Because I feel I cannot right now properly serve both areas, I have decided not to run for re-election as Commissioner,” he wrote.
Walsh also cited family responsibilities, but she said the cause of her decision is what she considers a hostile atmosphere on town council. In a letter released Thursday, Aug. 21, for publication in the Cape Gazette, one-term Commissioner Walsh wrote that a group she later, in an interview, identified as Citizens to Preserve Dewey has misinformed the public about the controversial Ruddertowne redevelopment project.
She also wrote that the mayor and commissioners have removed many dedicated, long-serving residents from town committees and replaced them with nonresident supporters of a political action committee. Referring to Mayor Dell Tush and commissioners Diane Hanson and Rich Hanewinckel, Walsh said in an interview, “It has been painful for me to watch those three individuals conducting what I believe has been a systematic removal of all checks and balances in the town…”
Walsh concluded, “I hope that by sharing my concerns with each of you, I can bring to light the serious consequences facing our town. It will take a renewed interest and active participation of every citizen to make a difference as we move forward to reclaim our town in the coming years.”
Calls to Tush for comment were not returned at press time. Letters from Walsh and Cooke to the editor appear on our letters to the editor page.
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