Arden Committees and Officers

Updated 1/23/2008. This page reflects the results of the March 26 election. Read a brief description of how Arden's town government works.

Town Assembly

Anyone over the age of 18, who has been a resident of Arden for the last six months, is automatically a member of the Town Assembly, which is the village's governing body, a "pure" democracy. Town Meetings are held on the 4th Monday of January, March, June and September. The Town Assembly has several committees, shown below. Committee members are elected at the March meeting.

Standing Committees

Nominations are made at the January town meeting and may continue up to the March Advisory meeting. Election is at the March meeting. Two names must be nominated for each position open. All terms are for two years.

Advisory Committee

Bill Theis, 475-1995, Chair
The Advisory Committee is made up of the chairpersons of all the standing committees, plus the town officers, the senior trustee, and the chair of the Board of Assessors. It acts as a coordinating committee and sets the agenda for the town meetings. Chairperson of the Advisory Committee
is elected each year at the March meeting. Any eligible voter may be nominated as chairperson. Click here to see minutes of recent Advisory Committee meetings.

Archives Committee

Lisa Mullinax, 529-7399, Chair
The Archives Committee preserves the history of the village
by collecting and preserving documents, photos, etc.; presenting displays and programs about Arden’s past, its people and its arts; and running the Arden Craft Shop Museum along with representatives of Ardentown and Ardencroft. The committee seeks grants to support the museum. Many residents volunteer to help the committee with its projects.

Serving to March, 2008: Barbara Macklem, Sadie Somerville
Serving to March, 2009: Terry Colgan, Lisa Mullinax, June Kleban
Alternate: Deborah Ricard

Auditing Committee

Cookie Ohlson, 529-7959, Chair
The Auditing Committee meets in June to examine specific accounts in the general ledgers of the town and trustees to asure that they are in agreement with the audit done by the CPA firm of Corcoran and Co., P.A. The Auditing Committee reports to the June Town Assembly.

Serving to March, 2008: Cookie Ohlson
Serving to March, 2009: Christine Demsey, Laura Wallace
Alternate: Tom Wheeler

Budget Committee

Jeff Politis, 529-9146, Chair
The Budget Committee organizes past and coming-year village expenditures for presentation to the September Town Assembly. It also prepares a three-year projection for the March Assembly. The September report forms the basis of the annual budget referendum. To prepare reports, committee members communicate with the other standing committees, the town secretary, treasurer and the trustees. This information-gathering activity provides an excellent overview of Arden’s governmental structure and its finances.

Serving to March, 2008: Jack Dolmetsch, Matthew Lo
Serving to March, 2009: Jeff Politis, Barbara Shippy, Steve Tanzer
Alternate: David Michelson

Buzz Ware Village Center Committee

Willard Glenn, 429-7862, Chair
The BWVC Committee oversees maintenance, security and use of the center (2119 The Highway), which is owned by the village and formerly was our community school. The committee also administers leases and contracts for the building and plans programs of interest to the community. This building is a community resource, and the committee encourages its use by residents. Committee meetings are held in the evening on a monthly basis, year round. Click here to learn more about the Buzz or to reserve a room.

Serving to March, 2008: Randy Hoopes, Pam Politis
Serving to March, 2009: Maria Burslem, Willard Glenn, Laura Wallace
Alternate: Ellen Dolmetsch

Civic Committee

Susan Rothrock, 373-5270, Chair, ardencivic@theardens.com
The Civic Committee supervises maintenance and repair of roads, paths, greens and forests, as well as storm sewers. This includes determining when repairs are needed, soliciting competitive bids, and getting contractors to do necessary work. One member of the committee acts as liason with the trash collection company.

Serving to March, 2008: David Gerbec, Ann Schmittinger
Serving to March, 2009: Steven Blades, Dale Brumbaugh, Susan Rothrock
Alternate: Rodney Jester
Application for Road Excavation: MS Word | Acrobat PDF

Community Planning Committee

Ray Seigfried, 475-2721, Chair, planning@theardens.com
The Community Planning Committee plans the “physical and cultural future of the community.” It works with other committees to plan projects that have a major impact on the village, such as forest stewardship, watershed protection, landscape plans for the greens, Harvey Road traffic, and historic landmark status. It monitors county and state issues (such as re-zonings). The committee also has a few non-planning responsibilities that have historically fallen to it: overseeing the Memorial Garden (cemetery), and the annual woods cleanup.

Serving to March, 2008: Michael Falstad, Sally Sharp, Ray Seigfried
Serving to March, 2009: Terry Colgan, Ron Meick

Forest Committee

Carl Falco, 475-1976, Chair, forest@theardens.com
The Forest Committee implements Arden's Forest Stewardship
Policy, oversees trail improvement, tree felling in the woods, plant removal, and strives to prevent encroachment
and stream erosion.

Serving to March, 2008: Carl Falco, Elizabeth Varley
Serving to March, 2009: Alton Dahl, Mary Marconi, Ruth Panella
Alternate: Lou Bean

Playground Committee

Mary Vernon, 475-4440, Chair
The Playground Committee assures that the playground equipment on the Arden Green and Sherwood Green is in good, safe condition. The committee inspects the equipment every other month during the winter and every month during the summer. Members spread mulch in the play areas as needed and contract for painting and repair. They also recommend purchase of new equipment.

