Letter Of Thanks, Explanation
Editor:
There are many that I would like to thank. First, Vicki Magin of Ocean Pines who, one year ago, launched the petition to save the Rapoport property and the Dumsers’ business location at the Boardwalk and S. Division Streets in Ocean City. Diane Whittington, also of Ocean Pines, has been an integral part of this effort. Their energy and ongoing dedication to this cause is remarkable. It was six months after launching the petition that I got to meet them for the first time to express my gratitude for their extraordinary effort. Finally, to the thousands upon thousands who have signed the petition, voiced their opinions and written words of encouragement, my appreciation is without measure.
Nathan’s Associates and the Town of Ocean City have been involved in a lawsuit for almost two and a half years. A suit initiated because of a letter from the attorney for the Town in May, 2016 that ordered us to vacate the premises by Sept. 19, 2016 with no compensation whatsoever. At that time, this property had been in our family for 104 years.
The case went to trial in April 2017. The trial was delayed by two weeks, but we were not given the reason for the delay. We assumed that it had been delayed because of the illness of the judge. At 8:30 a.m. on the morning of trial, we were notified of a change of judge — to one who had retired a number of years prior. The judge who would now hear our case had been the attorney representing the Town of Ocean City in the 1970’s. This came as a complete surprise and left me wondering how a judge who had represented Ocean City for many years could now be the one who would decide this case.
Many have made statements directed to Ocean City to the effect of, “Please don’t tear it down. Shame on those who would tear it down,” and those people are right on point. It is the direct result of Ocean City’s attempt to take our property that has put our building at risk. It was the decision of the judge who said, in his opinion, that the building be torn down, because he held that the city held no interest in the building. We made a motion asking that his decision be stayed until we had a chance to file our appeal. He turned it down. We then made a second motion which was also turned down. After these two turn-downs, we were able to file our appeal with the Court of Special Appeals in Annapolis, and the Court of Special Appeals granted our motion to put a stay on the judge’s order until the appeal is decided. Oral Argument is scheduled in November. If we do not win on appeal, per the Judge’s Order, our building will be destroyed.
This is not the first time that the city had attempted a like action. It tried this same maneuver 27 years ago. That suit filed against us was based upon a claim that was patently untrue. Ocean City lost the case, but that did not stop it from trying this again in 2016.
As of now, we have 106 years of continuous ownership and have just completed the 107th summer season. The longevity of our family’s possession and control of this property, and our relationship with this Town and Worcester County mean too much to me to allow myself to be bullied in this fashion. Right is right and wrong is wrong. Thank you again for your continued support as we continue this fight.
Mona Strauss
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Median Fence Not A Success
Editor:
The letter is in response to last week’s story, “Median Fence Achieved Early Safety Goal, Officials Believe.”
That our local politicians and their public officials try to justify their wasteful use of our taxpayer dollars for the construction (and wish for continued expansion) of the tacky aluminum fence on Coastal Highway citing statistically insignificant accident anecdotes is hardly surprising but still far from convincing.
Please spare the rest of Ocean City from this perhaps well-intentioned but definitely naïve attempt to control foolish behavior. I am sure others have also seen kids following their dads squeezing between the new fence and traffic! (instead of on the relative safety of an island) looking for the opening… Far better and more economical to ticket these actual jay walkers (and bikers going on and off sidewalks on to the highway (in the wrong direction and through red lights) than to erect a permanent, expensive and distracting eyesore for all of us.
Now local officials want to install more expensive barriers to protect us on the Boardwalk. If they want to personally pay for it, fine, but I suggest we just paint the current ones the same color as the seawall and let our politicians and local officials enjoy the enormous savings on a well-deserved paid retreat at the beach (if a spontaneous protest breaks out against those devastating windmills out on the horizon well…).
Al Burk
Ocean City
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Response To Letter
Editor:
I was reviewing the letter to the editor in The Dispatch on Aug. 31.
