The City of Rehoboth began its nationwide search for a new city manager in April, following the retirement of Sharon Lynn, who held the position for eight years.
Rehoboth’s Mayor and Board of Commissioners hired Laurence Christian from a pool of more than 70 applicants.
Mayor Stan Mills says Christian’s resume immediately stood out and subsequent interviews confirmed he was the best choice.
“Ever since I first talked with him in our commissioner group interviewing process, he was a front runner because of his experience and the different ideas we thought he could bring to the town,” said Mills.
Christian comes from Bethel Park, PA, a municipality with a population of 33,000, where he was Chief Administrative Officer the past three years.
The city manager serves as Rehoboth’s chief administrator, and Mills says there’s a lot to manage since the city has more departments than is typical for its size and hires seasonal staff.
“The city manager also, besides those 95 full time employees. Since we’re a resort community we actually hire another 105 plus employees as seasonal summer employees,” explained Mills.
Rehoboth Beach has a population of just under 1,200 during the off-season, but summer visitors push that number to 80,000 on a busy day.
Mills says Christian steps in at a critical time. The city’s comprehensive development plan is set to be implemented following certification, plans for a new beach patrol station and public restroom building are being finalized, and the development of next year’s budget is already underway.
Christian starts his new position January 3rd.
