(Editor’s note: This is the second installment in a three-part series profiling the candidates for mayor of Rehoboth Beach, Del.: Commissioners Suzanne Goode, Susan Stewart, and Craig Thier; a fourth candidate, William Raak, filed to join the race but has not responded to Blade inquiries.) 

Rehoboth Beach City Commissioner Suzanne Goode, a candidate for mayor, told the Blade she’s running on a platform prioritizing efficient spending, improving infrastructure, and increasing affordability.

A Maryland native, Goode became a full-time resident of Rehoboth Beach with her husband in 2016. The two have been homeowners in Rehoboth since 2006. Goode became involved with Rehoboth politics soon after moving to town full time. 

“I started attending meetings back in 2018 right after we moved here full time. I feel that the city needs to change desperately. They really are in trouble.”

“I never expected to get involved, but once I saw how dysfunctional everything was, that’s what inspired me.”

Goode said that her background in economic consulting makes her qualified to oversee how the city spends taxpayer dollars. 

“I’m an economist, that’s my background. I present data at some of these meetings, but no one is willing to analyze the data or even respond as to why we aren’t doing things differently,” said Goode. 

“We have other commissioners who are so unwilling to make the hard decisions and cut spending,” said Goode. 

“We have so much wrong with the way money is being spent to defend the bureaucracy and not to give back power to the voters, the taxpayers,” said Goode. 

But the city’s budget numbers contradict Goode’s claims about financial mismanagement.

The city reported that it ended fiscal year 2025 with a $1.21 million surplus. The 2027 budget was adopted in March and projects an operating surplus of about $875,000. 

Elected as a city commissioner in 2024, Goode says she has made an effort to limit spending. She has had multiple public disagreements with fellow commissioners, in particular, Susan Stewart, who is also running for mayor.

In a March 9th commissioner’s meeting, Stewart publicly disclosed a series of Goode’s emails, outlining allegations of misconduct and harassment, all of which Goode denied and claimed were false. 

The emails alleged racially and sexually demeaning remarks from Goode about city staff and officials, including City Manager Taylour Tedder. 

Goode has criticized the city’s decision to give Tedder a $750,000 forgivable home loan and a $250,000 salary, which is $90,000 more than the previous city manager.

“Under his stewardship, he has handed out excessive pay packages, including benefits to his immediate deputy administrators, all with taxpayer money,” Goode said.

The Blade has reached out to Tedder for comment.

Goode spoke against the decision to hire City Solicitor Lisa Borin Ogden and has made attempts to reduce her $200,000 annual salary. 

Goode also disagrees with Tedder’s hiring of consultants for the city: “My goal is to cut the endless stream of consultancies that the city manager contracts, which do not seem to improve the quality of life for the average resident or visitor to Rehoboth Beach.”

“I don’t believe we need additional advice about how to run things,” said Goode. “We just need to improve infrastructure at this point, cut back on some of the excessive compensation packages, not to the working class among our employees, but to the executives and the administrators,” said Goode. 

Goode also disapproves of Tedder’s ‘Reimagine Rehoboth’ master planning initiative and says that it “would come to an immediate halt” if she were elected mayor. 

“You have to hope that we make better decisions going forward. It would be a benefit to everyone, to visitors, to homeowners, both second homeowners and full-time residents.”

Goode’s platform focuses on expanding and improving the infrastructure throughout Rehoboth. She says she would like to work to “improve infrastructure to include replacement of crumbling and uneven sidewalks.”

She shared that as a resident, she has experienced hazardous conditions when trying to walk or bicycle at night due to what she calls an insufficient amount of streetlights. 

Goode also has her sights set on improving Rehoboth’s wastewater treatment system.

“We have complex issues with wastewater treatment. I will continue to advocate against Rehoboth Beach becoming the destination where treated wastewater is sent from areas outside Rehoboth.”

“I want to fully support the working class, the line people, the sanitation workers, the people on city staff who keep the city running and who are the most important workers in many ways,” said Goode. 

Goode also addressed her approval of efforts to construct a venue for Clear Space Theatre Company in town, saying, “I think it’s a wonderful use of some city-owned land.”

However, she is cautious about talks to give Clear Space money toward construction of the theater, saying the decision should go to public referendum.

The Blade asked Goode if maintaining Rehoboth’s perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Equality Index would be a priority as mayor. She said that it would be a priority and that she is proud of Rehoboth’s relationship with the LGBTQ+ community. However, she bemoaned the lack of racial diversity among Rehoboth homeowners. 

“While we have LGBTQ+ diversity, we have little racial diversity among the property owners with very few African Americans owning homes in Rehoboth. That is, in my view, a bad thing.”

“We want diversity of demographics and race. In order to do that, in order to make Rehoboth more affordable to everyone.”

Goode also responded to claims that she opposes the rainbow sidewalks in town by saying that she thinks they are “attractive” but is worried that they “necessitate more labor.”

“My priorities are safety and affordability,” said Goode. “Unfortunately, the rainbow crosswalks have potentially reduced the upkeep of the conventional crosswalks. But the rainbow crosswalks are attractive in and of themselves, and they do add to our recognition of Rehoboth’s longstanding status as a gay-friendly town.”

Goode said that she noticed recently at the intersection of First Street and Baltimore Avenue that the two rainbow crosswalks were freshly painted for the spring while the two white crosswalks were “faded and unsafe.”

The election will take place on Aug. 8, from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. at the Convention Center. 

(Editor’s note: This is the first installment in a three-part series profiling the candidates for mayor of Rehoboth Beach, Del.: Commissioners Suzanne Goode, Susan Stewart, and Craig Thier; a fourth candidate, William Raak, filed to join the race but has not responded to Blade inquiries.) 

