Two of three incumbents seeking re-election to the Bethany Beach Town Council were ousted on Saturday, with Vice-Mayor Tony McClenny the only incumbent on the ballot to retain his seat. And, after narrowly failing to unseat Mayor Carol Olmstead in 2007, resident Margaret Bogan Young finally made good on her efforts to join the council, topping the final vote count at more than 50 votes ahead of her nearest competitor, former councilman Lew Killmer, who did not seek re-election in 2007 but aimed to rejoin the council after a year off. Young, Killmer and McClenny will be joined on the council by Budget & Finance Committee member Jack Gordon.
Incumbents Jerry Dorfman and Steve Wode finished fifth and sixth in the voting, respectively, with first-time candidate Joe Bellistri completing the field. Councilman Tracy Mulligan did not seek re-election this year. Each of the four seats carries a two-year term.
The results from the Sept. 6 voting, in order, starting with the top vote-getter:
Candidate:..................................Machine..............Absentee..............Total
Margaret Bogan Young.....................333.....................296...................629
Lew Killmer.....................................344.....................235...................579
Tony McClenny................................325.....................234...................559
Jack Gordon....................................317.....................232...................549
Jerry Dorfman.................................296.....................193...................489
Steve Wode.....................................254.....................160...................414
Joe Bellistri......................................224.....................144...................368
With the town having mailed detailed instructions and a required affidavit for absentee balloting to all qualified voters in August, voters responded strongly in recent weeks, returning 465 absentee ballots, compared to just 240 in 2007’s town elections.
The victors in the Sept. 6 voting made that pay off to their benefit, strongly topping the absentee voting, as well as making a strong showing in in-person voting. Voter turnout on Saturday was also considered relatively strong — especially in light of the weather conditions as Tropical Storm Hanna raced through the area mid-day.
Despite gusts up to 40 mph and rain that was heavy at times, voters turned out throughout the day to cast their ballots at Bethany Beach town hall.
A victorious Young noted that she’d made a strong effort to talk to every potential voter she could during the election season.
“There was nothing else I could have possibly done,” she said Saturday evening, further crediting some current council members for having helped her to better understand in recent months how the town’s government works and how to obtain copies of official documents.
Young said her main priority when she joins the council on Sept. 17 will be pedestrian and bicycle safety — an area the current council has made a priority. She said she is also hoping to help tackle the perennial flooding problems on Pennsylvania Avenue, which fared fairly well in Tropical Storm Hanna, due to the minimal rainfall received.
Gordon, the other new face on the council come Sept. 17 but a longtime town committee member, said his main goal going into his first term was “to get educated first,” before he and the rest of the council members move to make looming decisions about major capital projects.
He said the town needs to first clearly define many of the proposed projects and to get public input on them once they have been defined. He pointed to the proposed widening of the boardwalk as one such project in need of defining and public input. Even the pedestrian and bicycle safety initiative needs to be better defined, Gordon said. Establishing potential costs is included in that needed information, he emphasized.
Changes in store for planners, DRC
Killmer’s return to the council will mean changes for a number of town committees, not the least of which is the Planning Commission, which he currently heads as a citizen member.
McClenny has already announced his intention to withdraw as the town council’s liaison to the Planning Commission, in favor of Killmer taking over that role. That will mean not only a new chairman for the commission but a new citizen member to fill Killmer’s seat thereupon. The town is currently asking citizens who might wish to serve on the commission to contact town hall.
Killmer has also been serving as the commission’s representative on the town’s Design Review Committee for non-residential structures. While he is expected to take over McClenny’s role as the council representative on the DRC, the shift in roles back to council member will mean another member of the commission will join the DRC.
Council to reorganize on Sept. 17
The elections will also necessitate changes for at least one of the council’s officer positions — mayor, vice-mayor and secretary/treasurer — since Dorfman’s role as secretary/treasurer will need to be filled.
The reconstituted council could also choose to change the holders of the roles of mayor and vice-mayor, in which Olmstead and McClenny, respectively, have each been serving for two years.
The council will hold its re-organizational meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 10 a.m. at the town hall. At that time, the council will nominate from among its membership and select a mayor, vice-mayor and secretary/treasurer — each with a one-year term.
Six of the seven council members (all except Joe Healy) can hold those seats, as all but Healy are now all full-time residents — the only requirement, beyond council membership, to hold a council officer position.
The council’s first meeting of the new council year is set for Friday, Sept. 19. At that meeting the new council will be introduced, and new selections for leadership roles on town committees will be announced. The town is asking anyone wishing to serve on a committee to contact town hall or a council member.