Attachment

567 S. Governors Avenue EXHIBIT #1 P.O. Box 1081 Dover, DE 19903 Fax 302-736-0172 John Friedman V V ‘a 1-800-734-7700, \ Executive Director Path YS (302) 736-6135 1-800-HAV-A-DUI ? $5" 736-9848 January 29, 2004 Members of the Dover City Council PO Box 475 Dover, Delaware 19903 Ladies and Gentlemen: lam a 24-year resident of this wonderful community. In addition to residing in Dover, I am a twelve-year veteran of The City of Dover Planning Commission, five years its Chairman. We own and operate several businesses that currently employ over 98 members in Dover and throughout the State. I must say, I was very pleased to learn that you were seeking opinions and feedback from the citizens regarding the position of Mayor. As a citizen I appreciate having a forum to express my opinions. I support a full time position for the Mayor of Dover because it is clear to me that such a position is absolutely necessary for a municipality of this size and political stature as the Capitol of the State of Delaware. The Mayor’s duties should include participation in the many organizations involved with the economic growth of the city. These include the Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce, The Economic Development Council, The Rotary Clubs, The Downtown Development Corporation, Main Street and the Delaware Office of Economic Development, to name a few. This participation is essential for the purpose of resolving problems as they occur and providing an atmosphere conducive to the retention of those businesses and the jobs they have brought. In addition to retaining our current businesses, the Mayor, by virtue of his full-time availability, is a critical participant in fostering the growth of new business in our community. Why should Dover present itself to the outside world and compromise our professionalism with an amateur mayor

as opposed to a full time executive? It would be a shame to loose this potentially enormous economic benefit for a relatively small savings in salary. It is poor public relations and its just plain bad advertising for a city of this size to even consider a part-time Mayor. The position of Mayor should be full time in order to provide for the requisite amount of time needed to effectively interact with the members of the Delaware Legislature, The County Levy Court, The Dover Air Force Base, The Governor’s Office and the US Senate and House of Representatives, to name a few. We need someone who can fight on our behalf for funds, benefits and rights. This takes knowledge and relationship building, which, in turn, demands substantial (not superficial) investment in time and energy. This interaction is necessary to ensure that Dover is well represented to these organizations and that Dover receives attention it deserves. Finally, the Mayor should be full time to be able to represent the people of Dover at the many civic and business events that occur in this city each and every day. Tam also convinced that the organizational structure of the city government needs to be reviewed and modernized with a more comprehensive and efficient approach. Regarding the future of the office of the mayor, I believe that we need a more clear separation of duties from the Executive and Legislative branch. “The Mayor (executive branch) proposes and Council (legislative branch) disposes.” I would seek to have the Mayor be the presiding officer, and have the tie-breaking vote at the city council meetings — I support this because it simply seems most logical for the Mayor to hold this position. Who, other than the CEO of the city would be best suited for this position? I would continue to support that the Mayor appoints, selects and directs all employees of the police department, and can remove these employees. In most cities in this country the civilian head of the police department is the Police Commissioner who works directly for, or in the case of smaller municipalities like Dover, is, in fact the Mayor. I believe that the office of the Mayor, regardless of the background of the actual person, should continue to oversee the Police Department.

I do not pretend to know all the answers regarding the best way for the city to be organized. I do know that the current system has clearly been proven to be faulty as evidenced by the simple five-to-four majority votes that seemingly controlled all city council controversial issues. In conclusion, I would encourage the Dover City Council to consider forming a committee for the purpose of re-writing the parts of the City Charter that are faulty perhaps by simply starting over using one of the many sample City Charters that are available. How ever we go about making the necessary changes, the Mayor should have a full time position now, and in our future, Sincerely,

EXHIBIT #2 210 Winterberry Drive Dover, DE 19904 City Hall - The Plaza P.O. Box 475 Dover, DE 19903-0475 To: Mayor, Council and all Candidates: OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK There has been a lot of recent discussion about the need for a full time mayor in the City of Dover. Much of what is said is the same as that said ten years ago when City Council last studied the issue. I was on council at the time and was initially strongly opposed to the concept for most of the same reasons we hear today. However, over a period of about two years J saw first hand how wrong | was. I saw former Mayor Aaron Knopf and our current mayor Jim Hutchison struggle with their individual work schedules to try to fulfill their elected duties. Many times I (and all the other members of Council) had to represent the mayor at functions he was unable to attend because of his other full time work requirements. Aside from the additional demands on myself, I found this somewhat embarrassing because these people really expected the mayor to attend. The decision to make the mayor’s position full time was not made without much thought and study. I personally discussed the issue with many mayors and councilpersons from all over the country at the annual National League of Cities Conference in Washington DC. What I found was that every city was structured differently based upon its individual needs. No two are the same and none were even very similar to Dover. We therefore need to structure our city to serve our needs and not just copy what others do. As for the need for a referendum on the issue, we discussed it ten years ago and decided that was the easy way to make a hard decision. Referendums do not always serve the best interests of the people. Often times they get very emotional and special interest groups can solicit large numbers to tum out just to support their cause. Many issues, such as this, are not complex but require a significant amount of research to make an informed choice. As I stated above, as a councilman I was close to the issue and it took two years and many hours of research to change my mind. That’s why I believe councilpersons are elected. To do the research, study the issues, and make informed choices that serve the best interests of the people they represent. I realize the proposed referendum will not be binding, but why ask the question if you are not going to comply with the results. Also several councilpersons have already said they will vote with the majority regardless of their personal thoughts. One final thought about our city structure. The NAACP sued the city back in the late 1980’s because at the time all councilpersons were elected at-large and therefore the minority voters being outnumbered were disenfranchised. The courts ruled in favor of the NAACP and directed four districts of about equal size be established with one district having at least 65% minorities. This was to insure minority representation. Two

councilpersons were to be elected from each district and one additional councilperson was to be elected at-large. However, the city went one step further and established the council president’s position. This person (who is elected by the members of council) sets the agenda and presides over council meetings in place of the mayor. For the first few years the at-large councilperson (who like the mayor is elected by voters from all four districts) was elected the council president. However, in recent years this has not been the case and district councilpersons have served as the council president. A district councilperson is elected by only the voters of his/her district. In other words, the most powerful position in the city is elected by only 25% of the voters. This is wrong. Our City Charter states: “The mayor shall be the executive and chief official of the city.” That being the case, he should preside over council meetings and set the agenda just as he did before. In conclusion, our full time mayor has served the city well. It’s a full time job that deserves a full time salary. He/she is a conduit of information “interacting with private citizens and business people; national, state and county officials and representatives; and civic and neighborhood associations to promote the economic and social interests of the city and the general welfare of its citizens” as stated in our city Code of Ordinances. There is no need for a referendum. However, council needs to take action to put the mayor back at the helm of our council meetings. Thank you for your time, fbotto. bet Robert W. Lambert