Former Lewes Councilman Dennis Reardon says mayor and city council have let personal agendas affect their governance of the city, and it is causing the current dysfunction in city hall.

Reardon delivered a lengthy lecture at the end of the July 13 council meeting.

Reardon served on council for seven years and is now chair of the city's ordinance review ad hoc committee.

He leveled two accusations in his remarks: Council is violating the Freedom of Information Act on public meetings, and it is ignoring the city charter and code on how it is required to govern.

"Council is not following the code or charter when it comes to dealing with city employees, and they are making unilateral decisions outside their authority," Reardon said after the meeting.

He cited the sections of the charter he said are not being followed:

• Council makes decisions as a body
• The mayor can act without the consent of council only in emergencies, intergovernmental relations and ceremonial purposes
• Council can communicate with any city employee, but must keep the city manager informed of the communications. Any request for action must be directed to the city manager.

"The code and charter do not need to be changed," he said. "They need compliance. The system of governance works if all bodies stay in their lane of authority."

Reardon did not mention any names, but Mayor Amy Marasco said she got the message.

"I do feel council is embattled, but not me personally," she said. "There is negative discourse, and we're not unified on all the action we've taken."

"This is a reason for us to consider Dennis' statements carefully," said Councilman Tim Ritzert. "I think it's important that council, which is a political body, not get in the way of the management of the city."

Reardon also charged council with violating FOIA by not making post-executive session action meeting minutes available to the public.

"Those minutes are improperly incorporated into executive session minutes that are then approved and are not available to the public. This procedure by council has been in place for the last 12 months, maybe longer," Reardon said.

Marasco said Reardon has already addressed the issue behind the scenes with City Manager Ellen Lorraine McCabe and Ashley Akgoren, the city's FOIA manager. She said the city is working on making improvements.

"Dennis might not be aware we've already taken his suggestions and made changes. We'll now come out of executive session to take action, and turn on the cameras and microphones and go live," she said. 

The Delaware Attorney General's Office issued a decision June 30 that the City of Newark violated FOIA by not making executive session minutes public. The city argued there was attorney-client privilege.

A recent example occurred June 8. Council came out of executive session and voted, in public, to preserve a half-acre parcel across from 338 Pilottown Road as open space. The vote was taken without cameras or microphones turned on. 

There is no legal requirement for the city to livestream public meetings.

The Bryan family owns the property at 338 Pilottown Road and has been seeking a 99-year lease on the canal-side parcel. The city owns the parcel.

Dick Bryan claims the city told them the parcel was available before the family bought the house. Four other canalfront properties on the road have leases from the city.

Marasco has said its parcel will not be leased and that it could become a pocket park. Council has not discussed a plan, design or funding for such a use.

Some neighbors on Pilottown Road are opposed to a park because of a lack of parking and worry that visitors would trespass on private property.

Marasco said she will put Bryan on a public meeting agenda to discuss the chronology of events that led to the current status of the parcel.

The city has identified a contractor to clear the overgrown parcel, but no date has been given for the work to be done.

Joe Stewart, Greater Lewes Foundation chair, told council that his organization gave the city the parcel across from the former home of artist Howard Schroeder that could serve as a park. The Schroeder parcel was lumped in with adjacent land and left off a 1997 survey.

The mayor said city engineers and the city solicitor are working on trying to find the lost parcel.

Stewart said they would like to have that parcel cleared so they can place benches and signs explaining that Schroeder painted across the street.