BREAKING: Attorney General finds City of Rehoboth violated FOIA in new City Manager’s hiring process

REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. – The Delaware Attorney General’s Office has found the City of Rehoboth Beach violated the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) after a group of 40 residents filed a request, calling for answers on information surrounding the hiring of the new City Manager, Taylour Tedder.

The group of residents sought answers through the FOIA request as to how the City of Rehoboth Beach’s Mayor and commissioners were able to reach a consensus to hire Tedder. That included requesting information as to how those city officials agreed on his exorbitant salary, and what the consensus was as far as the charter is concerned and how Tedder’s experience appeared to lack the qualifications that were outlined in city code.

The effort came on the heels of months of controversy surrounding Tedder’s hiring after news broke of his enormous salary. His position comes with a whopping $250,000 base salary with another $750,000 in the form of a forgivable home loan.

On Wednesday, the Office of the Attorney General of the State of Delaware officially released their conclusion, finding that the City of Rehoboth did in fact violate the FOIA, writing in their conclusion opinion:

“We conclude that the City violated FOIA by holding an executive session for an improper purpose and failing to discuss the employment contract and compensation package in open public session, by failing to properly notice two executive sessions, and by failing to notice a public comment period on the agendas of the above-referenced meetings.”

Tedder lists less than three years of city manager experience and no engineering degree on his resume. It’s that, coupled with his high salary, that led Rehoboth homeowner Tom Gaynor to lead a coalition of residents to petition the Attorney General’s Office for answers.

Following the release of the AG’s opinion, WMDT News sat down with Gaynor, who said he and the other residents in the effort are delighted that the Attorney General held the City of Rehoboth Beach’s government accountable for the integrity of the law.

“We’re grateful to the Attorney General for identifying the violations and for suggesting the remediation that’s necessary, which is allowing for the public to be heard about money spent on their behalf at a future public meeting,” Gaynor explained. “Which we hope that the city commissioners will schedule soon.”

Gaynor went on to call this a “sad moment in the history of Rehoboth Beach” and he had a message for Mayor Stan Mills.

“It would behoove the Mayor to consider where he goes from here,” Gaynor said. “I think the Attorney General’s opinion is an indictment of his leadership, it’s an indictment of his approach to governing Rehoboth Beach, and the people of Rehoboth Beach deserve better. They deserved better in consideration of an extraordinary pay-package that is historic by any account, not only just in Delaware but across the United States.”

As part of the opinion, the Attorney General’s Office recommended that city leaders hold another meeting in compliance with FOIA where they allow the public to weigh in:

“In this case, we recommend that the Board discuss the City Manager’s contract, including the compensation package, and ratify the vote associated with the City Manager’s contract at a future meeting held in compliance with FOIA’s open meeting requirements. This meeting agenda must include time for public comment.”

Earlier this month, after the AG’s Office was petitioned by the residents, WMDT News reached out to the City of Rehoboth Beach at the time who issued a statement, claiming they did not violate the FOIA.

WMDT News Anchor Rob Petree spoke with Mayor Stan Mills last month, in the midst of the controversy surrounding Tedder’s hiring, where he would not acknowledge that they violated their charter, and refused to get into specifics concerning Tedder’s qualifications.

“How do you justify directly violating your own charter to hire this guy?,” Petree asked Mayor Mills. Mayor Mills responded, saying: “We don’t believe we’ve violated the charter and our City Solicitor is working on a proper response to that.” When pressed, Mayor Mills would not comment further on any questions regarding Tedder’s qualifications, saying “I’ve already answered that.”

Now, a day after the Attorney General’s opinion was released, Mayor Stan Mills issued the following statement to WMDT News, saying the fact that they were found to have violation a FOIA is a failure in the city’s transparency and an injustice to the citizens.

“To be clear, the City of Rehoboth Beach Board of Commissioners always believed that it was following Freedom of Information Act requirements and that discussion and approval of the city manager’s employment agreement in executive session was permissible. We are disappointed with the attorney general’s determination. That said, the Board of Commissioners, supports the attorney general’s commitment to openness and transparency in government. Transparency in government is important, and the state’s Freedom of Information Act is our guide. To have been found in violation of FOIA laws signals a failure in the city’s transparency and is an injustice to our citizens. We are committed to adhering to FOIA principles. We can and will do better.”