Serving to March, 2008: Clay Ridings, John Stevenson
Serving to March, 2009: Robert Bryan, Derrick Kennedy, Mary Vernon
Alternate: Leah Walker

Registration Committee

Cecilia Vore, 475-1976, Chair, registration@theardens.com
The Registration Committee conducts town elections and the annual referendum on the budget and Board of Assessors (held in the fall, after the September town meeting). Keeping track of the census and the list of registered voters are additional responsibilities of the committee.

Serving to March, 2008: Natalie Hubbard, Debbie Theis, Cecilia Vore
Serving to March, 2009: Ruth Bean, Beth Stevenson
Alternate: Elaine Hickey

Safety Committee

Denis O'Regan, 529-1269, Chair, ardenSafety@theardens.com
Broadly speaking, the committee handles safety issues. It replaces and installs stop signs, no parking signs, etc., throughout the town. It oversees the Town Watch for the three Ardens and acts as liason with the New Castle County Police, but it does NOT handle complaints that should be referred to the police.

Serving to March, 2008: Clay Ridings, Bill Theis
Serving to March, 2009: Randy Hoopes, Peter Renzetti, Denis O'Regan
Alternate: Barney King

Officers

Officers are elected and serve for one year at a time

Town Assembly Chair: Steven Threefoot, 475-3333. Conducts town meetings, is sometimes instructed to represent the town in an official capacity, and heads special committees.
Advisory Chair: Bill Theis, 475-1995. (See top of page.)
Town Secretary: Larry Walker, 475-3516. Takes minutes of town meetings and mails them to all residents before the next meeting. Also takes minutes for the Advisory and Civic Committees. Call the town secretary if you want to use Indian Circle, Field Theater or one of the greens for a special occasion such as a wedding.

Non-elected positions

Administrative assistant to the trustees
Elizabeth Varley, appointed by trustees.
Memorial Garden Representative
Ruth Bean, appointed by Community Planning.
Town Watch Coordinator
Pat Morrison, 529-1895, townwatch@theardens.com
- For emergencies, call 911 right away
- For non-emergencies, call New Castle County Police at 573-2800.
- Please contact the Town Watch Coordinator as well, but only AFTER you've called 911 or the police. The Town Watch Coordinator is not a law enforcement officer. She schedules town watch patrols and keeps track of incidents.

Trustees

Call 475-7980 for questions about leaseholds or other trustee issues.

The trustees collect the land rent, pay county and school taxes, oversee administrative costs of the trust, and see that the money remaining is spent in accordance with the approved budget. They also invest funds and approve the transfer of leases when houses are sold. Occasionally they decide on requests to divide lots or adjust boundaries (subject to zoning restrictions); give authorization to cut trees on leaseholds; deal with encroachment issues, housing code violations, and other matters related to the leaseholds as designated by the Deed of Trust. Often the trustees communicate with outside agencies affecting the welfare of the village. When a vacancy occurs, the remaining two trustees solicit input from the residents and nominate a new trustee. The nominee is then approved or disapproved in a referendum of all eligible voters. Election is for life.
Aaron Hamburger
Connee McKinney
Mike Curtis
The administrative assistant is Elizabeth Varley.

Assessors

The Board of Assessors establishes the land rent rates for Arden leaseholds, according to the Georgist principle of “full rental value” of the land. Since Henry George himself never spelled out how to calculate “full rental value,” this is no simple task. Nominations are made at the September town meeting; election is by referendum in the fall, using the Hare System of Proportional Representation.

Click here to see the Assessors' Web page.

Notes

*Convenors received the highest number of votes at last election. They are responsible for convening their committees within 30 days after their election, at which time a chair will be elected and the year's work outlined.

Committee chairs are responsible for scheduling committee meetings, attending (or assigning someone to attend) Advisory Committee meetings, giving (or having someone give) reports at Town Meetings, nominating two (2) people for every upcoming vacancy at the January Advisory meeting, keeping (or have someone keep) minutes of all committee meetings, and ensuring that the committee fulfills its responsibilities.

Alternates and Procedure for Filling a Vacancy: Alternates are the next-highest vote getters in the most recent election. They are recorded for the convenience of the committee as possible replacements for a vacancy. Should a vacancy occur in a committee, nominations are made at the next Town Meeting to complete the unfinished term. The committee may make a nomination; that nominee may be the alternate, but could be someone else. Election is by voice vote if there is only one nominee, by voice vote or secret ballot if there are two or more nominees.

*Ties in municipal elections are resolved at the next Town Meeting. Ties for “Alternates” do not need to be resolved, since both are possible replacements should a vacancy occur in the committee.

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Arden Assessors

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Buzz Ware Calendar | Arden Club Calendar

DIRECTIONS

Arden Secretary: 302 475-3516
Ardentown Secretary: 302 475-7467
Ardencroft Secretary: 302 529-1774