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Dewey Beach town clerk bids farewell

Ashleigh Sander named Millsboro assistant town manager
December 2, 2022

After nearly nine years as town clerk for Dewey Beach, Ashleigh Sander is set to take on the role of Millsboro assistant town manager Dec. 9.

While Sander will miss resolving issues for visitors and residents of the beach town, she said she’s eager to advance her career with a new challenge in the family atmosphere of Millsboro that’s also closer to her own home.

“I’m looking forward to it, and I’m thankful for my time in Dewey that allowed me to expand my knowledge,” she said.

Sander said she feels fortunate to have served the town during its growth period the last nine years.

“I was able to assist with that growth, and my role in doing that, in turn, assisted with the growth of my knowledge, experience and career as a whole,” she said. “Being a municipal government employee can have its challenges as any career can, but it is a very rewarding career as well, with being able to have a hand in helping others.”

Sander has been a successful grant writer for the Town of Dewey Beach, securing a $3 million state grant toward the construction of a new town hall and police department. A $22,500 grant Sander applied for through Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to improve Sunset Park was also just approved Nov. 29.

Two additional grants are pending, she said, including a $2.8 million federal grant for the new town hall/police facility, as well as a grant through Delaware Preservation to replace the deck at the Lifesaving Station.

In addition to her daily administrative duties, Sander has also served as the town Freedom of Information Act officer and assists with the development and writing of ordinances.

Outreach, both within the community and throughout the eastern U.S., has been important to Sander, who has run the town’s Adopt-A-Family program to collect Christmas gifts for children in the Cape Henlopen School District.

The devastation brought by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and Hurricane Florence in 2018 also prompted Sander to host donation drives for collection sites and food banks in Tennessee and North Carolina for distribution to those in need.

In 2019, Sander was named the Delaware Municipal Clerk of the Year by the Delaware League of Local Governments and the Delaware Municipal Clerk Association, for which she serves as vice president. Sander is now chair of the Delaware Clerk of the Year committee.

Other professional memberships include National Association of Parliamentarians, Delaware State Association of Parliamentarians, Delaware Municipal Clerk Association website and nominating committees, and Delaware Women Leading Government.

After winning titles as Miss Southern Delaware in 2008 and Miss Delaware Valley in 2009, Sander has also volunteered as executive director of the Miss Delaware organization, a Miss America preliminary, and for Miss Southern Delaware and Miss Dewey Beach pageants.

She and her husband Dan Sander, a RE/MAX real estate agent, married in September 2020 and have three children, Austin, 18 months; Brandon, 8; and Samantha, 10. 

 

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