The "Make Georgetown Great Again" Facebook page scored a major victory in elections this week that brought a new mayor and majority on the city council. In our partnership with Spotlight Delaware Delmarva Public Media's Don Rush talks with reporter Nick Stonesifer about the implications of the elections.
RUSH: A set of candidates who had been attacking how Georgetown has been handling the homeless swept into office this week. This is Don Rush. The election saw Angie Townsend succeed Mayor Bill West, who decided not to run for another term. Michael Briggs, unseeded Eric Evans, while another incumbent ran unopposed. Meanwhile, it appeared to be a big win for the group "Make Georgetown Great Again." Who backed them? Tyler Scott, founder of the Facebook page told Spotlight Delaware that his group had drastically changed the landscape of Georgetown. At the heart of the recent controversies had been complaints about the homeless. Scott said that he was concerned about what he called the town's fragmented service providers. Meanwhile, Townsend told the Spanish language radio station Maxima that she wants to discontinue the Shepherd's Office, a day center that provides daily meals and church services for the homeless. She complained that it attracts homeless people from other towns and also took a shot at the tent encampment in the woods. In our partnership with Spotlight Delaware, we talked with reporter Nick Stonesifer about the outcome of the election.
STONESIFER: Angie Townsend won with I think what was 75% of the mayoral vote, and she's a former town council member. She failed to unseat Bill West in 2024, I believe, by only less than 35 votes, something like that. So she's been familiar in the town. She's had a presence. Her competitor was relatively new to politics. My understanding is that she kind of put together a blitz campaign and really only had a few weeks of momentum before the election. Townsend definitely won by wide margin, definitely in part because of her endorsement from Make Georgetown Great Again and the cown council race [with the] similar Make Georgetown Areat Again Candidate also just swept that race. He had more than like 80% of the vote. It was pretty wide, concrete decisions. Really wasn't really much room for a recount.
RUSH: I assume that this wasn't really necessarily a surprise.
STONESIFER: No, I mean definitely not for the residents involved in the Make Georgetown Great Again group. I mean, they're a group of nearly 6,000 people all seemed to be pretty active and involved in town issues. And I think for the candidates that were backed by them, they seem to have wanted to, my understanding is not distance themselves from it, but they weren't running on behalf of the group.
RUSH: And I guess the key issue in all of this has been just this battle over what the city should do in terms of homelessness.
STONESIFER: Yeah, I mean, in recent months between West and the Town Council, they've been taking a beating on homelessness. The Make Georgetown Great Again group has really come out in force against what's been going on in the town. So what actually gets done about it is get to be seen. And once they get in power, what ability they have to actually manage the problem is kind of unclear at the moment in my eyes.
RUSH: What's the sense you get about, for instance, what Townsend wants to do, what the group wants to do?
STONESIFER: My understanding is that they take issue with the Shepherd's Office in downtown Georgetown. They also seem to have an issue with the homeless encampment up on the train tracks. So what they do is really yet to be seen.
RUSH: It does seem as if a lot of the towns, particularly in Delaware, are struggling with this issue of homelessness.
STONESIFER: It's a nationwide problem. We're not seeing it just in Delaware. Everywhere is having this problem between housing and cost of living. Many things can put you out on the street typically, not just drugs and alcohol. There are plenty of cost drivers that are putting people out and for some municipalities, they're starting to feel it. They're starting to see it as becoming more visible and they're having a more visible reaction.
RUSH: Spotlight Delaware reporter Nick Stonesifer on the major change stemming from this week's city elections in Georgetown. You're listening to Delmarva Today. This is Don Rush.
