Rehoboth communication manager set to retire Aug. 8
After a little more than four years as the city’s primary information disseminator, Rehoboth Beach Communications Manager Lynne Coan is retiring.
Human Resources Director Jean Lee announced the pending departure during a departmental report at the July 18 commissioner meeting. Her last day is Friday, Aug. 8, she said, adding the city got 40 applications for the position after advertising it for only one week.
There were some good applications, and the position should be filled shortly, said Lee.
In an email after the meeting, Coan said her husband, who retired when they moved to Rehoboth Beach four years ago, is making retirement look awfully fun. She said it’s going to be a big adjustment, but she’s ready to give not working a try.
She plans to remain engaged in the local community, traveling more frequently and discovering new interests, said Coan, who also worked in Suwanee, Ga., and Vienna, Va., over the course of her 25-year career.
“It’s been rewarding to connect with people who are passionate about their community and to work to enhance the sense of community through communications and engagement efforts,” said Coan in an email after the meeting.
Other personnel matters
Lee said a mechanic, a wastewater operator and an IT support technician have been hired to fill vacant positions since the beginning of the fiscal year.
The city is examining the need for a network engineer position to decide if it needs to be filled or if it can be outsourced because it might save money in the long run, said Lee.
In the police department, there were three vacancies. Lee said two have been filled, and the recruits are in the police academy. The city continues to look at applications for the third, she said.
The city’s wastewater superintendent retired July 4, but a succession plan was in place, so three people were promoted from within, which meant the city only had to fill a bottom-level equipment operator position, said Lee.
Finance Director Burt Dukes is leaving at the end of the year, said Lee. That position will be advertised shortly because the city wants some overlap between the two, she said.
Lee said she, Building and Licensing Department Interim Director Corey Shinko and City Manager Taylour Tedder have begun to reorganize the building and licensing department to see what the department could look like.
Chris Flood has been working for the Cape Gazette since early 2014. He currently covers Rehoboth Beach and Henlopen Acres, but has also covered Dewey Beach and the state government. He covers environmental stories, business stories and random stories on subjects he finds interesting, and he also writes a column called Choppin’ Wood that runs every other week. He’s a graduate of the University of Maine and the Landing School of Boat Building & Design.
