Spending Binge Must Stop In Ocean City
Editor:
The Mayor and City Council of the Town of Ocean City are on the verge of borrowing $28 million by selling General Obligation Bonds. The Council unanimously passed Ordinance 2017-17 on first reading on Nov. 6, 2017. Second reading and passage is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 20, 2017.
The Town plans to spend $14 million on another expansion of the convention center, with the State of Maryland putting in an additional $20.4 million, for a total cost of $34.4 million. The Town plans to spend $11 million on the Public Works & Transit Facility Project. Federal funds are earmarked to contribute another $18 million for a whopping $29 million project. The Public Works South Facility will cost the Town another $3 million.
The Town already gave up valuable space in the convention center to build the Performing Arts Center. Now they want to add another 30,000 square feet of exhibit space. The feasibility study raises a number of red flags that question whether such an expansion is feasible. City officials will tell us the food and beverage tax will pay for this expansion. However, we pay that tax every time we go out to eat in Ocean City. Furthermore, we subsidize the operating costs of the convention center every year with an average of $2.7 million with state and town tax dollars. With the expansion, that subsidy will likely increase. If the food and beverage tax formula ever dries up, the debt service falls back on the taxpayer.
The Public Works & Transit Facility Project is not a necessity. This construction calls for an $8 million dollar employee parking garage and a $3.4 million dollar bus storage facility. The plan also calls for a $4.8 million administration building to replace one that was built in 1984. An employee parking garage is nice, but is it really needed? A bus storage facility is nice, but most municipal buses throughout the State of Maryland sit out in the open year round. Finally, what is wrong with an addition to the existing administration building, as opposed to tearing down that structure and replacing it with a brand new building?
The total cost of these projects in federal, state and town dollars exceeds $66 million. The Mayor and City Council are about to spend $28 million dollars of that amount on projects that we really do not need. When is the spending binge going to stop? When are elected officials going to handle public funds, like we handle our private funds?
Vincent dePaul Gisriel, Jr.
Ocean City
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Status Quo Will Continue
Editor:
Resistance to the Town of Ocean City’s attempts to counter intemperate behavior from renters in predominately residential areas and during car events are indicative of myopic thinking on the part of select council members and business leaders.
I am dismayed that John Gehrig, Wayne Hartman, Stephen Carullo, John Groves and Susan Jones wave the revenue flag and remind us that even misbehaving participants at those events fill the bars, hotels, condos and restaurants. Would they support an ISIS convention in Ocean City using that same rationale?? Maybe not because ISIS participants wouldn’t be in the bars.
Since those issues have been kicked down the beach highway and given to committees for deliberation, I doubt little will be accomplished and the status quo will be maintained. Failure to address the vexing issues cited above and resurgence of violence on the Boardwalk, plus increasing crime, prompted me to sell my Ocean City home of 31 years.
Being born and raised on the Eastern Shore and having had a life-long love affair with Ocean City, I reluctantly moved to Carolina Beach, N.C. to be the beneficiary of more enlightened civic leadership.
John D. Howard
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Median Fence A Waste
Editor:
Just a few years ago, we taxpayers spent millions of dollars to beautify and make safety upgrades to Coastal Highway including expensive improvements to the median. Millions of tax dollars were spent to purchase and install plantings and brick pavers in the median. With the exceptions of some law-breaking visitors (“jaywalkers”) to the city crossing at points not designated as crosswalks, that system has proven to be an attractive addition to the highway and overall had a positive impact on traffic flow at intersections controlled by signals.
Now, all of those improvements are being removed and replaced with another expensive “improvement” to the median. This “initial” stage will be $4.5 million for the section from 62nd Street (Route 90) to the Convention Center. Officials tell us that there additional stages planned for future years with costs yet to be determined.
Because visitors to Ocean City won’t follow the rules by crossing at crosswalks, they have forced their fellow taxpayers to spend millions of dollars to make them walk an extra block or two to cross the highway.
Now Ocean City is planning to form a “task force” to figure out how to make visitors such as H20i follow the law when they are visiting our town.
Paul Harvey had it right: “Self-Government without Self-Discipline won’t work.”
“Non-Resident” property owner,
Robert Coffman
Mechanicsburg, Pa.
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The Last Hurrah
Editor:
There are seaside cities along the coast of California that are deserted and broke from unbridled increases in government and union expenses. This was caused by a political class gone wild spending other people’s money, often for alleged public safety or sometimes to pander to a special interest.
We don’t need to go to California to see the collapse of a seaside resort caused by destructive government. Just north of us, in Atlantic City, graffiti, vacancies, and lawlessness are the lingering consequence of elevated government controls and costs in the 1970’s, prior to the casinos, that have persisted for almost 50 years.
Rather than talk about the boondoggle of cross-pollinated tax dollars in the tens of millions, presently ear marked for public works and other embedded projects, look at where we are and what we might expect following eight years of destructive governance engineered by local politicians since the last recession in 2009.
Over the last eight years in Ocean City, similar to many other places, there have been two general political advocacies to deal with the uncertainties of the future. These public rules have been spearheaded locally by two biological cousins.
Vince Gisriel has advocated frugality to deal with the uncertainties of the future. The theory goes that, no matter what the uncertainty of the future brings, we are better off by spending less, by having fewer annual obligations, and having less debt. Vince believes that the best medicine for the uncertainty of the future for local government is financial strength, little or no debt, reasonable annual municipal obligations, low taxes, low expenses, and low costs. This view has not gained political favor.
