LEWES, Del. - The City of Lewes is preparing to launch two separate investigations, one involving controversy inside city hall, including questions surrounding a deleted public meeting video.
The first investigation centers on a video recording from the Historic Preservation Architectural Review Commission meeting on May 7 that was removed from the city’s website shortly before the recent Lewes City Council election. Mayor Amy Marasco told CoastTV she personally would appoint an independent investigator to determine why the video was removed in the first place and who removed it.
Hours later on Tuesday evening, CoastTV received a personal statement from Lewes Building Official Jon Ward. Ward said he requested the video be removed for fear that comments made about him would interfere with an ongoing personnel complaint. He did not go into any other details about that personnel complaint. Ward tells CoastTV he does not know who took down the video.
Those comments were made by former HPARC Chair Kevin Mallinson who also criticized city leadership and Councilmember Joe Elder during the public comment period.
“Rather than finding cooperation and collaboration with the city, I found obstruction,” Mallinson said.
Mallinson also claimed, “Serious inquiries that I sent to the city manager's office or the building department often went unanswered. Rather, I noticed a pattern of delay, deflect, and deceive.”
He later criticized Elder directly during the meeting.
“His inappropriate comments, his backroom negotiations with applicants, and wild confabulations have really been disruptive,” Mallinson said.
The video was later removed from the city’s website. Two days after the HPARC meeting, Elder won re-election to Lewes City Council by 35 votes.
Kevin Keane, who lost the election to Elder, told CoastTV News, “the timing raises questions.”
Elder told CoastTV on Tuesday that he had no involvement in removing the video.
“It had nothing to do with me. I did not ask to have it taken down. I have nothing to do with it being taken down,” Elder told CoastTV News.
Marasco told CoastTV she will use this investigation to prevent similar issues in the future. It is still unclear who removed the video.
The second investigation involves workplace harassment allegations made against Deputy Mayor Khalil Saliba by Lewes City Manager Ellen Lorraine McCabe and Deputy City Manager Janet Reeves.
According to statements released by McCabe and Reeves, the complaint alleges Saliba engaged in hostile behavior dating back to last summer, including intimidation, humiliation and discrimination against city administration staff. On Tuesday, Mayor Amy Marasco said the city's Human Resources department has been given authority to hire a separate investigator into this claim.
Marasco said the investigators have yet to be hired.
According to the complaint, Saliba allegedly told staff during a discussion about staffing, “I bet if I held a gun to your head, you would tell me you couldn’t do it.”
Saliba denied the allegations.
“The allegations against me are categorically false. This is sad,” Saliba told CoastTV News.
City Manager Ellen McCabe has yet to respond to CoastTV's calls and emails for comment on this story.
Mayor Marasco made clear that the release regarding this complaint was sent by McCabe and Reeves using a personal email address and was not sent by the city.
