Speak Out

Both Patrick and Richard want to preserve what is best in Rehoboth Beach, while welcoming the positive changes and stopping the things that threaten to destroy the charm and character of our town. Both want to maintain the history and diversity of our neighborhoods with homes whose style and size are consistent with the lots and streets on which they rest. Both want to encourage a vibrant Main Street business district. Both also want to stop dense townhouse and high-rise condo developments in town, the mass destruction of trees, and replacement of the pedestrian by the automobile.

Patrick has served on the Planning Commission for six years and was one of the drafters of the proposed comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) that offers proactive ideas to preserve the best and manage our future growth. Anyone who has attended a Planning Commission meeting knows exactly where Patrick stands when it comes to stopping haphazard development. He wants to bring this knowledge and experience to the City Commission where ordinances implementing the CDP must be considered and enacted.

Richard is currently a member of the City Commission now running for re-election. Richard has been the author of successful legislation to decrease townhouse density; he was the main advocate on the City Commission for the successful rezoning of the west end of Columbia Ave from commercial to residential use; and he remains the most vocal City Commissioner for keeping the school property in the Schoolvue neighborhood for recreational use and open space instead of more housing. In addition, when a resolution supporting HB 99 (Delaware’s civil rights legislation for the gays and lesbians) was presented to the City Commissioners in 2003, and some of the City Commissioners voiced objection to the resolution, Richard sponsored a modified, strong resolution supporting a state non-discrimination law that passed the City Commission unanimously.

Most of us look at Rehoboth Beach as a place for all families, and a place where together we are all one big family. Patrick and Richard fit right in. Patrick and his partner of 25 years, Howard Menaker, have been coming to Rehoboth Beach since they met, and have owned a home here since 1996. Patrick has been involved in many events for the gay community here and in the Washington, DC area. Richard Sargent has lived in Rehoboth Beach since 1990, his parents live here, and as a single parent he shares responsibility for his 4-year-old daughter who lives here part of the year. For themselves, their families and the greater family of all of us, Patrick and Richard want to maintain the uniqueness of Rehoboth Beach.

When you vote on Saturday, August 14, you have 2 votes. Use them to vote for both Patrick Gossett and Richard Sargent.

Rich Barnett, John Berry, Bea Birman, Kevin Bliss, Damien Brouillard, Mary Ann Bruno, Nancy Mondero, Thom Sacco, Harvey Shulman, Tim Spies, Libby Stiff, Will Tanner, Paul Hazen

As a long time supporter of the work and energy that Patrick Gossett has contributed to the citizens of Rehoboth Beach, I am urging all citizens to elect him to the City Commission on August 14. Patrick has a tremendous amount of skill and expertise to add to the Commission and he has a record of working with many diverse groups that make up our city. In particular, his ideas to improve the planning process and to revise the city’s ordinances need to be implemented immediately in order to maintain the "small town" character of our charming city.

While the other two candidates are fine men, and I know Patrick has worked well with both of them in the past, my priority is getting Patrick Gossett elected to the Commission. His election is of utmost importance for the future of the City of Rehoboth Beach. Voters may vote for two people, but I would urge those, like me, who passionately want to see Patrick on the Commission, to cast a strong and emphatic vote for Patrick Gossett. Please join me in this effort.

Jeffrey Slavin

At 1:15 a.m. last Sunday morning (late Saturday night, if you want to look at it that way) I stood on the porch of my house and clearly heard the booming music and crowds at the majority- straight bayside bars in Dewey Beach, over nine blocks away. Earlier in the night, I had been prevented from entering the gay-majority bar Aqua in Rehoboth by a crowd of police who were aggressively enforcing local ordinances. I understand the police made similar enforcement stops at virtually all the gay-majority bars in Rehoboth that same night.

Last summer, the gay community was burdened by a similar pattern of aggressive enforcement. This culminated in a shocking, six-week, eleven-officer federal undercover drug investigation that was instigated by the Rehoboth Police Department, and which disproportionately involved gay-majority establishments. The results of this investigation were so trivial (the local police reported uncovering more drugs in a traffic stop on Route 1 than were recovered after six weeks of investigation involving the resources of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration) that the investigation can only be described as an outrageous waste of taxpayer money and abuse of federal jurisdiction. The Rehoboth Police Department instigated this investigation, which reached beyond the limits of the city.

I am aware of the city’s denials that these actions were targeted at the gay community, and I read your paper’s acquiescence in these denials, as well as the acquiescence of the gay member of the city council. But every student of criminal justice knows that police have many ordinances and criminal provisions at their disposal. Their selective enforcement depends to a large extent on police discretion. To understand how this discretion is used one must examine what they DO and not merely what they say. I am unconvinced that the aggressive enforcement of local ordinances and criminal laws against gay persons and gay-oriented businesses does not reflect bias against the gay community —either intentional or unconscious—on the part of local police and politicians.

I am grateful to CAMP Rehoboth for working toward a "creating a more positive Rehoboth," but in my view this work has come dangerously close to unconditional boosterism and civic cheerleading. Who is asking the hard questions? Did the Chief of Police on his own initiative invite federal agents into our little beach town to engage in undercover operations, electronic eavesdropping, and other Orwellian tactics, or did the mayor endorse this decision? Why does Rehoboth need a new, expanded police headquarters taking up a large section of the major commercial strip, essentially killing street life? Given the serious problems from gun-wielding violent street gangs and major drug traffickers that face numerous cities and neighborhoods, how can the DEA justify having assigned over ten officers and spending, by my estimate, including overhead costs, over a million taxpayer dollars, on the "drug problem" in Rehoboth? Did dislike of gay persons influence this decision, or did the DEA simply like the idea of detailing officers to a beach community for the summer? None of the local press raised these issues, despite their slogan that "the price of liberty is eternal vigilance." But none of the other local press claim to represent the interests of the Rehoboth gay community. It is time to put your words and resources where your heart is.