GOODE FOR REHOBOTH

Announcements:  

1.  See three graphs below on Rehoboth Beach spending and the CPI in the Issues Section

2.   WDEL announcement of my running for office:  https://www.wdel.com/news/sussex-county/jeffrey-goode-files-for-rehoboth-beach-commissioner-race/article_bee0b976-f555-5a63-9f4b-64fa06dca185.html#/questions

3.  See below      Is Rehoboth on a Spending Spree?

4.  See below      Letter I wrote to the Delaware Legislature Concerning the undemocratic "spousal ban"

5.  See below      Board of Commissioners Backed into a Corner by Bureaucracy

6.   Anyone wanting to display a campaign sign please contact me at:  jeffreygoode@icloud.com

BIO

My wife and I love Rehoboth. After vacationing here for years as second homeowners, we moved here full-time nine years ago. We have four sons, including a graduate of Cape Henlopen High School.

My skills and experience are exactly what Rehoboth Beach needs to restore fiscal sanity to City Hall. For 40 years, I have worked as a Ph.D. economist and research manager in Washington and overseas. I know how to evaluate the true costs of budgets and spot financial waste.

·  Congressional Research:  Manager of an office performing nonpartisan research on international trade and finance for Congress during the Great Recession.

·  Foreign Service: Served as a diplomat in Egypt, negotiating economic reforms and managing foreign aid research programs.

·  International Labor Organization:  In Switzerland managed study of the relationship of hours of work and the levels and patterns of employment. 

·  U.S. Labor Research:  Advised leadership on the economic impacts of minimum wage and overtime regulations.

·  Aviation Research:  Responsible for performing economic, financial and regulatory impact analyses focusing on the aviation industry.  Principal economist on rule to help reduce accidents caused by pilot fatigue through regulation of the working hours of pilots. An example of  these skills is an article I wrote over 20 years ago that is still one of the most often cited articles on aviation safety.  

·  Economic Consultant:  Analyzed the economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Middle East and North Africa Region for a USAID funded project.

·  Educator:  Taught economics and statistics as an adjunct professor at American, Georgetown, Lehman, USDA Graduate School, Catholic, and Salisbury Universities. 

My education includes a Ph.D. economics, M.A. economics, and B.A. economics, psychology (double major).

WHY I AM RUNNING

To be a voice for fiscal sanity.  When we moved to Rehoboth full-time 9 years ago, the city budget was $19 million. Today, it has ballooned to an unjustifiable $50 million. Cities our size typically operate on $13 to $15 million (the neighboring city of Lewes has a $13 million budget). Since our current City Manager took his position two years ago, our budget has spiked over 20%. Both of the incumbent Commissioners I am running against voted for this bloated budget. We desperately need Commissioners who will advocate for the taxpayers, not the bureaucracy.

Competent Decision-Making.  The current Board's lack of competence is causing massive financial stress, resulting in almost $1 million in legal fees over the last 12 months alone. Instead of fixing these self-inflicted financial crises, the incumbents are wasting time attempting to pass unconstitutional charter changes -- like unprecedented "spousal bans" designed specifically to target political challengers. Rehoboth needs leaders focused on serving the citizens, not playing political games to protect their own seats.

ISSUES FACING REHOBOTH BEACH:

Stop the Spending Spree.  Our spending is completely out of control. In just six years, the Rehoboth Beach budget has exploded by 80% -- growing from $27.7 million to $50 million. In a time of skyrocketing budgets, we must stop spending tax dollars on unnecessary consultants, pet projects, and massive attorney fees. (See the charts below for a clear picture of Rehoboth’s spending vs. inflation.)

Prioritize Core Quality-of-Life Investments. Instead of funding grandiose, expensive consultant plans like "Reimagine Rehoboth," we need to focus our resources on the basics that actually impact our daily lives. That means fixing our streets and sidewalks, repairing aging water and sewer lines, and executing practical traffic-calming measures. This includes fixing the poorly designed main Traffic Circle to finally make it safe for vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists.

Settle Lawsuit that is Bleeding the City. City Hall’s lack of common sense and transparency is costing us a fortune. The botched hiring process for the City Manager has landed the city in court, racking up roughly $500,000 in legal costs to date with no end in sight. We must settle this self-inflicted lawsuit, stop defending administrative blunders with taxpayer money, and restore basic competence to our decision-making.

Take Back Deauville Beach. Through penny-wise and pound-foolish negotiating, the current administration lost control of Deauville Beach to the State. In doing so, City Hall surrendered roughly 25% of the beach we formerly controlled. I will prioritize opening negotiations with the State to get our local shoreline back.

Treat Taxpayers Like Partners, Not ATMs When I speak with voters, two issues come up constantly: the exorbitant City Manager contract and the officious, heavy-handed way the city enforces its myriad of regulations. City Hall has forgotten who it works for. We need to overhaul how the city deals with its citizens, ensuring that residents and business owners are treated with respect, common sense, and fairness. 

Is Rehoboth on a Spending Spree?

