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Announcements:
Announcements:
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
Cape Gazette announcement of my running for office: https://www.capegazette.com/article/jeffrey-goode-enters-rehoboth-commmissioner-race/351826
Anyone wanting to display a campaign sign please contact me at: jeffreygoode@icloud.com
BIO
My wife and I love Rehoboth. After spending time here for many years on vacations and as second homeowners, we moved here full-time nine years ago. We have four sons. Our youngest son graduated from Cape Henlopen High School.
My skills and experience are exactly what Rehoboth Beach needs to right the ship of its listing government. I have been a Ph.D. economist and manager for 40 years both in Washington and overseas. I was the manager of a congressional office performing nonpartisan research on international trade and finance for the U.S. Congress during the Great Recession. More recently I advised Department of Labor leadership on the economic impacts of changes to regulations and policies on overtime and minimum wage requirements. In Egypt, I was a diplomat in the U.S. foreign service. My responsibilities involved economic research on Egypt's economy and then application of this research to conduct policy dialogue with Egypt's government to reform its markets in conjunction with America’s foreign aid program. For the International Labor Organization in Switzerland, I managed research to examine the relationship of weekly hours of work and unemployment.
Besides working for the Federal government and international organizations, I have also worked as an economic consultant. On a USAID funded project, I analyzed the economic impacts of Covid-19 on the Middle East and North Africa Region. I have also taught economics and statistics as an adjunct professor at several universities including American University, Georgetown University, Catholic University, and most recently Salisbury University. As a college student I was a lifeguard in NYC. As an economist, I know how to evaluate both the benefits and costs of proposals and budgets. These skills are critical to our future in Rehoboth.
My education includes a Ph.D. economics, M.A. economics, and B.A. economics, psychology (double major).
REASONS RUNNING FOR OFFICE
I am running for office to be a voice for fiscal sanity and competence. Since I moved to Rehoboth full-time 9 years ago, the budget has ballooned from $19 million to $50 million. Cities the size of Rehoboth typically have budgets in the range of $13 to $15 million, not $50 million. The city of Lewes' budget is $13 million. Most of this increase was in recent years. Since our City Manager took his position 2 years ago, the Rehoboth budget has increased 18.8 percent. Our current excessive budget of $50 million was passed by a vote 5 to 2. Both my incumbent competitors in the election voted for this bloated budget. The City needs Commissioners who are willing to advocate for taxpayers.
The City has a lack of competence in its decision making. This lack of competence causes unnecessary stress and expenses for both the City and its residents. It also leads to lawsuits against the City. A current example of incompetence and plain vindictiveness on the part of the City is its charter change recommendations that was passed by the City and sent to the State legislature for approval. Most of the charter changes are reasonable. However, one of the changes seems unconstitutional and unnecessary. It is the prohibition on a married person serving on the Board of Commissioners if their spouse is on the Board (see below).
CHARTER CHANGE PROHIBITING SPOUSE OF SERVING COMMISSIONER FROM SERVING
To me it is simply amazing the lack of shame and poor judgment the City leadership has shown in going after one family – Jeffrey and Suzanne Goode. Let us call it what it is: Lawfare- the weaponization of the legal system to attack your political adversary. I hope the Delaware General Assembly or the Governor stops this abuse of the legal system and violation of my and potentially other married people’s civil rights. Let me give a little background to the City’s decision:
At the February 9th, 2026, Commissioners’ meeting, I was surprised to hear that with no notice to the public and with some of the Commissioners themselves not knowing until that morning that the Commission voted on a charter change that bans the spouse of a current Commissioner from running for office. I had never heard of such a ban for elected officials. I did a little research and found that neither the U.S. Congress nor any state in the nation has a ban on the spouse of a sitting legislator being able to run for the same office.
The City is treading on a civil rights violation by implementing such a discriminatory and unprecedented charter change. Does the City not trust its citizens to vote for whom they want?
The two incumbent Commissioners, Patrick Gossett and Mark Saunders, whom I am running against, as well as the candidate for mayor Susan Stewart, all voted for this charter change. This screams volumes on the lack of competence of our current Board. The charter change is mean spirited and likely unconstitutional. If the State legislature does not stop it, it is likely it will be overturned in court. Just what Rehoboth needs: another lawsuit of their own making.
ISSUES FACING REHOBOTH BEACH:
Control Spending: Our spending is out of control. In the last six years the Rehoboth Beach budget has ballooned from $27.7 million to $50 million, an 80 percent increase, and more than twice the rate of inflation. In the last 2 years since the arrival of City Manager, the budget has increased 18.8 percent. In a time of exploding budgets we need to stop spending tax dollars on unnecessary consultants, pet projects, and attorney fees. This needs to stop. I will not vote for any budget that exceeds the rate of inflation.
Use common sense in making decisions: The City makes one wrong decision after another. From losing control of Deauville Beach, to increasing property taxes for incorrect reasons, to spending so much on consulting fees - studies that we never use - to the lack of transparency, to banning a married person from running for office if their spouse is on the Commission. We need to improve our decision making.
Settle Lawsuit that is Bleeding the City: The City Manager hiring is in court. The legal costs to date are about $500,000 with no end in sight. The City must try to settle this case and recognize that serious mistakes were made in the hiring that we must improve upon in the future.
Stop the Use of Lawfare Against Political Adversaries: The City leadership including the Mayor, City Manager, and City Solicitor have used tremendous city resources to silence the one Commissioner whom they view as an adversary. The one Commissioner who consistently disputes their spending sprees with our taxpayer’s money. They have gone out of their way to silence the Commissioner including complaints in public session, shaming sessions in public meetings, passing a "Civility Law" directed solely against her, etc. And now voting for a Charter change to prevent the spouse of the Commissioner from running for office. The results as expected are dissension, stress, wasted resources, and potential lawsuits.
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