Rehoboth Beach announces new City Manager

REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. – The City of Rehoboth Beach has announced its next City Manager.

Bethel Park Pennsylvania municipal manager and retired U.S. Army officer Laurence Christian has been announced as the new City Manager following a six-month nationwide search. Following a 23-year career in the U.S. Army, Christian has led the municipality of Bethel Park, a community of 33,000 about 10 miles south of Pittsburgh, for the past three years.

During his time in the Army, Christian had multiple deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan, and most recently served as Infantry Brigade deputy commander/chief of staff at Fort Benning, Georgia. We’re told he held a variety of leadership roles in organizations ranging from 30 to 1,700 personnel. As senior leader of operations, personnel, training, and logistics at Fort Benning, he helped manage a 730-person organization in direct support of national strategic objectives. He retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel in 2019.

In Bethel Park, Christian oversees a staff of 108 full and part-time employees, as well as a $32 million annual budget. He created the information technology and human resources departments in Bethel Park and established a cross-divisional communications team to address resident engagement and communication. He also established the first-ever council vision statement and corresponding municipal mission statement, values, and guiding principles, which are resident-focused, business-friendly, and inclusive.

The City Manager position became available after Sharon Lynn, who served as the city’s manager for eight years, resigned in April. We’re told more than 70 individuals applied for the position.

Christian will be moving to Delaware with his wife Anne Marie and their three children, ages 10, 8, and 6. He is slated to begin his new role in Rehoboth Beach on January 3, 2023.