Voices From The Readers

Voices From The Readers
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Keep On Speaking

Out Against Treatment

Editor:

I emailed your fine Mayor Richard Meehan regarding the harassment during bike week and I got nowhere. He said he would phone me and I did get a message on my phone while I was at work so I emailed him back and gave him my cell but he never called again.

Let me ask you what your industry in Ocean City is. I believe it is tourism. So let’s try this, if someone in Ocean City invented a car that got 150 miles to the gallon of gasoline and built a factory that employed many of your residents to build and sell these cars that would be good. Wouldn’t it? Well maybe it would be good until they saw 30 cars at the border on their way there to purchase one of your fine cars that were just waiting to harass them. If that happened and they were followed, pulled over and harassed to no end, you would lose business and once word got that this was happening your business would suffer.

What would happen next? I think your politicians would need voted out of office so that the business could prosper. I mean if government harassed my customers I would do anything I could do to get them voted out of office maybe even run for office myself. Mayor Rick Meehan lost my first letter so I emailed him a second time asking for a response. I got a generic answer about making sure the laws were followed in Ocean City and that we agree you should have a lawful and orderly city. I know I want that where I live. But we don’t harass our people to obtain this.

I have been doing a lot of thinking about this situation and even consider moving there and running for office myself. Someone needs to stand up to these bullies and show them how you welcome people in a community that makes its living in the tourism industry. I do know that I don’t want to experience anything like that again. We are hard working people that pay our taxes and these people made us feel like criminals on the run looking over our shoulders everywhere we went.

I am hoping that the people of Ocean City make a stand and say enough of this unnecessary bad treatment of our visitors. Please if you feel the same way I would love to see your letters in the paper. I know I have quite a following now over this and I welcome any emails from you [email protected].

David A Orazio

Lexington Park, Md.

City’s Legal Expenses

Merit Major Changes

Editor:

Ocean City residents have a real opportunity to make major changes in the City Council membership with the upcoming October elections.

A major change is needed for no other reason than to put into office new council members who will change the way legal advice is obtained by the Ocean City government. Guy Ayres, a private sector attorney, has provided legal advice to the city for at least the last 15 years. During the past two years, Ocean City paid the law firm of Guy Ayres $518,000. Moreover, this amount does not include $448,000 that was paid to another law firm for representing Ocean City in a recent lawsuit.

The payments to these two law firms totaled $966,000. City Council members must be held accountable for allowing this significant amount of money to be paid for legal advice. Alternative ways of obtaining legal advice for Ocean City must be considered.

Ocean City employs a full-time Director of Public Works, Chief Engineer, Director of Finance, Fire Chief and Police Chief. It is about time that Ocean City employs a full-time attorney instead of paying private sector law firms for legal assistance. In my view, voting individuals who have not served as council members is the only way to bring about the needed change.

Dick Quinn

Ocean City

Proposal For Congress

Editor:

There should be a law that forbids co-mingling of appropriation bills in Congress. This would eliminate the temptation of ear marking and pork barrel legislation. How hard would this be?

Dr. Paul J. Conway

Berlin