Rehoboth Beach fills empty commissioner seat

The Rehoboth Beach commissioners have their seventh member.

Jay Lagree, who had been serving on the city's audit committee, has been named to fill the remainder of Mayor Paul Kuhns' term on the commission.

"I put him in the top 10 people attending meetings over the years," said Rehoboth Beach Commissioner Stan Mills, who made the formal motion at the Oct. 30 meeting, after Lagree's name was put forth by Kuhns. "I think he will serve us very well."

Lagree was confirmed by a vote of 5-0-1. Commissioner Patrick Gossett was the lone abstention.

Gossett said his abstention had nothing to do with Lagree's qualifications, rather, it had to do with the process by which Lagree was nominated.

"The process of nominating the new commissioner has not been transparent nor has adequate information been given to the commissioners or to the public prior to this meeting about the nominee," Gossett said. "The mayor has not shared with us in advance what his qualifications are to make him the best candidate among those whose names were submitted to the mayor."

Members of the public, too, were upset they did not have a voice in the process.

BACKGROUND: Despite split over vacancy, Rehoboth officials hope to work together

During public comment before Lagree was named the new commissioner, Jan Konesey, of Rehoboth Beach, voiced her displeasure with the process by which the new commissioner was selected.

"We should not be appointing anybody to be a commissioner who has not the opportunity to share their views with the city," she said. "How do they feel about the issues that are important to us?"

However, when it was time to appoint Lagree as commissioner, Mills said to have a public input would require a charter change.

The commission had been operating with five commissioners, one fewer than it is supposed to, after Kuhns was elected mayor in August.

At the Sept. 15 regular commissioners meeting, the spot was supposed to be filled, however, the commission could not come to a consensus after Kuhns nominated former Rehoboth Beach Commissioner Pat Coluzzi.

Three members of the commission, Kuhns, Lisa Schlosser and Katny McGuiness, voted for Coluzzi's appointment, while Stan Mills, Toni Sharp and Patrick Gossett voted against it.

"We might be at a stalemate, and we might have to function as a commission with six," Kuhns said in an interview after the meeting. "It's not my favorite thing to do, but there is city business we need to accomplish. It's my obligation to my constituents to move forward and function properly."

BACKGROUND: Rehoboth Beach Main Street returns with new focus

Also at the meeting on Oct. 30 was a proposal to provide funding to the Rehoboth Beach Main Street Foundation.

Rehoboth Beach Main Street President Trey Kraus asked for the city to reinstate its support for the organization, including giving the organization housing and $50,000 to operate, including hiring a new executive director.

Both Commissioner Kathy McGuiness, a founding member of Rehoboth Beach Main Street, and Commissioner Lisa Schlosser voiced their support for fully funding the organization at the meeting.

However, the rest of the commission balked at the proposal until more information on the organization's finances from 2014, 2015 and 2016 could be provided.

Funding the Rehoboth Beach Main Street Foundation comes after a presentation at the previous Rehoboth Beach Commissioners workshop meeting on Oct. 2.

Rehoboth Beach Main Street was supposed to disband on March 31, however, action was taken by the Main Street board in February to prevent that from happening.

Now, the foundation has come back, and with a different goal.

"We are going to be the cheerleader and the co-marketer and incubator to help people come up with ideas to make Rehoboth better and help people put it together," Kraus said in an earlier interview.

In the past, Main Street organized events such as fireworks on the Fourth of July as well as the Rehoboth Beach Chocolate Festival. 

Since those events were taken over by other groups when it was believed Main Street would be closing, Kraus said Main Street won't be putting on singular events.

Kraus and Main Street want the focus to be on creating an enticing environment for people to come shop, eat and open businesses along Rehoboth Avenue and the surrounding streets.

"We are representing, as a whole, the whole community," Kraus said in the earlier interview. "We just happen to have businesses."

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