The City of Rehoboth continues to conduct a public shaming campaign against Commissioner Suzanne Goode. How can a city in good conscience dox its own commissioner? The city posted on its website libelous accusations against Suzanne with no opportunity for Suzanne to refute those accusations. As the Cape Gazette editorial stated, the city weaponizes FOIA by encouraging readers on the city’s website to request the emails of Commissioner Goode – no one's emails except hers. Instead of dealing with personnel issues in executive session, the city airs its grievances against Suzanne in public. The mayor’s recent letter to the editor continues this behavior.
My wife is the most caring and tenacious person to represent the taxpayers of Rehoboth that we probably have ever had. The fact that she is willing to challenge a city hall machine and in so doing suffer all the abuse, bullying and defamation is testimony to her character and love for the City of Rehoboth. Think for a second how you or anyone would feel if a fellow commissioner in public session accused you of all sorts of horrific behavior and then the city government follows up the slander by placing this attack on its website recommending readers use FOIA to obtain your emails? Why would the city do this?
Since the arrival of our new city manager, the budget has increased from $38 million to $50 million. City employee salaries and benefits have increased 18.6%. Other cities of similar size have budgets of $12 million to $13 million. Suzanne is the only commissioner who consistently votes against this runaway spending. Below are a few of the many actions city leaders have taken against Suzanne:
1. The mayor and city manager ordered staff to ignore her. The mayor has banned her from calling him
2. The city passed a new civility law that is directed against her to stop her from criticizing their decisions
3. The city manager and the city attorney have sent cease-and-desist orders prohibiting Suzanne from contacting them
4. In a vindictive action, the city voted to change Rehoboth’s charter to ban spouses from running for office.
The city spends an inordinate amount of its resources attacking Suzanne. The citizens of Rehoboth should know how the people who control your government go after anyone who dares to hold them accountable.
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