The first that came to mind was their prominent position in the local area and further of Sandy and Palmer Gillis and their philanthropic activities, support to the 14th Annual Sand Castle Home Tour and participation on many Board of Directors and other business activities. I contemplated whether to write this letter however the presentation and content of your letter were overwhelming, and I had to assume you were attacking the president because his political views did not conform to your many business and financial ventures.
The second thing that came to mind is the aggressive and egregious context of the letters to the editor. There were many topics where opinions were provided, generalized statements made, talk of rich people and those who own yachts, the “Ugly American”, others and most notable trashing President Trump, everyone’s president and his policies. I will not take time to address each subject but let the other readers draw similar conclusions. You refer to free speech and took full advantage of that right. As it is written, you cannot tolerate the Trump flag calling it as “…revolting as a confederate flag as to others “(not us)” Not an acceptable position (not us). Referring to the marinas “expensive yachts” flying the Trump flag, many of those yachts are for hire, the owners business, not pleasure and I am sure you could afford one if you don’t already own one. Remember understand free speech).
Actually, there is one more subject in your letter to address. That is the reference to when national budget problems were created. You reference the recent tax cuts. Please review the significant budget problem at the end of the Obama presidency and how much of the national budget was wasted during his presidency.
I am not going to take any more time to respond to all your issues but let others do so nor am I going in to the economics of financing. I am sorry that your subject makes you “sad and sickening”. There are many remedies for that condition. I do commend you for offering your home on “Gillis Island” to house the “pARTY of the Year” and all other philanthropic involvement in which you participate.
Sorry if my response appears harsh and insensitive but it is responding to a letter to the editor that was presented in the same criteria. I am sure there are those in Ocean City, the surrounding area and in Worchester County that appreciate you and your wife. Having said that just don’t degrade those American’s that have other political views and voted for President Trump and not crocket Hillary.
William Sheridan
Ocean Pines
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Who Is Next In Pines?
Editor:
With this summer’s resident goose roundup still casting a pall over our Ocean Pines community, my neighbors and I are wondering which of God’s creatures will be next on the hit list.
Will it be the buzzards? My next door neighbor has a flock of buzzards roosting in his trees every night, and they poop. There are piles of poop under those trees. This has been going on for years. It’s quite remarkable that despite the long-term exposure to buzzard poop, my neighbor still manages to get his yard work done and is one of the healthiest people I’ve ever met.
Perhaps raccoons will be a future target. I doubt if a mass murder of raccoons would cause nearly as much anger in the community as with the geese, as raccoons are a known carrier of rabies. Since they are carnivores, their poop is probably quite nasty. Do you suppose the Ocean Pines Gestapo is secretly amassing a huge collection of raccoon traps, even as I write this? Maybe that’s where some of the missing money went.
We shudder to think that our fearless leaders may even be working on a hidden agenda to round up and euthanize some of us resident humans, too. Like the resident geese, most of us came here from somewhere else because Ocean Pines has all of the amenities that any goose or human could possibly want. However, there are now too many humans here. We are creating such problems as traffic congestion, overcrowding in restaurants, long lines in the supermarket, and we poop. Some of us poop a lot, and human poop is one of the most toxic substances that any living thing could be exposed to. Ocean Pines’ sewer system must be stressed to the max by now.
Since it’s better to be safe than sorry, many of us humans are busily prepping in the event we should hear those dreaded knocks on our doors during the wee hours of the morning. We’ve learned a lesson from the geese, and will not be caught off-guard. Although we are going to be totally prepared, none of us believe such a thing will actually happen as long as the money keeps rolling in from our assessment fees. It’s all about the money. If those poor geese had been giving them money to throw away, I can just about guarantee that each and every one of those beautiful birds would still be here, too.
Anyone who thinks the goose issue will simply go away is not living in the real world.
Jonathan E. Lambert
Ocean Pines