Jeffrey Goode running for office in Rehoboth Beach
With an eye toward reining in uncontrolled spending, Rehoboth Beach resident Jeffrey Goode has announced his candidacy for commissioner in this upcoming election.
“I see serious issues with fiscal responsibility,” said Goode in an interview April 16. “There’s been a series of very poor decisions being made by the current leadership.”
Goode is an economist by trade and recently retired after a 40-year career with the federal government that had him in Egypt as part of the foreign service and in Geneva, Switzerland, working for the United Nations’ International Labour Organization.
“I have a lot of experience examining programs, costs and polices,” said Goode. “It seems the current leadership in Rehoboth only looks at benefits.”
Goode listed off a number of the specific issues he’s concerned about: the budget nearly doubling to $44 million in five years, the pending implementation of a stormwater impact fee, an exorbitantly priced beach patrol station project, and the canal dock project. He said he’d like the city to explore ways to reduce its $68 million worth of debt, to look at the annexation of surrounding communities that already use the city’s services as a way to expand the tax base, and the possible extension of the parking season.
“It all comes down to how the city is going to sustain itself,” he said.
Goode is the husband of Commissioner Suzanne Goode, who is currently in the first year of her first three-year term. According to Lynne Coan, city spokesperson, if Jeffrey is elected, it would be the first time in city history a husband and wife are both on city council at the same time. The charter is silent on whether this is allowed, she said.
Goode said commissioners’ votes are often 6-1 or 5-2, with nearly everyone voting against his wife.
“Suzanne is doing a great job. She’s trying to bring some fiscal sanity to the city, but she can’t do it alone,” said Goode. “It is interesting; however, I’d be running whether she was a commissioner or not.”
Goode filed his paperwork with the city April 14, which is early for a Rehoboth election. Typically, the city doesn’t even issue a call for candidates until the first or second week of May.
Goode said he made his mind up to run, so he decided to get to work. He’s never run for office before and he’s trying to control his time better, he said.
“It’s difficult for a new person to break into a leadership position here in Rehoboth,” said Goode. “I wanted to maximize my time to organize and campaign.”
The two sitting commissioners up for re-election are Edward Chrzanowski, who is in his second three-year term, and Francis “Bunky” Markert, who is in his first. To date, no one else has filed their paperwork for the election.
Important dates to remember for Rehoboth Beach’s 2025 municipal election: The deadline for candidates to file nominating petitions is Monday, June 2. The deadline to register to vote is Thursday, July 10. The last day to mail absentee ballots is Tuesday, Aug. 5. Voting will take place 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 9, in the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center, 229 Rehoboth Ave.
Chris Flood has been working for the Cape Gazette since early 2014. He currently covers Rehoboth Beach and Henlopen Acres, but has also covered Dewey Beach and the state government. He covers environmental stories, business stories and random stories on subjects he finds interesting, and he also writes a column called Choppin’ Wood that runs every other week. Additionally, Flood moonlights as the company’s circulation manager, which primarily means fixing boxes that are jammed with coins during daylight hours, but sometimes means delivering papers in the middle of the night. He’s a graduate of the University of Maine and the Landing School of Boat Building & Design.
