FENWICK ISLAND – Disagreements over board appointments highlighted a recent town council meeting.
Last Friday, the Fenwick Island Town Council voted unanimously to confirm five new members – Ed Bishop, Liz Lear, Marlene Quinn, Bob Warburton and Paul Wilson – to the Fenwick Island Board of Adjustment, a group of residents that hears appeals covering the interpretation or administration of the town’s zoning code.
But before a vote could be taken, former board chair Tim Collins came before the council seeking an explanation of the appointments.
“I was, and I assumed up until this meeting was still, chairman of the board of adjustment,” he said. “I’m now seeing I’m not, which is the reason I’m here.”
Collins noted that Mayor Vicki Carmean opened applications for board vacancies at the new council’s first meeting in August. While he noted there was one vacancy on the board, Collins said he and the remaining board members were surprised to learn they had been replaced.
“There’s a lot of talk about transparency,” he said. “We have a new administration. I want to see Fenwick do the best they can. We talk about reaching out, about having experienced people in these positions. You had people in these positions. You threw them in the garbage.”
Carmean explained applications were taken to fill board seats after it was learned the prior town council had failed to vote on any board appointments. While the mayor can appoint people to the board, she noted Delaware Code Title 22 required the council to confirm appointments by majority vote.
“Evidently Fenwick has not done this in the past, and I cannot go back into the past,” she said. “I have to do what’s right for this town. I cannot put you in jeopardy, legally, so we have to go according to what Title 22 defines.”
Collins, however, took issue with the timing of the council’s decision.
“I’m not in a position to comment on the validity of the code, but it’s really the process of what happened and the timing,” he said.
He also questioned the mayor’s intentions, stating that officials had combed through years of town minutes to see if appointments had been confirmed.
“Somebody said, ‘We don’t want these four people in these positions. How do we get rid of them?’” he said. “And you figured out a way to do it.”
Councilwoman Natalie Magdeburger thanked Collins for his service, but noted the town had to follow state code.
“The board of adjustment, the planning commission, the board of elections, those are state boards where we have to follow state law when we are both appointing them and confirming them. If we don’t there are ramifications that are not positive for the town …,” she said. “I think we are doing the right thing and we are doing it for the right reasons.”
Collins questioned what prompted the mayor to research board appointment procedures, and when that took place.
“The first time I started to look at the Delaware Code was when Pat Schuchman [town manager] handed me the regulations,” Carmean replied. “Title 22 explained what I needed to do in order to fill the board … It’s my prerogative as mayor to fill the board with people who applied.”
Carmean also noted she did not receive Collins initial emails stating his concerns with the appointment process, but had subsequently sent him an application encouraging him to reapply to the board of adjustment.
Collins, however, continued to disagree with the mayor and council’s actions.
“It’s a charade,” he said. “It’s not transparent.”
With no further discussion, the council voted unanimously to confirm the five new members of the board of adjustment. The council last week also voted to confirm Faye Horner, Amy Kyle, Winnie Lewis, Magdeburger, Julie Lee, Rich Robinson and Lois Twilley as members of the Fenwick Island Comprehensive Planning Commission, and Colleen Wilson, Lynn Andrews and Lisa Benn as members of the Fenwick Island Board of Elections for 2022.
