On Saturday, August 11, voters in Rehoboth Beach will go to the polls to elect two of the three candidates running for the Rehoboth Beach Board of Commissioners. All three candidates—incumbent Patrick Gossett, and challengers Pat Coluzzi and Stan Mills—responded to a series of questions from CAMP Rehoboth. Their responses follow.

Pat Coluzzi: Like many, I came to Rehoboth in installments, first as a visitor, then as a property owner in the early 90s, and then as a full-time resident, moving my life and my business here in 2002. My technology consulting business thrives, enabling me to be an activist and leader in public service.

My leadership role dates from my undergraduate years at George Washington University and includes my position as the first female vice president of a large DC-based information technology company. In Rehoboth Beach, I have brought those traits to many projects and community issues. To me, leadership means actually making things happen through good ideas, hard work and a willingness to make difficult decisions. I have led by serving as Commissioner on the Planning Commission, as a Board Member of Main Street, by re-designing the City’s official website, as Market Master of the Rehoboth Beach Farmers’ Market, and by initiating the Rehoboth Avenue banner program.

My interest in running for City Commissioner is an outgrowth of my work in non-profit organizations dedicated to improving the livability of Rehoboth Beach and Sussex County. Running for City Commissioner just seems to be a natural extension of the work I am already performing in the community. My interest lies with keeping the core business district of Rehoboth Beach vibrant while preserving our neighborhoods and natural resources.

Patrick Gossett: Eleven years ago, after vacationing here for many years, my partner and I bought our Rehoboth home, and now spend most of our weekends here. Additionally, I can be found attending many city meetings and workshops almost every week throughout the year. Like many of our friends, we hope to live in Rehoboth full-time very soon.

I am completing three years as an elected City Commissioner, having served the previous 6 years on the city’s Planning Commission. I feel I have proven my ability to work well with the Mayor, my fellow Commissioners and the City staff, as well as a wide range of organizations like CAMP Rehoboth.

Our city needs leaders who can combine vision with citizen input and produce results. I am proud of the accomplishments of the past three years— the completion of Streetscape, the ordinance to save our trees, the codes to enhance our neighborhoods and curbside recycling to name a few.

We are currently examining a new municipal complex, a parking facility, and better internet communication with citizens. I feel I can bring my common sense and my experience to help these efforts and others in the next three years of progress in the City.

Stan Mills: I’ve met and worked alongside many of Letters’ readers over the years wearing different hats: handyman for CAMP Rehoboth; assisting in the library book sales; working the dining hall at Community Unity dinners, past president of the RB Homeowners’ Association; Beach Grass Planting, etc. I participated in CAMP Rehoboth’s Strategic Planning Workshop and supported CAMP’s variance request to allow the proposed community center to proceed without requiring additional parking.

We are good neighbors figuratively and literally—we share a back yard line. For the City, I serve as property assessor and also as 1 of 14 appointed by the Mayor and Commissioners to an advisory committee examining city aesthetics.

Since moving here I have attended most all of the City board, commission and committee meetings to give myself a better understanding of the real day-to-day operations. I am not a newcomer to the City or to being vocal. I have advocated for issues affecting all of us…for almost twice as long as the other resident candidate. I’d now like a vote to accomplish more.

I am a supporter of preserving the quality of life for the residents in Rehoboth Beach. This includes maintaining a vibrant downtown and maintaining the qualities and attractions that keep residents, draw in business owners and visitors alike.

I have devoted and will continue to commit as much time as is necessary to make an impact and to represent all our citizens.

Pat Coluzzi: Protecting our Environment • As a citizen and volunteer, I have worked to protect the environment of Rehoboth Beach by looking beyond Rehoboth Beach. I have worked through testimony and official contacts on the county and state levels on the difficult issues of water and air quality in addition to working with city groups to preserve our treasured lakes.

As your new City Commissioner, I will continue my involvement with the State and Sussex County on issues that affect the environment of Rehoboth Beach so directly. I believe it is important that our city have an official voice in the discussions that impact the quality of our water and air as well as issues surrounding the control of automobile traffic.

Creating Community • As a citizen and volunteer, I led the development of the Rehoboth Beach Farmers’ Market, and now serve as the Market Master. This is a remarkable addition to the Rehoboth community. In this role, I have worked closely not only with local businesses but with state government officials and the Delaware farm community.

As your new City Commissioner, I will continue to look for innovative opportunities to bring our community together. Through the use of technology, I will work to greatly enhance communications between the city and our citizens. I believe that we have a mutual obligation to one another to make Rehoboth the most livable and neighborly community possible.

City Services • As a citizen and volunteer, I re-designed and re-launched the city website that now provides much more information to both the community, city workers, and city officials. I have also worked closely with city officials to ensure the funding of a pilot project for the initiation of free city-wide internet access.

As your new City Commissioner, I will work to improve the efficiency and accessibility of city services through greater use of technology. I will advocate for changes in city administration to implement multi-year planning, to make the city more accountable, and I will continue to pursue the city-wide implementation of free internet access.

Patrick Gossett: We are fortunate to live in Rehoboth Beach. Our city has been the focus of positive coverage in both the mainstream and GLBT media.

But we cannot rest on our good reputation. This exposure will bring even more visitors and new residents to Rehoboth Beach, and I want to be sure we continue to live up to our well-deserved reputation. We welcome growth, but we need to manage it and not let it overwhelm us.

City resources and technology must keep pace with the times. I want to increase the two-way communication between city government and our citizens, including participation in city meetings and exchanges on the internet. We will introduce on-line bill paying for City accounts this November.

