‘She should resign’: Rehoboth Beach mayor calls for city commissioner’s job after report details alleged harassment and abuse

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A recently released investigative report found that Rehoboth Beach City Commissioner Suzanne Goode engaged in “an escalating and pervasive pattern of abusive, harassing and unprofessional conduct” toward city employees.

The report analyzed emails Goode sent in June and July to employees and other elected officials, as well as correspondence regarding efforts to mitigate Goode’s behavior. The employees who received emails from Goode were also interviewed.

The investigation was conducted by Margaret DiBianca, a Wilmington-based attorney. She was retained by the city in late June to investigate harassment allegations against Goode.

“We have asked [Goode], begged her, demanded that she be more civil, but she’s not listening and not complying. Her behavior continues, which results in the negative impacts, negative morale on staff and others she deals with, and it needs to stop,” Rehoboth Beach Mayor Stan Mills told WHYY News.

DiBianca noted in the report that Goode sent almost 2,000 emails to employees since 2024 “and continues to send more on a near-daily basis.” The investigation, however, was limited to only the reviewed emails.

The Rehoboth Beach Board of Commissioners voted 6 to 1 to waive their attorney-client privilege at their last meeting, which made the report public. Goode was the lone vote against the motion, saying that it was unfair to do so before she could defend herself.

Patrick Gossett, a city commissioner and the chair of the Personnel Board, summarized the report at the meeting and said Goode’s behavior was “unacceptable.”

“The city as an employer has an obligation to maintain a safe workplace free from harassment and abuse,” Gossett said. “The pattern of overt aggression targeting employees represents a serious breach of the most basic professional standards expected in any work environment and has rendered this workplace inhospitable and potentially unsafe for all city staff.”

City Commissioner Susan Stewart, who will be sworn in as mayor next month, said that in most workplaces, Goode’s behavior would warrant termination. She said during the meeting that making the report public was necessary.

“These are real people with real professional reputations and real careers,” Stewart said. “And the city needed to use what limited power it has to say, ‘We hear you. We see you. We wish we could do more.’”

Stewart has criticized Goode in the past. She made a public statement on the allegations against Goode back at a March board of commissioners meeting, and asked the city to make Goode’s emails public.

Mills also said it was important to make the report and emails examined in the investigation public, so residents could see exhibited behavior “all in her own words, which provides irrefutable evidence of her uncivil behaviors.”

Goode: ‘I’m just sort of gobsmacked by this whole thing’

At the board of commissioners meeting, Goode said she was blindsided by the report and was not notified about it until it was posted on the meeting’s agenda a week prior. She said she also did not receive a copy of the report until a day before the meeting.

“There was no due diligence to the report. This seems like the investigating attorney never never got my side of anything,” Goode said at the meeting. “I was never given the opportunity to defend myself. I’m just sort of gobsmacked by this whole thing.”

She also said the Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, was misused by the city government. The act allows the public to access records from governmental agencies, including emails.

“FOIA was meant to protect citizens from government overreach and to assure transparency. FOIA, which has been weaponized here against me, was not designed to use information against elected officials, and yet that is what the Rehoboth Beach government has done with FOIA,” she said.

Goode declined an interview with WHYY News. In a statement, she said the report is inaccurate.

“The report distorts; it fails to include context; it omits relevant details; it misrepresents and mischaracterizes my words; and it misconstrues my meaning by using selective emails and excerpts from emails,” she said.

She pointed to specific allegations where she said she was quoting constituents to city staff that were attributed to her. Goode said the emails were sent in response to “stonewalling by officials,” who she said would not respond quickly or accurately to her questions.

“Friday’s meeting was nothing less than a public bullying session run by those who seek to destroy the reputation of a Commissioner who has steadfastly advocated for more responsible use of taxpayer monies,” Goode said.

The report’s recommendations

The report states the allegations were made by two city employees, referred to as “Employee 1,” “Employee 2” and “Targeted Employees.”

Mills, however, told WHYY News that Goode’s behavior was directed toward multiple employees including City Manager Taylour Tedder and City Solicitor Lisa Borin Ogden, as well as other commissioners and constituents.

DiBianca found that Goode violated the city’s Civility Code, which creates standards for workplace behavior by elected officials.

“The conduct documented herein, both in substance and frequency, falls substantially and demonstrably outside the bounds of acceptable professional behavior expected of an elected official and public servant in violation of the City’s Civility Code and, in turn, constitutes a violation of the Ethics Code,” DiBianca wrote in the report.

The report issued recommendations to the board to address Goode’s behavior, which include:

• The city should prohibit Goode from communicating with city employees in any channel. The city should create a system where emails from Goode are redirected to a separate account reviewed by the mayor or another designated person. City employees would also be permitted to block Goode’s phone number.
• The city should also prohibit Goode from using administrative offices.
• Goode should send all forms of communication involving city business to city officials.
• Goode should issue board-approved apologies to affected employees.
• The board should request Goode to complete city-approved training on respectful workplace practices and FOIA laws.
• The board should also review Goode’s compliance of said measures within 60 to 90 days of adoption.

The board also voted in favor of accepting the findings of the report and implementing its recommendations. Goode left the meeting chambers before the vote took place.

Goode was elected to office in 2024, and her term ends in 2027. Goode was one of two city commissioners elected in 2024, along with Craig Thier. Thier and Goode received 29.5% and 25.2% of votes, respectively. Mills said that there is no mechanism within the city government to oust an elected official from office.

“I believe that she has violated her oath of office and is unable and unwilling to recover, and that she should resign so that someone more productive and civil can take her seat for just the one year remainder of her term,” Mills said.

The board will review Goode’s compliance with the report’s recommendations in October.