Thursday, August 21 – Knight Becomes First OC Incumbent To File

OCEAN CITY – While Election Day won’t come until October for several local council members and hopefuls, at least one elected official has her eye on the prize for the next four years.

City Council member Mary Knight filed with the City Clerk’s office Tuesday, kicking off her campaign for City Council for the upcoming election.

Knight was elected to a two-year term in 2006, after the votes revealed her as the fourth highest recipient of votes, securing her a two-year seat on the City Council. By virtue of her fourth-place finish, Knight served the remaining two years of Rick Meehan’s council term after he was ran for mayor.

This year, four spots will be available on the City Council, as Council members Nancy Howard, Knight, Jay Hancock and Jim Hall are all up for election this year. The filing date is Sept. 23 with the election on Oct. 21.

To date, only two people have filed, Knight and Sean Rox, who according to the City Clerk, filed in November 2007.

After filing on Tuesday, Knight highlighted her reasons this week for running again in an interview with The Dispatch.

“The major reason is because I absolutely love it. I love the constituents and I love serving them. It’s a great way to serve the community and I have truly enjoyed being a part of the council,” she said.

In her public service career here in the resort, Knight has served on the Ocean City Grievance Committee and as the Labor Commissioner. As a council member, she currently serves on the Tourism and Coastal Resources Committees.

Knight mentioned a few issues that concern her for the next four years, from tourism to the budget.

“In January, we’re definitely going to see lower tax assessments for the city,” she said, adding that as a result, revenue for the town will go down.

With the coffers not being quite as full, Knight hopes to find ways to bolster tourism dollars, despite a predictably tighter budget.

“I think it’s really crucial that we keep that tourism dollar up. We have to continue those proactive efforts to keep the tourism dollar up,” Knight said.

For the complete story and all the rest of the week’s news, see The Dispatch tomorrow morning.