(DEWEY BEACH, Del.) - The office that used to be occupied by former Dewey Beach town manager, Marc Appelbaum now belongs to no one.
The town separated from him in October after a summer of drama and scandal. Former mayor and current commissioner Dale Cooke says town hall is now in a better place.
"Everybody says the tension is way down, and that I'm making a concerted effort to get along and talk to everybody else within each department," said Cooke.
Cooke and mayor T.J. Redefer are stepping in to fill the administrative void. Now the search is on for the next town manager.
"We have a sense of urgency to get it done. We want to get it done quickly but we want to get it done right," said commissioner, Paul Bauer.
The town charter says Dewey can only go 180 days without the position being filled, and officials say they've ready have received plenty of qualified resumes.
"We want to get through the holidays, then at that point get a good search going on," added Bauer.
Whether the accusations made against Appelbaum are true or not, it's clear there was a disconnect between and town employees something Dewey Beach wants to avoid with the next town manager.
"How to deal with people. we need somebody who knows public relations, somebody who knows how to deal with the employees on a one-to-one basis," said Cooke.
"Someone who knows Dewey Beach. I think that's critical. We're not a New York, DC, Philly, Wilmington," Bauer said.
They hope to have this office filled by February.
The Dewey Beach commissioners will meet tomorrow night, and a town manager search committee will meet on Monday.