The incumbent Ocean City Mayor and Council members maintain not everything is as it seems at City Hall. While the votes might be 7-0 in most cases, some of the incumbents made it clear in recent weeks there is typically plenty of discourse prior to that happening. While that was extolled as a good thing, it’s not unless the discourse is happening in public view, as it did this week during the plumbing ordinance discussion that resulted in a 5-2 vote. We maintain hashing out differences behind closed doors and then holding a phony vote is exactly how government should not be operating. The good news is that doesn’t appear to be happening a lot.
In Ocean City’s case, it hasn’t appeared obvious differences were being dealt with privately before public votes were taken. It’s disturbing to hear from candidates looking to retain their seats that has been taking place over the last two years. The comments have been made to try and dispel candidate John Gehrig’s claims that the four incumbents have “one voice” and that it’s four against one in this election cycle.
We would encourage Ocean City officials to drop this game of charades and let the public hear what they are disagreeing about in open meetings. These sorts of conversations should be held in public at all times, rather than portraying a silly image of comradery when it might not always exist in reality.
If it weren’t for the incumbents’ obvious attempts to sink Gehrig’s assertion that they vote in line as a team on most matters, this would have been a fairly dull campaign season. It’s a simple situation. The four incumbents are fond of each other and they want to continue to work together. They don’t want any changes at City Hall. They made that clear in January when they announced their intentions to seek re-election as a team in a show of “solidarity.”
That’s all well and good and the council overall seems to be functioning well, but we think the council would benefit from a new face and fresh perspective.
Gehrig is an outstanding candidate and will be a bold and independent voice on the council. Ocean City needs his perspective. He is an active participant in local community organizations and a successful entrepreneur and businessman with a young family. That’s been a profile missing from the council for many years. Contrary to what the incumbents and their supporters believe, he will not, if elected, be one to intentionally disrupt City Hall and look to divide the council. He has been unfairly painted as a rogue individual looking to disturb City Hall because he had the gall to file for office and disrupt the incumbents’ plans to cruise to re-election without a vote being cast.
Gehrig was right to challenge the incumbent team. More individuals with an interest should have filed. Nobody, no matter how effective and successful, should just be given their elected seats without a challenge in our opinion, particularly people who have only been in office for one term or less. Gehrig is a formidable foe. He is in the mold of council members from years past. It was once common place for business owners with young families to seek a seat on the council because they wanted to be active in how their community was governed.
The council needs to be comprised of diverse representation in our opinion. A citizen body made up of business owners, retired professional types and individuals with interests in real estate, retail and hospitality is ideal. Gehrig brings with him knowledge of the area, independence of thought and passion for smart tourism. He is a quick study and will adeptly learn how government functions in quick fashion, particularly the detailed process involved with crafting the budget.
Along with Gehrig, we support incumbents Doug Cymek, Dennis Dare and Mary Knight. We see two-year incumbent Tony DeLuca, an admirable councilman, on the outside looking in only because of the strength of Gehrig’s candidacy and the need for diversity of backgrounds on the council.
Cymek brings a worker bee mentality to the council and is a student of government. After winning four years ago, he said he would not be running again in 2016. He changed his mind because of his love for the city and serving the community. Cymek maintains a low profile in Ocean City and is absent most community celebrations and business events, but his behind the scenes research and brainstorming is valuable as a councilman. He is effective in his role of chairman of the police commission and his allegiance to the men and women in blue is helpful when it comes to contract negotiations with the local lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police. Cymek deserves to serve one more term.
Dare is arguably the most qualified candidate ever to serve as an Ocean City councilman, based on his 30-plus years working at City Hall as city engineer and city manager. His familiarity with public government operations is routinely apparent during council meetings as well as at the subcommittee level. As the highest vote getter in the 2012 election, Dare came in with high expectations and he did nothing over the last four years to disappoint the voters. As a retiree, he is an active community member with a number of groups. That makes him easily approachable for concerned citizens should they have a gripe. As he was as city manager, he speaks in a succinct manner publicly, but thanks to his experience and familiarity with local government he is listened to intently.
Knight is a quality council member who has grown during her 10-year tenure in office. Tourism is her passion and that’s evident with her serving admirably as chair of the town’s tourism commission for several years. An argument could be made that Knight, who is the current council secretary, works the hardest on being prepared before every council meeting. She is an articulate official who has during her decade of public service gained a deep understanding of how Ocean City’s government works on multiple levels. She has an independent mind and will go against the majority opinion on occasion. She invests a lot of time and energy to being an elected official and her knowledge has grown as a result. Voters would be wise to give her another vote of confidence.