Residents of Rehoboth Beach, Del. will elect a new mayor this summer after Stan Mills announced plans to retire after serving six years as mayor and 12 as a commissioner. One candidate who could make history is Commissioner Susan Stewart, who identifies as part of the LGBTQ community, a potential first for the town, which has never had an openly gay mayor.

Stewart is a current city commissioner for Rehoboth Beach and has served as a member of the Mixed-Use and Stormwater Utility Task Forces. 

A Pennsylvania native who spent her adult life working in Washington, D.C., Stewart has owned a home in Rehoboth since 2013 with her partner of more than 20 years and began living there full time during COVID.

Stewart described her campaign as offering vision, leadership, and integrity. She has a background as an attorney and financial adviser. 

She spoke about the work that she is doing as city commissioner that she would continue as mayor, specifically with Reimagine Rehoboth. 

“I’ve been shepherding through a master planning initiative for the first time,” she said. “We’ve never really had an overall study with urban planners and transportation consultants.” 

Stewart highlighted the upcoming ‘Charrette Week’ from July 13-17 when members of the community can learn about the city from urban planners and give their input on the planning initiative. 

“We’ve got this natural beauty and we’ve got some things we can work on,” said Stewart. During ‘Charrette Week’, Stewart said that the community will also have the chance to rename ‘Reimagine Rehoboth’ due to the pushback it initially received.

“Getting the community engaged and united behind is the big goal,” said Stewart. 

Stewart also mentioned that she is the liaison with Clear Space Theatre Company as it aims to build their own venue in town. She expressed hope in bringing this vision to fruition as she values the art and culture that the company brings to town.

“It hasn’t been lost on us that the Kennedy Center has sort of cut loose a lot of its patrons,” said Stewart. 

Stewart also said she wants to increase age and racial diversity in Rehoboth through supporting the construction of more workforce housing. 

“We don’t generally have [racial and age diversity] here. I wish we did,” said Stewart.

According to the 2024 census, the median age of Rehoboth in 2024 was 63 with 44% of the population being 65 and over. Additionally, 89% of the city’s population was reported to be white. 

Stewart also said that she aims to maintain Rehoboth’s perfect score on the Human Rights Equality Index in 2025, which she credits to the work of the assistant city manager, Evan Miller, and CAMP Rehoboth for getting Rehoboth to be recognized. 

“Rehoboth is a great place for our broader LGBTQ+ community,” said Stewart. 

She also said that she is proud to support organizations like CAMP Rehoboth, which the city was able to give a grant to for the first time this year according to Stewart.  

“The city and CAMP Rehoboth have such a productive and wonderful relationship.”

Stewart said that she wants CAMP to know that they are always welcome to reach out if they ever have issues that require help from the city. 

“We’ll continue to have a very productive and warm relationship.”

The Blade also asked Stewart about her public disagreement with fellow City Commissioner and mayoral candidate Suzanne Goode in March of this year. 

During a commissioners meeting on March 9, Stewart outlined allegations that Goode used derogatory language in emails, particularly toward City Manager Taylour Tedder.

“All of our emails are public information under FOIA. I simply asked the city to link them on the website, and then the city published a transcript of [Goode’s emails].”

Stewart said that she did this on behalf of the city’s employees such as Tedder: “We have a moral and legal obligation to support our employees.” She also said that this situation has escalated since the March 9 meeting. 

At the meeting, Goode denied all of the allegations and said that they were based on falsehoods. 

“The challenge with Suzanne Good is that she burns through so much time in a public hearing because she wants to talk about all these things in the past,” said Stewart. 

If elected mayor, Stewart said that she would look into measures to help meetings run smoother and prevent disruptions such as turning off mics and moving public comment to the end of the meeting instead of the end of each topic. 

“We want public input, but the people that come there for good reasons to talk about things that they need help with get drowned out by these disruptions.”

The election will take place on Aug. 8, from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center. 

The Delaware Public Archives is set to unveil a new State of Delaware Historical Marker recognizing Rehoboth’s Poodle Beach Saturday, June 27, at 9 a.m. The unveiling will take place at the corner of Prospect Street and the South Boardwalk in Rehoboth Beach, Del. 

The unveiling ceremony is free and open to the public and will include remarks from members of the community, government officials, and representatives from the Delaware Public Archives.

Located at the southern end of the boardwalk near Queen Street, Poodle Beach is one of the most famous sections of Rehoboth Beach, having served as a gathering place for the LGBTQ community for decades. 

The Delaware Public Archives said that, “The marker recognizes the site’s longstanding role in the social and cultural history of both Rehoboth Beach and the State of Delaware.”

The petition to have Poodle Beach recognized with a historical marker was started by a group of Rehoboth Beach residents in June 2020 and was officially approved in December 2020. 

Although the origins of where Poodle Beach got its name are unknown, its history can be traced back to du Pont heiress and well-known lesbian Louisa Carpenter. Carpenter and her LGBTQ group of friends would travel to ‘Carpenter Beach’ toward Dewey Beach in the19 30s and ‘40s.

Over time, the beach grew in popularity and began to be used predominantly by gay men in the following decades. It wasn’t until the ‘80s when the beach spread back toward the boardwalk as people stopped making the journey to Carpenter beach.  

Poodle Beach was initially called “Lazy Gay Beach” because gay men got tired of walking so far from the boardwalk to get to Carpenter Beach. 

There are multiple theories that explain how the name ‘Poodle Beach’ came to be. One of the most popular is the ‘Two cousin theory’ where it is rumored that a pair of cousins would drive up from Maryland and bring their poodle dogs onto the beach. 

Poodle was also the site of the popular Labor Day weekend drag volleyball games that were started in 1988 and ended with COVID in 2020.