Dewey United Against Beachfront 5G Poles
If you were searching for something that would unite the people of Dewey Beach, Monday morning’s protest against the Verizon beach antenna sites is probably the closest you will ever find.
This issue has united the town’s people with members of the business community against a common foe, Verizon. The protest was led by Dan Dionisio, the Save Dewey Beach chairman, who has lived in town for 16 months.
“This has been an FCC-led tsunami and Dewey was hit by the first wave before anyone really knew what was coming or what their rights were,” Dionisio told the group. “As soon as the poles went up,” he said, “there was a collective pain in this town that could be felt and it showed itself in every conversation I was part of.”
Among those attending the protest were Mayor Dale Cooke, former Mayor Diane Hanson, Comm. Paul Bauer, Town Manager Bill Zolper and bar owner Alex Pires. Refreshments were provided by Pires and Steve Montgomery of The Starboard. Also at the protest were about 100 attendees including Rehoboth Beach Comm. Jay Lagree and Jeffrey Smith from the Dewey Citizens for Accountability. Noticeably missing were the state representatives.
Dionisio called Monday’s event both a celebration and protest because “we need to show our leaders that we are not going away.”
