Local
Gay incumbent beats gay challenger in Rehoboth race
Gossett retains seat amid ordinance controversies
Rehoboth Beach City Commissioner Patrick Gossett defeated challenger Richard Perry. (Photo public domain)
A heated dispute over proposed ordinances to regulate rental housing in the LGBT-friendly resort city of Rehoboth Beach, Del., emerged as the lead issue in the city’s Aug. 8 election in which incumbent gay City Commissioner J. Patrick Gossett beat gay challenger Richard Perry.
Gossett, a longtime Rehoboth civic activist and resident, has sided with fellow commissioners and Rehoboth Mayor Sam Cooper who favor more stringent regulations that they say are needed to prevent the city’s quiet residential neighborhoods from being inundated by large, newly built rental houses.
Perry, an attorney and newcomer to Rehoboth politics, was backed by a coalition of business owners and renters, including many gay residents and vacationers, who believe the Board of Commissioners crossed the line in proposing — and in some cases passing — ill-conceived regulatory measures that critics say will hurt the city in the long run.
While Perry lost his bid for one of two seats on the Commission that were up for election on Aug. 8, challenger Paul Kuhns, a former commissioner who expressed mostly the same positions as Perry on the regulatory issues, defeated incumbent Commissioner Willis Sargent, who largely held the same views as Gossett on those issues.
Sources familiar with Rehoboth politics, including Perry himself, said more voters chose Gossett mostly likely because he had greater name recognition and was viewed as more experienced and involved in local civic affairs for a longer period of time than Perry.
Perry said he believes he also lost support by what he called an unfair effort by his opponents to “mischaracterize” him as a real estate developer seeking to profit from Rehoboth’s booming rental housing market. Although he’s in the process of building a second home in Rehoboth, Perry said he is not a developer. He said his motive for opposing many of the proposed regulatory measures is to ensure that the city continues to benefit from a strong economy based on vacationers and renters.
Under the Rehoboth electoral system for the Board of Commissioners, which serves as the city’s legislative body, all seats are at-large seats. In the case of the Aug. 8 election, the highest two vote getters were declared the winners.
The final vote count released by the city’s Board of Elections showed that Kuhns came in first place with 545 votes followed by Gossett, who came in second with 521 votes. Sargent finished third with 464 votes. Perry came in fourth place with 407 votes.
“Although I lost and came in last, no one who has run for the first time has ever got as many votes as I got,” Perry told the Washington Blade on Monday. “So I think they got the message very strong on Saturday,” he said, referring to what he said was his and Kuhns’ message of opposition to over regulation.
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Congratulations to Yadiel Meléndez, on their new role as Community Associate, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Meléndez is piloting a new role as a Community Associate at the Wanda Alston Foundation, where they support queer and trans young people in finding their footing, building independence, and experiencing a housing community where they are seen, valued, and affirmed. They are coming into this role with more than a decade of experience as a community organizer and operations specialist, supporting diverse communities through service, advocacy, and program coordination.
Previously they worked for Right Proper Brewing Shaw as a server and bartender and at Sephora, Washington, DC, and at FreshFarm, DC, in bilingual food access. They also worked freelance to build foundational structures for local queer BIPOC performance art coalitions, producing variety shows to curate space for marginalized performance artists in the community. They were a production manager for Haus of Hart Productions, a BIPOC centric performance art production. They also worked as field staff with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Stafford, Va.
Meléndez is bilingual, Spanish and English. Their work is guided by a commitment to dignity, safety, and trauma-informed engagement, particularly within LGBTQ and BIPOC communities.
Congratulations also to Ben Rosen LICSW, on his new role as program director, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Rosen previously worked with Fountain House’s OnRamps program, helping to build a new, innovative outreach program for individuals considered chronically homeless, and living with serious mental illness, in the Times Square area of New York. Rosen is a Psychotherapist, having worked with SG Psychotherapy, and as the psychotherapist with the Nest Community Health Center (URAM).
Rosen has a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts: Musical Theatre, Minor in Psychology (Cum Laude) from Malloy University Conservatory; and his M.S.W. in Clinical Practice with Individuals, Families, and Groups, from The Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College, N.Y. He is independently licensed in New York and Washington, D.C.
Rehoboth Beach
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Attendees encouraged to wear appropriate gear
Diego’s in Rehoboth Beach hosts a monthly leather happy hour. April’s edition is scheduled for Friday, April 10, 5-7 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate gear. The event is billed as an official event of BLUF, the free community group for men interested in leather. After happy hour, the attendees are encouraged to reconvene at Local Bootlegging Company for dinner, which allows cigar smoking. There’s no cover charge for either event.
District of Columbia
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
Two memorial events scheduled in D.C.
Two celebrations of life are planned for Sean Christopher Bartel, 48, who was found deceased on a hiking trail in Argentina on or around March 15. Bartel began his career as a television news reporter and news anchor at stations in Louisville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., before serving as Senior Video Producer for the D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from 2013 to 2024.
A memorial gathering is planned for Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the IBEW International Office (900 7th St., N.W.), according to a statement by the DC Gay Flag Football League, where Bartel was a longtime member. A celebration of life is planned that same evening, 6-8 p.m. at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.).
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Comings & Goings
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Calendar: April 10-16
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Police mental health struggles gain growing attention
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