Statement Issued by City of Rehoboth Beach Commissioner Susan Stewart regarding Commissioner Suzanne Goode

March 10, 2026

Contact: Brooke Thaler, Communications Department, 302-227-6181, ext. 522

Statement Issued by City of Rehoboth Beach Commissioner Susan Stewart regarding Commissioner Suzanne Goode

Below is a statement read by City of Rehoboth Beach Commissioner Susan Stewart in the March 9 Commissioners Meeting Incorporating Budget Session No. 4 regarding Commissioner Suzanne Goode.

From Commissioner Susan Stewart:

I want to address something that is very troubling and I think the time has come that commissioners need to speak out about this. What I’m about to describe is documented, has been formally responded to by the city, and directly affects this body’s ability to serve our residents.

Over a period spanning September 2023 through today, Commissioner Goode has engaged in a sustained pattern of conduct across her official communications that includes: racially and sexually demeaning characterizations of City staff and officials; statements meeting the legal element of defamation under Delaware law; harassment of city staff and commissioners on the basis of religion; demeaning and contemptuous references to disabled family members of fellow commissioners; false and unsubstantiated allegations of corruption and collusion directed at the Mayor and fellow commissioners; dereliction of duties of elected office; active support for the litigation brought against the City; and communications that solicited outside interference in the City’s operations.

The City issued formal, multiple cease and desist letters, yet the conduct did not stop. It’s only escalated. That matters, because it tells us this is not inadvertent. It is deliberate.

Because these communications are already public records subject to open records law, I am asking the City today to make Commissioner Goode’s full email record accessible by a link on our city website. This will not disclose anything private, it will simply make it easy for any resident who cares to see what’s happening to our City staff, come to their own conclusion. The public deserves to hear Suzanne in her own words.

I would like to see, in the future, consideration of formal reprimand. We keep sending letters requesting that Commissioner Goode modify her behavior. She’s either incapable or unwilling to do it. Policy decisions and differences are one thing. Repeated harassment, we saw some of it here today, so I am imploring other commissioners – I know it’s nice to be liked and not to stand out – we have a moral and legal obligation to protect the people that work for this City. And we need to stand up and we need to do it now.

At this time, Commissioner Goode’s emails will not be linked on the City’s website, but anyone is welcome to submit a FOIA request for Commissioner Goode’s communications firsthand. FOIA Request – – DE | Official Website

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