By Brian Gilliland

REHOBOTH BEACH —Through threats of lawsuits and calls to resign the City of Rehoboth Beach Commissioners ratified an earlier decision to approve the contract and hire Taylour Tedder as city manager during a special session on July 8.

The meeting was called in response to the Delaware Attorney General’s Office issuing an opinion in late June determining the city had violated community notification standards regarding Mr. Tedder’s hiring process.

“We determine that the City’s Board of Commissioners violated FOIA by holding an executive session for an improper purpose, by failing to properly notice two executive sessions, and by failing to notice a public comment period on the agendas…,” the June 26 decision, signed by Dorey Cole, deputy attorney general, reads.

The opinion recommended the board reconvene to discuss the contract including compensation and allowing time for public comment, which it did for about an hour and then unanimously voted to approve its previous decision.

Before the meeting, Mayor Mills said he was interested in the discussion and listening to what people had to say, but there wasn’t much chance he was going to change his mind.

Before the meeting and during the open session, other board members broadly agreed with the mayor’s sentiments while they voted to affirm their previous actions.

The audience of more than 50 citizens, about half of whom spoke, agreed with the board inasmuch as this situation was not Mr. Tedder’s fault but more about procedure and the compensation package, but that was about where the agreements ended.

One of the first comments came from Ted Kittila, attorney, who said his client, Thomas Gaynor, is prepared to move forward with a lawsuit about the procedures surrounding the hiring.

Mr. Gaynor was present at the meeting and said the lawsuit would “go away” if the mayor resigned.

Mr. Mills did not acquiesce during the open session.

Mr. Gaynor is also a member of the group who first alerted the attorney general about the possible Freedom of Information Act violation.

Many public comments included apologies to Mr. Tedder for the scrutiny, and compliments on his negotiation skills, while having the opposite impression of their elected officials.

“The contract isn’t generous, it isn’t lavish, it’s outrageous,” Joel Fraden said.

Mr. Fraden pointed to online communities and podcasts directed at city managers who expressed surprise at the contents of Mr. Tedder’s contract.

The contract itself begins with a salary of $250,000, a generous bump from the previous Rehoboth Beach city manager by about $90,000 and for Mr. Tedder personally, who had been earning a salary of about $187,000 annually in his previous position in Boulder City, Nevada.

Which might be enough in itself to raise an eyebrow, but the attendees were more upset about the housing allowance, which the city said was included to promote Mr. Tedder’s longevity in the position.

The contract provided for an interest-free, forgivable loan of $750,000 to purchase a house within 15 miles of city hall.

After four years, if Mr. Tedder remains on the job, 15 percent of the loan will be forgiven, or about $112,000. The next year, another 15 percent is forgiven. On the sixth year, 30 percent of the loan is forgiven, and on the seventh anniversary, the loan is completely forgiven, according to the contract.

“We need a city manager who lives close, and the city commissioners were able to achieve that for us,” Lyn Achenbaum, one of the few who spoke in favor of the contract, said.

Suzanne Goode said she took personal offense at the housing allowance, since she has been fighting for a similar mechanism for cadets and lifeguards in the city.

Though it was beyond the scope of the meeting and therefore went unaddressed by the commissioners, several people also brought up a provision in the Rehoboth City charter they say excludes Mr. Tedder from consideration form the role he’s been in since April.

Which complicates the nullification angle sought by certain citizens, since there is an executed contract with the city between it and Mr. Tedder, Alex Burns, city solicitor, said, opening the city up to a lawsuit either way.

The city of Rehoboth Beach was also found in violation of FOIA in hiring Mr. Burns, about six months previous to the Tedder announcement.

Before the meeting, Mr. tedder said he was very excited about the opportunities Rehoboth Beach has presented him with, and how he was looking forward to serving the residents and business community,

Staff writer Brian Gilliland can be reached at 410-603-3737 or bg@iniusa.org.