Correcting misstatements at Lewes forum

I write to correct misstatements made at the recent Greater Lewes Civic Coalition candidates’ forum that may confuse voters. At the forum, in answers to several questions, candidate Ric Moore alleged that the lawsuits filed over the Fisher’s Cove development were frivolous, questioned the wisdom and integrity of those involved, and suggested that he would never have settled because the city had immunity from liability in the suits. Look at the law, look at the city charter, he repeatedly said.  

Let’s take up Mr. Moore’s invitation and look at the law. Under the state statute cited several times by Mr. Moore, municipalities do have immunity from certain tort claims. The developer in the Fisher’s Cove lawsuits, however, did not raise tort claims. Instead, the suits raised constitutional and state law claims, which are entirely different, and which the state statute relied upon by Mr. Moore does not cover. Similarly, there are anti-SLAPP laws in Delaware to protect a private citizen from being sued when opposing a development project. But these laws cover private citizens, not municipalities.

In short, Mr. Moore is mistaken. Simply put, there is no statutory immunity for a city in lawsuits, like the Fisher’s Cove trilogy, based on the constitution and state law. Therefore, if the city had been found liable on the developer’s claims, Lewes taxpayers would have had to pay any damages awarded, which could have been quite substantial.  

Because the city and the developer agreed to settle the cases, we will never know what would have happened if the cases had been fully litigated. So we have no basis, despite Mr. Moore’s insinuations, to assess the merits of the developer’s claims or the city’s defenses to those claims. What we do know, based on Andrew Williams’ statements at the candidates’ forum, is three competent lawyers, including a land-use expert who was brought in by the city just for these cases, and the city’s insurer’s attorney, advised the city to settle the claims. Mr. Moore offered no reason to doubt the land-use expert or insurer’s attorney’s advice to the city.

There is room to criticize the city’s handling of the Fisher’s Cove development, and there are many questions still unanswered about how to ensure the development poses no flooding threat to its neighbors. And the city should have been much more forthcoming in its communications with citizens, and hopefully will be in the future. But unfounded claims about the city’s immunity from the developer’s suit and its decision to settle are not fair criticism, and Mr. Moore was wrong to make them.