By Wallace McKelvey | Mar 17, 2010 | Coast Press
A February incident involving commissioners Diane Hanson and James “Zeke” Przygocki has stirred controversy and reignited concerns over civility among town officials.
Commissioner Martin Seitz said the situation, which was conveyed to him by a number of individuals, arose after a poster of unknown origin claimed that Hanson would marry a town employee at the Feb. 13 Winter Gala at The Starboard.
Subsequently, Seitz said Przygocki allegedly delivered a gift of condoms to the employee, advising him to use them when the marriage was consummated.
Hanson declined to comment on the incident, but said she was considering her legal options with her attorney.
“If this happened, I feel this conduct is unbecoming of a commissioner,” she said.
Hanson, who has been married to her husband, Bill, for 37 years, said the situation has been frustrating for them both.
“I guess it was most frustrating to see my husband feel so helpless in this situation,” she said. “There wasn’t really anything he could do.”
Przygocki did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Ken Lodge, the former interim town manager, was in Town Hall during the alleged incident and said he was surprised that a commissioner would do something so distasteful.
“A lot of jokes are made about a lot of people that are pretty distasteful,” he said. “But if it was my wife, I’d have an entirely different feeling toward it.”
It contradicted the platform of civility that Przygocki ran on, Lodge said.
“It’s probably the most egregious thing that’s happened among the commissioners that I can remember,” he said. “They’ve had disagreements, but I’ve never heard it resorting to something like this.”
The incident followed a pair of letters that were exchanged by the two commissioners.
In the first, dated Dec. 15, 2009, Przygocki said Hanson violated his trust by actively pursuing a “personal agenda,” which included lobbying other council members to have individuals from the homeowners advocacy group Citizens to Preserve Dewey placed on various committees.
“This is not a high school clique or a sorority slumber party,” he wrote. “We do not say one thing and do the opposite.”
Hanson responded in a letter dated Jan. 7, 2010, that Przygocki had been inconsistent in his commitment to civil discourse and that his wife’s position as manager of Bethany Blues affected his position on the 35-foot height limit.
“Which Zeke should I believe? The one who recommends to the commissioners to approve the slate for the search committee with nothing but praise for the individuals or the one who attacks them in private correspondence?” she wrote.
Although the council had pledged to be more civil and transparent during the elections last September, Hanson said her relationship with Przygocki has become strained.
“I thought, initially, we had a pretty good relationship,” she said. “I tried very hard to build a relationship with Zeke, but he made it especially hard.”
Seitz said he believes a reprimand would be appropriate, but won’t make a determination until after he hears Przygocki’s perspective on the situation.
While the first round of letters maintained a modicum of respect, he said the incident crossed the line.
“I think maybe it’s an escalation, which would be shocking,” he said.
Jokes about commissioners’ sexual preferences or personal lives are inappropriate, Seitz said.
“You have to respect them as a commissioner in a town,” he said. “You can argue policies, but you’re not in a position to trivialize or marginalize another commissioner.”
Resident Jim Dedes said he was surprised to hear of such an incident.
“If this actually did happen, it’s in very poor taste and unbecoming of Dewey Beach,” he said.
wmckelvey@dmg.gannett.com
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