Roth, Hughes, in running for county admin spot

By Jonathan Starkey
Staff Reporter

Dave Baker, the county’s finance director, and Hal Godwin, the recently hired administrative assistant to Stickels round out the list of “very good candidates” to fill the spot Councilman George Cole said.

“They all have some interesting talents,” Cole said. “It’s a tough choice.”

The four candidates have been interviewed by county council, which is expected to make a decision soon. Sussex County’s finance director wouldn’t comment about the candidates in a Monday interview but noted that a replacement should be in place “a couple months” before Stickels’ scheduled departure.

Cole said he “doesn’t control the agenda” on a hiring timeline — but, he said, “the earlier, the better.”

Roth, who has been Ocean View’s town manager for four years, said that county officials interviewed her and told her to expect a decision by mid-June. The Pennsylvania native moved to the Ocean View area 22 years ago and worked as a certified public accountant for two local accounting firms for 12 years before entering municipal work.

In the late 1990s, Roth took a job as Bethany Beach’s finance director, a position she held for five years before accepting the Ocean View position.

Cole said that Roth’s background as a CPA, her financial work in Bethany and her familiarity with land-use issues and municipal government would make her an ideal selection to replace Stickels in the county’s head administrative role.

Hughes’ lack of land-use experience — which is invaluable in the growing county — could hurt his chances at landing the job. But his managerial work for the state police is attractive to county officials who will make the replacement decision, Cole said.

As the Delaware State Police field operations officer for Kent and Sussex counties, Hughes is responsible for all state police field operations in those counties. He oversees the field operations of four troop stations and about 300 troopers across Kent and Sussex. Hughes — who was appointed to an Indian River board seat in January and was recently elected to a one-year term on that board — confirmed that he was interviewed by council but declined to comment further.

The final two candidates — Baker and Godwin — are already working for the county. Godwin, a former mayor of Newark and Milton town manager — was hired in March as an administrative assistant to Stickels. Baker has worked for the county for 28 years and currently serves as its finance director, sitting opposite Stickels at council meetings.

Baker’s dedication to the county, Cole said, and Godwin’s extensive experience in municipal — and now county — government should play a part in the county’s selection process.