Ocean City is in the midst of a public infrastructure boom it seems. Several major projects have recently been completed including the new north Ocean City fire station and the Caroline Street Comfort Station. One that kicked off on Monday was the new Ocean City Beach Patrol headquarters. Another one entering its final phase of construction is the new performing arts center. Add to this the new fire station headquarters project on 15th Street that will soon get underway and it’s safe to say Ocean City has returned its focus to modernizing its infrastructure. This is not to even mention the St. Louis Ave. reconstruction, which is a major improvement.
These initiatives were touched on a bit by Councilman Dennis Dare this week in personal comments made at the end of the meeting. As the former long-time city manager, Dare was involved in many of the early talks on these projects, and he seemed almost giddy about seeing them become reality, particularly this week’s ceremonial start to the beach patrol building.
“This morning we broke ground for the new beach patrol headquarters. This project I worked on for many years as city manager. It seems like I was constantly tearing down where the beach patrol was, and moving them somewhere else, so it was a great sense of accomplishment this morning to be able to break ground on that. As the mayor said in his remarks, he looked at me and said that I can mark this one off of my bucket list,” Dare said.
Although it’s a major project downtown, other efforts are also underway, such as the performing arts auditorium, which will be completed by December.
“It is an exciting time now as we begin construction of the beach patrol headquarters, and we are about to cut the ribbon on Fire Station 4, and it is not going to be too long before we are going to be cutting the ribbon at the convention center for the new Performing Arts Center but there is a lot left to do. There are a lot of items left on the bucket list over the next two years, so I wanted to take the opportunity tonight to thank the citizens of Ocean City for giving me this opportunity,” Dare said.
It’s a guarantee there will be two new faces on the Ocean City Council this fall.
Councilman Joe Mitrecic, who has served two terms on the council and was elected to his third two years ago, will be moving on to the Worcester County Commissioners by virtue of being unopposed, although he had planned to resign his seat on the council even if he faced opposition. The remainder of Mitrecic’s term — two years — will be secured by the fourth-place finisher in this November’s election.
Additionally, Councilwoman Margaret Pillas confirmed her intentions this week to not seek a third term. Throughout her career, Pillas has made it clear she had no plans to be a “lifer” on the council. After winning her second term four years ago, she remarked this would be her last term so her announcement was not a surprise this week.
Incumbent Council members Lloyd Martin, first elected back in 2002, and Brent Ashley, elected in 2010, are also up for re-election and private indications are both will seek new terms. Mayor Rick Meehan is up for re-election as well and he will be on the ballot again. It will be interesting to see if anyone challenges the mayor, who was elected in 2006 after serving 21 years previously as a councilman.
With the filing deadline less than three weeks away, it’s been quiet thus far on the resort political front, but things got a little steamy last week when candidate Joe Cryer lashed out on Facebook at a prominent business owner, among others, with some anti-Semitic remarks and several charged accusations about him and his business practices. Cryer sought a seat on the council back in 2006. In that election, the political newcomer received 257 votes, which placed him in second to last place in that race.
Cryer posted his bold and unfounded claims on several City Council members’ Facebook pages, including Doug Cymek, who crafted a post to make it clear he was not associated with him in any way. Facebook eventually got involved and the posts were removed. In his post, Cymek said to Cryer, “you have undoubtedly caused yourself irreparable harm as far as any political aspirations you may have here in the Town of Ocean City. There is certainly no place in our local government for individuals that make such vile statements as you have done.”
Republican Delegate Mike McDermott knows he has to go negative to knock off incumbent Senator Jim Mathias in November’s election. Mathias has never lost an election, dating back to his Ocean City Council days, and has garnered a reputation as an ardent campaigner.
At my house in Berlin over the weekend, I was apparently visited by Republican supporters, as a batch of literature was left on my stoop supporting candidates Charles Otto, who is seeking the House of Delegates District 38A seat; Larry Hogan for governor; and McDermott for Senate.
As is typical, McDermott’s literature promotes his community contributions and political record, but there was a separate business card included in the packet encouraging residents to log on to LiberalJim.com, a website created by the McDermott camp that examines just about every vote Mathias has made in his Senate career.
There is no question McDermott is the underdog in this race. That’s why he has to sling some proverbial mud, but Mathias has never gone that route in previous elections, even during the heated showdown four years ago with Michael James.
It will be interesting to watch over the coming weeks how or if Mathias answers his fiery opponent’s negative attacks.