I also want to continue work on improving our Boardwalk. In this year’s budget, I included funding for the replacement of all foot showers on the boardwalk, and we developed a GPS system to track all boardwalk repair and maintenance. Next year, I will introduce a proposal for new directional signage on the boardwalk to create more awareness for the shops and restaurants along Baltimore, Rehoboth and Wilmington Avenues. In future years I will propose a new lighting system for the boardwalk and beach.

I will continue to be an advocate for an improved municipal complex and police station and to take a fresh look at the options for a parking facility and improvements to our convention center.

Stan Mills: While there are no controversial issues this year, there are ongoing projects and issues that require our attention, at least from the view of their impact on our quality of life and…our wallets. Among them:

The City has embarked on examining a redesign for a new municipal complex. Debating the project design, scope of the use of City assets and how we will pay for such a grand venture will be a task for a new Commissioner. Components of this examination include replacing an aging and archaic City administration building and police station, an examination of the possible expansion of the Convention Center and the "need" for a new parking garage. If the entire project is accepted and started this year the costs are currently projected at $26 million.

Secondly, the City has about 7 years to comply with a mandate to remove our treated sewage effluent from the canal. The cheapest of the proposed remedies could be about $36 million dollars.

Thirdly, the Boardwalk is deteriorating and does not get the attention it deserves as a major asset of our town. Something, perhaps including total replacement of sections, has to be done soon.

I have advocated for years that we must have a long-range plan to determine future needs and how to pay for fiscal certainty. As a Commissioner I will insist on a three, five and 10 year forecast of our revenue and expenses. CAMP Rehoboth has their strategic plan. Our City should operate like the multi-million dollar company we are and have a business plan.

In accomplishing this goal, please remember I am here full time, being attentive to the issues that affect you, but I can’t do any more than advocate without having a vote as a Commissioner.

Pat Coluzzi: My partner of 24 years, Dale Sheldon, an artist in our community who has donated artwork to the Black and White Ball each year, and I have been active supporters of CAMP Rehoboth. As members of the Founders’ Circle, we have been supportive of the mission of CAMP Rehoboth since its beginning. I will continue to ensure that our community has a voice on the City Commission and to assist CAMP Rehoboth in its mission to create a more positive environment of cooperation and understanding among all people.

I am honored to report that I have been endorsed by the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, a national organization that provides strategic, technical and financial support to openly GLBT candidates and officials.

Patrick Gossett: Our community is unique in the world. While we look small, we have a spirit unequaled in much larger cities. Visitors marvel at our healthy GLBT businesses; Letters and the advertising it draws; and events like Sundance, Love, Follies and Splash. And the fantastic plans for the new Community Center are envied by our friends from across the country.

Although our city is well-known in this region, I want to develop a targeted GLBT tourism campaign to stimulate greater awareness of Rehoboth Beach. This campaign will be a coordinated effort between the City, CAMP Rehoboth, Main Street and the Chamber.

It is no accident that many of us have homes in other cities, but feel most at home here. We have, as we set out to do, Created A More Positive Rehoboth. When I first ran for office, I wondered if being gay would be an issue. I am pleased that I was judged by my capabilities, not by my personal relationship. That is something for which we have struggled for years, and which is still not realized in many other places.

Stan Mills: I was privileged as I grew up to move around and live in diverse communities. As such I have always been mindful of Dr. Martin Luther King’s call for us to judge others solely by "the content of their character," a philosophy I embrace.

I enjoy living in a "…More Positive Rehoboth." I believe in respecting everyone and their rights and practice that we all are to be treated equally. I believe our town has become, over the past 25 years, as diverse as many towns on the east coast and that we are better for that…and in a large part this is a result of the efforts of CAMP Rehoboth and its leadership.

Pat Coluzzi: I believe passionately in the future of our small City. Every month or so, it seems, Rehoboth is featured in an article on a list of the very best places to live or retire or vacation, and there are clear reasons why this is true. At the heart of it, however, is the character of our very small town—our trees, our neighborhoods, our lakes, our protected shoreline, our beaches, our lovely and charming downtown and our welcoming attitude. I am pledged to protect and enhance all of these attributes of our City.

Patrick Gossett: I share CAMP Rehoboth’s vision for Rehoboth Beach. I want us to remain a place that is clean, safe, friendly, green and diverse. I want Rehoboth to be a place where businesses flourish, the arts are a vital part of our lives, and where we are all neighbors.

The Farmers Market, the new Historical Museum, and the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center will be new places to gather as a community. The move of Dos Locos to Rehoboth Avenue, the new Cultured Pearl complex, and the creation of the Rehobus all show we have a business community that is dynamic and growing. They are an exciting part of our future, and I want to help them flourish.

Each one of us is the heart of the community. As caretakers of our community, we each need to contribute our talents and skills where we can. Just as we build on the work of generations before us, we have to work to pass it on to the next generation even better than we found it. That is why I am running for re-election, and why I ask you to trust me with your vote on Saturday, August 11.

Stan Mills: I see Rehoboth, as our names suggests, that we are welcoming to all…and like the mantra of the Chamber I see Rehoboth as a destination because we are a "clean, safe and friendly" beach community. I envision we will maintain a successful downtown business community because of fantastic additions like the CAMP Community Center.

We will persevere in preserving the qualities of our City that make people want to reside, do business and vacation here, with hard work and our dedication to the Comprehensive Development Plan that I believe in. Working together we will assure that Rehoboth Beach "maintains its character as a comfortable, small town and an active and prosperous resort community." Although we will have some growth and change, the City, with proper leadership will "encompass these seemingly divergent goals and remain a place of natural beauty and a place of intense activity as well as a community of stability…." (CDP cited.)

The polls will be open August 11 from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. You must be registered with the City of Rehoboth Beach in order to vote.