OCEAN CITY – With a changeover in the makeup of the Ocean City Council, Mayor Rick Meehan last week submitted a list of sub-committee and commission appointments that were ultimately approved.
Meehan and each of the Ocean City Council members serve on various committees and commissions where much of the nitty gritty of municipal government is debated. The sub-committees and commissions meet monthly in most cases to debate issues germane to them and often tweak policy and make recommendations before the larger issues are presented to the full Mayor and Council.
After November’s municipal election, there are now two new members on the city council. Longtime Councilman Lloyd Martin opted to not run again after serving for two decades, and incumbent Mark Paddack finished fourth among the four candidates seeking three open seats.
Council President Matt James was the top vote-getter, and newcomers Will Savage and Carol Proctor finished second and third respectively to earn seats at the dais. As a result, the various committee and commission appointments had to be reshuffled and Meehan made his recommendations last Tuesday. The council ultimately approved the mayor’s appointments with little or no debate.
On the police commission, Councilman Frank Knight will replace outgoing Martin as chair and will be joined on the appointed body by Meehan, James and Councilman Peter Buas. On the tourism commission, James will remain as chair, and will be joined by Meehan, Councilman John Gehrig and Savage, who will replace Council Secretary Tony DeLuca.
On the transportation committee, Meehan will remain as chair, and will be joined by Knight and DeLuca. Proctor will replace Paddack on the committee. For the recreation and parks committee, Gehrig will remain chair. Martin and Paddack will be replaced by Savage and Proctor.
On the bicycle and pedestrian advisory committee, DeLuca will remain as the council’s liaison. However, on the Ocean City Coastal Resources Legislative Committee, or Green Team, Buas will replace DeLuca as chair. Meehan will remain the Mayor and Council’s liaison on the Tri-County Council. Knight will be council’s liaison on the Noise Board, replacing Paddack, and the alternate will be Savage.
Meehan, James and DeLuca will serve on the pension committee. Buas replaces Knight on the Risk Retention Committee and Knight will be the alternate. Buas will replace DeLuca on the Maryland Coastal Bays Foundation Board of Directors, and Meehan and DeLuca will serve on the Property Review and Enforcement Strategies for Safe Housing, or PRESS, Committee. Knight replaces Paddack on the Beach Mediation Board, and Proctor will be the alternate.
In addition, the police commission will also include the city manager and the chief of police. The transportation committee, in addition to the council appointees, will also include the city manager and the Public Works department director. The recreation and parks committee, in addition to the council appointees, will also include the recreation and parks director and the deputy city manager.
The tourism commission has perhaps the largest membership and includes a vast cross-section of stakeholders. In addition to the council appointees, the commission will include the city manager, the tourism director, the convention center director, the special events director, the executive director of the Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Association, the director of the Greater Ocean City Chamber of Commerce, a representative of the Economic Development Committee, a representative from the Ocean City Development Corporation and the chairman of the state tourism commission, which will be a non-voting member.
