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Hoping Rehoboth’s new mayor puts safety first

August 28, 2020

Stan Mills’ victory as Rehoboth’s new mayor calls attention to part of his background which some people may not be aware of, but which is especially critical now, both for Rehoboth and for Delaware. 

And it comes at a time which few people realize may/probably will strongly change the way Rehoboth - the Nation’s Summer Capital - is regarded not only locally and nationally but internationally as well.  It will reflect in a new and powerful way upon the state which is so often derided as  “Dela-where?” by a lot of Americans. Stan Mills will be playing a leadership role in something wonderful.

In this respect, not only has Stan done excellent work in the past as a Rehoboth commissioner but  he has served for many years with the Red Cross, and his commitment to public safety and health is second to none. Stan participated with us in various activities including our cross-training between the Delaware State Police Aviation Section, U.S. Coast Guard, Sussex fire companies, “amateur” radio operators (really volunteer professional radio operators; heaps of military and NSA experience), Delaware National Guard, Bethany Beach mayor, beach patrols, and Sussex County EMS to create far better and more cost-effective responses to serious open-water and related needs. Out of that work, along with the death of Michael Johnson in Rehoboth, and an extreme rescue which Woody Marderwald and I were involved in which got national attention, also came our establishing a partnership  between the U.S. Lifesaving Association (USLA, which serves as the national certifying institution for American open-water lifeguards) and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to initiate the national Boardwalk ‘Break the Grip of the Rip’ Educational Program.  Rip currents account for at least 50 percent of drownings on surf beaches. The USLA and NOAA had tapped me to start and maintain the process. I worked with Capt. Todd Fritchman of the Dewey Beach Patrol and Woody Marderwald of the North Bethany Beach Patrol  to initiate the program development.  Stan Mills was very supportive. You can see our educational signs and related material not only on the Rehoboth Boardwalk but across the U.S., especially at entrances to surf beaches including those at the Great Lakes. We took all the first photos (now seen across the nation) of rips from the air for the program with the help of our friends in the Delaware State Police Aviation Section.  The very first of those signs went up in Dewey and then Rehoboth, which was appropriate with the program being partially born out of the Johnson drowning which was carried across the country in USA Today. 

Coming to the present time, with the new leadership of Stan Mills as mayor, it is hoped and recommended that certain major issues concerning public safety will be rectified.

At the beginning of the lifeguarding season, the Dewey Beach Patrol was overwhelmed with recruits. That was not the case with the Rehoboth Beach Patrol, which has the highest attrition and turnover rate of any patrol on the coast.  Related - there are 14 guards on the DBP whose parents guarded on the  RBP but who will not let their children guard in Rehoboth.  That is a legacy which no lifeguards, their leaders, or their towns/parks would ever want.

Dewey and a number of other Delaware beach patrols (e.g., Bethany, Sea Colony, Fenwick Island) have perfect safety records with no loss of life through drowning on guarded beaches.  Rehoboth once had all of those other patrols beat with the longest perfect safety record on the coast (and maybe the country) for seven decades but that record was destroyed in a short period of time.

As the “Nation’s Summer Capital” might soon become the “the Capital” for even longer periods than the summer, Rehoboth is going to face more scrutiny nationally and internationally than it has ever had before and I encourage Mayor Mills to prepare for that possibility including ameliorating persistent and fatal weaknesses in public safety on the beach.

It is the hope of many people that the RBP leadership will be changed ASAP.  With its continued disregard for safety and ethical practices,  the word is getting out to the larger public who can go to other, safer beaches and are doing so.  Similarly for lifeguards who can go to other places to serve the public, and, again have been doing so with Rehoboth’s highest rates of lifeguard attrition on the coast which undermine the institutional memory/knowledge base that is critical to any patrol.

We trust that Mayor Mills’ long-demonstrated commitment to public safety and health will come into action here.  I’ve known Stan for a long time and he’s the best of the best.  Above all, he understands public safety and related matters far more than do most other people, including former leaders in Rehoboth, and has dedicated a significant part of his life to related service.  I’ve seen him in action and  I’ve also never seen him sitting down.  And he is not a rich man.  Public service has been a major part of his life, not just a convenient “add on” to his CV. 

A lot more could and should be said but space precludes that now except to congratulate Mayor Mills on his recent victory and wish him well.  The incredible margins by which Stan and his running mate won their offices speak volumes about public trust in them, which gives them both a mandate to make some great and  extremely overdue changes.  

Dr. Peter I. Hartsock
Fellow, College of Physicians of Philadelphia
RBP Lieutenant Alumnus
Co-Founder, RBP Alumni Association
Co-Founder, Delaware United Open Water Safety Program

 

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