Commissioners vote to indemnify Appelbaum

After 90 minutes of discussion behind closed doors and with a packed house looking on, the Dewey Beach commissioners voted to decide on the future of town manager Marc Appelbaum another day.

Mayor dale Cooke says there was not enough time to digest the 100-page report handed to them on Thursday.

"You can't just have it for 24 hours and then make a judgment on a recommendation."

The commissioners did vote to indemnify Appelbaum, paying for the town manager's legal fees, a decision questioned by Rick Cross, the attorney for the employees bringing a lawsuit against the town.

"The commissioners need to make a finding that Mr. Appelbaum acted in good faith and in the best interests of the town when they indemnified him.  And it's hard to find, it's hard to believe that anyone could objectively find that he acted in good faith and the best interests of the town."

Following the meeting, Cooke defended the decision of indemnification.

"After reading the code and after our discussion with the attorneys, it was obvious that we had to give indemnification…  Even the new (commissioners) realized that in the long run it probably would be given."

The decisions now will be up to new commissioners and council members to decide the fate of Marc Appelbaum.

Cooke says the 100-page report handed in by the independent investigation will be up on the town's website Friday night for the public to view and make their own decisions.

A time and date have not been set for the commission to revisit the future of Mr. Appelbaum.