Rick Meehan, the mayor, has a different view. When you can access local regional, state, and, in some cases, federal matching tax dollars, no expense with the public’s money is too great for consideration. If you can find a way to get these taxes from other jurisdictions, as well, municipal borrowing is fine even when the project has little or no public value, because you are getting a chunk from others. Unfortunately, Rick’s spending approach has dominated in Ocean City for almost 30 years and has caused the costs of regular citizens and businesses to skyrocket. The higher costs to live and do business locally are directly related to Rick’s blue-skies philosophy over the last 30 years, and have increased over the last nine years since the 2009 recession.
Over the last 30 years, the local government has grown by 20 times while the resident population hasn’t changed and tourist population is up around 60%. Even town hall meetings are mostly attended by government staff, not residents. Feeding this local government beast has become the greatest challenge of the local political class at the costly expense of citizens, businesses, and tourists who have greatly curtailed their stays with us, due to cost.
Next year, Mr. Meehan’s chickens may be coming home to roost! Revenues will continue to decline, despite a larger tax base. It appears that there will be some vacancies among tee-shirt shops on the boardwalk. Taxes will be raised again, causing more price increases and hardship among residents, businesses, and eventually tourists as the unquenchable monster of government digests more local assets.
When the smoke clears in coming years, the only ones Mr. Meehan’s government leviathan will allow to benefit will be very wealthy large businesses, since increased costs of government on business erect barriers of entry to small competitors. Eventually even these mega businesses will be crushed by the leviathan of government, in an increasingly sclerotic city.
Tony Christ
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Education Foundation Grateful For Generosity
Editor:
On behalf of the Worcester County Education Foundation Board of Directors, we extend our heartfelt thanks to the Honorary Co-Chairs of our inaugural Evening at the Cotton Club event, Leighton and Rebecca Moore. Our sold out Cotton Club event on November 3, which netted between $60,000 and $65,000, would not have been possible without the Moores’ generosity or without the help of Seacrets dynamic logistics team: Scott Studds, Rachalle Spicer, DJ, Bulldog, Jason Cruz, and the rest of the crew. Phil Cropper, Caitlin Evans and the Worcester Tech High School culinary students outdid themselves by producing an authentic five-course Prohibition era dinner, which was served in Seacrets beautiful Distillery. The meal was amazing. We are very grateful to Phil Cropper and Caitlin for donating their treasure, time and talent.
We would also like to thank our major sponsors: PRMC, Gillis Gilkerson, APPI Energy, Phil Cropper & Keith Hall, Jack Burbage Foundation, Anderson Generations Family Fund, Bank of Ocean City, AGH Board of Directors, AGH Foundation, First Shore Federal S&L, IMG, Carousel Group, Ropewalk OC, LLC, Old Pro Golf – Judy Schoellkopf, PRMC Foundation, Shenanigans, Park Place Jewelers, DBA Breakthru Beverage MD, Castle in the Sand, Brighton Hotels, LLC, Tim and Jamie Frank, Maryland Coast Dispatch, Ayres, Jenkins, Gordy & Almand, Rick and Caroline Bloxom, Oak Contracting, Kim Messick, Peck Miller Group, Sheila Zimmer and Steve Luddy.
Delicious “Lite Bites” were provided all evening by generous local restaurants including Ropewalk, Seacrets, Bull on the Beach, 32 Palm, Sunset Grille, Ky West, Crack of Dawn, Longboard Café, Hooked, Desserts by Rita, Brass Balls Saloon, Cupcakes by Frosted, Wockenfuss Candies and Big Fish.
Over 500 educators were able to attend either the Cotton Club event or the Launch free of charge because of our generous $500 Bronze donors who purchased Tickets for Teachers. Bronze donors include Becker Morgan Group, Harrison House of Snow Hill Senior Living, Calvin B. Taylor, Reel Inn, Nationwide, Dough Roller, Pit n Pub, The Green Turtle, Calvin B. Taylor, Dr. Farouk and Mrs. Shirley Sultani, Jolly Rogers, Burbage Funeral Home, Dr. John Quinn, and the Ocean City Elks Lodge #2645. On behalf of those lucky educators, thank you.
Rooms for the Manhattan band were provided by the Princess Royale and their meals by Seacrets and Uber Bagels. Piano entertainment in the Cotton Club Lounge was provided by Elsworth Wheatley, flower arrangements in the Speakeasy dinner were donated by Flowers by Alison and props for the event were donated by Jack Shapiro. A successful promotion campaign would not have been possible without the generosity of OC Today, Maryland Coast Dispatch, and D3Corp Printing. We are enormously grateful.
Our grand Chinese Auction of over 40 baskets was coordinated by our fabulous Teacher Champions from each of our 14 Worcester County schools. So many guests walked out the door with incredible prizes! And we would be remiss if we did not mention all the good sports, who made generous donations at the urging of Betty Boop during her Live Ask. Thank you to those generous donors and to Sandy Gillis, aka Betty Boop, our comical MC.
Last but not least, the WCEF would like to acknowledge all the long hours and hard work that the events’ committee put into creating an incredible sold out inaugural event. The dynamo committee of Susan Trimble, Dawn Peterson, Sue Carpenter, Danelle Amos, and Patti Miller did a great job of capturing the community’s attention and introducing the great work the Worcester County Education Foundation is doing for teachers, students, and the future of Worcester County.
The WCEF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to supporting teachers by providing annual grants, allowing instructors to purchase innovative teaching tools that enhance learning, supporting students by providing necessary digital tools so every child has an equal opportunity to succeed, by assisting with the digital upgrades of our 14 schools, and by establishing an endowment that will create a perpetual funding mechanism for future needs of our schools. Learn how to get involved at www.wced.foundation or contact Hope Palmer at [email protected]
It truly takes a village to raise a child. The village came out to support education on Friday, Nov. 3 and we are truly grateful.
Patti Miller
Ocean City
(The writer is the events chair of the WCEF.)