For the Past 36 Years I Have Spent Every Summer Living and Working in Dewey Beach. Many

Rob Marshall For the past 36 years I have spent every summer living and working in Dewey Beach. Many of these years I have lived in Dewey Beach year round as I have currently for the past 3 years. I have lived on just about every street within the town of Dewey Beach. My father and mother built a motel on VanDyke St. when I was just eight years old and that is when I became and remain a beach lover. I worked as a Dewey Beach Lifeguard for five years. I left Dewey for college at the University of Florida, but still returned every summer. After I graduated college, I returned to Dewey and ran a couple of motels, eventually owning one in town and another just outside of town. For ten years I resided in Sarasota and Bradenton, FL but still operated my businesses in Dewey Beach and lived in town each summer. Dewey is not just a way of life to me it is a significant part of my life. I have served on many committees, consulted with town officials on a variety of issues and volunteered at multiple events. I will highlight some of my accomplishments that I think will show that I can be an asset to the Town and the Council. I was elected to the Board of the Chamber of Commerce in 1991 and remain on that board today. I was the second youngest president of that organization and have served on countless committees. Many of these committees relate directly to Dewey Beach and have allowed me to know just about every commissioner, town manager, chief of police, building inspector and many staff members over the last 20 years. I have served on the board of the Sussex County Tourism Commission, now known as Southern Delaware Tourism. For six years I was the chairperson of Southern Delaware Tourism. I have recently been asked to return to this board and currently serve on it. I have also served as a member of the Governor’s Tourism Advisory Board. As a result of my service and contributions on these boards I received publicly noticed tributes from Governor Minner and the Delaware House of Representatives in 2006 and 2003 respectively. I have also received the Tourism Person of the year from the Governor’s office in 2003. I have served as a founding board member and again as a board member of the Destination Station Board. I was asked in 2004 to serve as the first resident/business person to serve on the Dewey Beach Civic League. I am proud to continue serving this vital organization as its president for the last 2 years. This organization has and continues to prove that we are community including residents, businesses and visitors that can thrive through recognizing common ground. I am also a founding board member and current secretary of the Dewey Beach Business Partnership. This organization focuses on positive family events and has had great success in its first four years. I also currently serve at the council’s request on the town’s Marketing Committee. When I consider my hopes for the future of Dewey, it comes down to keeping it a great place to live, work and vacation! To remain this way we need to keep our town clean, safe and friendly. It is that simple, how we get there is the difficult part. I think that being mindful that we are a community and thus, can only succeed by working together, recognizing each other’s needs and finding common ground. We have so many positive things happening right now and we have many people volunteering solely for their love of Dewey Beach this needs to be recognized and fostered. I hope to ensure that all of us can be proud of the town we care about so much. Certainly, there are improvements to be made and there will always be issues that arise. Improvements I would like to see include solving the bayside flooding for all streets, sidewalk safety concerns, expand recreation programs and improved focus on the Dewey Beach image. If appointed to this open seat I will resign from any board I or the Council feel is a conflict. Thank you for your consideration.

List of volunteer activities:

Rehoboth Dewey Chamber of Commerce Board as a Dewey Business Dewey Beach Business Liaison with Chamber Public Transportation Committee & DART Advisory Board At various times member of Dewey Budget Committee Advertising Committee or Marketing Committee name changed sometimes Dewey Beach Civic League Hotel/Motel Task Force County Tourism Board Governor’s Tourism Advisory Board Destination Station Board Served as moderator on many candidate forums Many annual events including: Beautification (spring & fall), art festival, Halloween, movies on the beach, bonfires, radio psa’s, fall town party, concert on the beach, tree lighting, kids beach party DB Business Partnership Assist with town website Dog Licensing Town Banner Program Greyhounds Reach the Beach liaison