Dover Votes to Resume in-Person Town Council Meetings

The January 1 government reorganization meeting will be the first public meeting in eight months.

The doors will be open, and the public is welcome to attend the January 1 Town Council meeting. (Photo/DOVERNOW)

By Mario Marroquin

Dover Town Council and Mayor James P. Dodd voted to restore in-person access to Town Hall during their last meeting of the year. The legislation was approved by all members present during the meeting, including several members who will no longer be serving next year. 

Residents and members of the public will be allowed to attend meetings in person starting with its January 1 reorganization meeting. DOVERNOW.com reported that during the May 27 

Council meeting, a man showed up wearing a head-to-toe burqa, claiming he was a woman, and refused to remove the face covering. Mayor Dodd then called for a recess and returned to vote in favor of the ban. Council member Sandra Wittner cast the lone dissenting vote. 

Council members Sergio Rodriguez, Mike Scarneo, Arturo Santana, and Claudia Toro, along with Mayor Dodd, voted to approve the resolution to resume in-person meetings in 2026. Mayor Dodd did not provide a comment about the resolution to restore in-person meetings. 

Mayor Dodd and Dover Chief of Police Jonathan Delaney, who have been at odds and on opposite sides of several legal disputes for more than a year, briefly appeared working together at the meeting, which might signal a resolution to their long-standing spat. Chief Delaney introduced a resolution to approve an update to the town’s security system and interrogation rooms, which was endorsed by the mayor, as well as a resolution to hire four additional officers to replace retiring officers and to create a traffic division in the town’s police department. Both resolutions were approved. 

However, the bulk of the town council’s last meeting was spent on several ordinances surrounding real estate and businesses in the city. Council and the mayor voted to adopt an ordinance for a redevelopment plan for a 0.3-acre lot with a rooming house located at the corner of South Morris and Monmouth streets. 

Administrators also voted to approve a tax incentive agreement for the redevelopment of three lots by JR Asset Urban Renewal, which intends to redevelop the lots at 69, 71, 73 and 75 W. Blackwell Street.  

The town council also moved to unilaterally approve the creation of the town’s special improvement district downtown, which aims to generate new sources of revenue to promote businesses in the area. Mayor Dodd, Town Planner Alex Dougherty, and the town’s Business Administrator/CFO Edward Ramirez have all been loud proponents of the special business district, which could generate up to $1.2 million annually to beautify downtown and make it more appealing to shoppers and visitors. The creation of the Business Improvement District, they said, can also unlock federal and state grants for the town through the creation of an administrative non-profit entity.

The meeting concluded with outgoing Council members Toro, Rodriguez, and Scarneo delivering closing remarks about their tenures. The three thanked Mayor Dodd, council members, and town residents for their time as administrators. Dodd thanked the outgoing council members and presented them with a plaque commemorating their time on the Council. Toro and Scarneo expressed best wishes to incoming Council members Daniella Mendez, Judith Rugg, and Christopher Almada.

 Dodd also mentioned that Council Member Scarneo, who has been a member of the Dover Planning Board for many years, will be reappointed to that same board in 2026.