There is an ongoing dispute about Rehoboth Beach’s budget — particularly its spending. Some people, including my competitors in the Commissioner election, claim that Rehoboth has no budget or spending problem because “the budget is balanced.” Others, me included, believe the opposite: that the budget is being propped up by unsustainable borrowing and that spending has grown far beyond any reasonable measure, especially the rate of inflation.

When Suzanne and I moved to Rehoboth Beach full time nine years ago, the city budget was $19 million. Today, it has exploded to $50 million. Cities our size typically operate on $13–$15 million. Our neighbors in Lewes, for example, operate on a $13 million budget. And since our current City Manager took office just two years ago, the budget has surged by roughly 25%.

Both incumbent Commissioners I am running against voted for this year’s $50 million budget. I would not have supported such a budget. So the question is simple: Who is right? Is our spending under control — or out of control?

As a Ph.D. economist, I believe decisions should be grounded in data, not slogans. Seeing is believing. So I created three charts:

1. Inflation over the last ten years

2. Rehoboth’s budget over the same period

3. A combined chart showing the two together

All three charts are available at above

The third is the most revealing chart.  The picture it shows is unmistakable. Rehoboth’s expenditures have grown far faster than inflation for an entire decade. In the last two years alone — the tenure of our new City Manager — inflation rose 2.6% and 3.8%, while Rehoboth’s budget jumped 13.8% and 13.9%. That means city spending grew at more than three times the rate of inflation.

Not once in the last ten years did Rehoboth’s spending grow at or below the inflation rate.

To me, the conclusion is clear: Rehoboth has a serious spending problem, and it must be brought under control. And it is equally clear that we need leaders who will stand up for the taxpayers — not for the bureaucracy at City Hall. 

SPOUSAL BAN

To give  readers background on the egregious, targeted , undemocratic, and likely unconstitutional “spousal ban” the Rehoboth Board and leadership foisted upon us please read the letter I sent to every Delaware House and Senate member.  I also with others testified in person in Dover against the spousal ban:

Dear Representative,

I am writing to express my strong opposition to Senate Bill 306, specifically the proposed charter amendment that would prohibit the spouse of a sitting Commissioner from serving on the Rehoboth Beach Board of Commissioners. 

A ban of this nature disenfranchises both the individual who seeks office and the voters who have the right to choose their representatives. It singles out married individuals for unequal treatment and imposes a restriction that exists nowhere else in American government. After reviewing federal and state practices, I found no instance—at the U.S. Congressional level, in Delaware, or in any other state—where the spouse of a sitting legislator is barred from seeking the same office. This proposed provision is unprecedented and, in my view, clearly infringes on the civil rights of married people who wish to participate in the electoral process.

It is also evident that this measure was crafted to target one family: my wife, Commissioner Suzanne Goode, and myself. Suzanne is currently serving as a Commissioner and is running for Mayor in Rehoboth Beach. I am running for a commissioner seat and previously ran last year and lost. Our shared commitment to fiscal restraint and responsible governance has been met with resistance from certain City leaders who prefer to avoid such scrutiny. Rather than allowing voters to decide, the City Administration has advanced a charter change that appears designed to prevent us from serving—an approach that is both improper and likely unconstitutional.

The electorate of Rehoboth Beach is fully capable of choosing its representatives without artificial barriers or discriminatory restrictions. This proposed amendment is unnecessary, poorly conceived, and directed at a single family rather than grounded in any legitimate public interest.

I respectfully urge you to vote no on the charter change banning spouses from serving simultaneously on the Board of Commissioners.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Goode, Ph.D. 

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BACKED INTO A CORNER BY BUREAUCRACY

The Delaware legislature has thankfully rejected the undemocratic, likely unconstitutional “spousal ban” that Rehoboth leadership tried to force upon our citizens.

This charter change would have barred the spouse of a sitting Commissioner from serving on the Board—disenfranchising both qualified candidates and the voters who have the right to choose them. It singles out married individuals for unequal treatment and has absolutely no precedent in American government. You will not find a law like this at the federal level, in Delaware, or in any other state.

So, how did it get voted for in Rehoboth? Rehoboth's bureaucracy pushed this provision through using a legislative maneuver.  At the April 6th vote instead of letting the Board vote on the 15 proposed charter changes individually, the City Attorney insisted on an all-or-nothing package. It was not her role to push the Commissioners to vote it as a package, but she did.  Some Commissioners who knew the spousal ban was problematic were backed into a corner: they had to accept the bad ban to pass the other 14  changes.  It was a 6-1 vote for the charter change package with Commissioner Goode the only no vote.

This measure was clearly crafted to target one family: my wife, Commissioner Suzanne Goode, and me. Our shared commitment to fiscal restraint and responsible governance has long bothered certain city leaders who prefer to avoid scrutiny. Rather than facing us at the ballot box, the administration tried to rewrite the rules to block us from serving.

The voters of Rehoboth Beach are entirely capable of choosing their own representatives without artificial barriers. This amendment was unnecessary, poorly conceived, and aimed at silencing specific voices. It is yet another example of a leadership and bureaucracy that makes poor decisions and completely refuses to acknowledge its mistakes. 

WEBSITE:  WWW.GoodeForRehoboth.com   

EMAIL:  jeffreygoode@icloud.com

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