By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Concerns about parking, overdevelopment and taxes and the fading possibility of a wind energy farm being built off the coast dominated a forum Monday night featuring the nine candidates running for City Council in Ocean City’s municipal election May 14.
Other major topics in the spotlight were the city’s 8 p.m. beach curfew imposed last year to crack down on unruly groups of teenagers during the summer tourism season and the remote possibility of a high-rise hotel being built on the Boardwalk.
Much of the two-hour forum sponsored by the Ocean City Sentinel was relatively cordial among all of the candidates. But it took a dramatic turn at the very end when one candidate, Mike DeVlieger, used his closing statement to accuse Council members Pete Madden, Tony Polcini and Dave Winslow of being “pawns” for Mayor Jay Gillian.
DeVlieger, a former councilman who is looking to return to the governing body, also alleged that Gillian is too close to the developers in town.
“What scares me is the intimacy I see today between the development community and our administration. I’m going to tell you straight, it’s not popular: the mayor is indebted to the developers. Pete Madden is a pawn for the mayor. Tony P. is a super, super nice guy, but he’s a pawn for the mayor. Dave is a wonderful guy, great businessman, a pawn,” DeVlieger said.
Madden, Polcini and Winslow all strongly denied DeVlieger’s allegations. Madden, who is Council president, called DeVlieger’s accusations nothing more than “emotionally charged, angry comments.”
“At the end of the day, that’s not what the people of Ocean City want,” Madden said.
Madden said he and Gillian often disagree on issues, but present a unified front to get things done for the benefit of the city.
“Am I a pawn for the mayor? No,” Madden said. “The mayor and I disagree many times.”
Madden tried turning the tables on DeVlieger by saying that when DeVlieger was a member of Council from 2012 to 2022, he voted with the rest of the governing body at least 85 percent of the time.
“That would make him a pawn,” Madden said in an interview Tuesday.
Polcini said in an interview Tuesday that he is no one’s pawn other than being “a pawn for the taxpayers.”
“I believe in doing what’s right. I have no agenda for myself,” Polcini said.
Winslow, who is one of the incumbents seeking re-election, denied DeVlieger’s accusations by saying it is not uncommon for him to disagree with the mayor.
“If he makes a wrong decision, I’ll disagree with him. If he makes the right decision, I’m in agreement,” Winslow said of Gillian during an interview.
In another surprise during the forum Monday night, candidate Cecilia Gallelli-Keyes alleged during her closing statement that nepotism and conflicts of interests have spread through the local government.
“Conflicts of interest are seemingly abundant with many of those in power. I would propose an oversight committee to investigate and eliminate all conflicts of interest and nepotism involving city decisions and employment. This is to ensure that decisions are made in the best interest of many, not just an entitled few,” Gallelli-Keyes said.
The crowded field of candidates includes three incumbents, two former members of Council trying to make a comeback, a former longtime school board member and three newcomers to elected politics.
DeVlieger, a former First Ward councilman, and newcomer Sean Barnes are vying for the one at-large Council seat open in the election.
Incumbent First Ward Councilman Terry Crowley Jr. is running for re-election unopposed, but still participated in the forum.
Crowley said in his opening remarks that he is an independent thinker on Council who carefully researches the issues before he votes and also prides himself for his integrity and transparency.
In the Second Ward, former Councilman Keith Hartzell is facing political newcomer Paul Stryker.
The Third Ward race features incumbent Councilman Jody Levchuk against newcomer Amie Vaules.
Winslow is being challenged in the Fourth Ward by Gallelli-Keyes, who served on the city’s school board for a decade before losing re-election last year.
During a series of questions posed by moderator Dave Nahan, publisher of the Ocean City Sentinel, the candidates were generally in agreement about the need for more parking in town and keeping taxes as low as possible without hurting public safety and other municipal services.
“We absolutely have a reasonable tax rate here in Ocean City,” said Levchuk, whose family owns the Jilly’s brand of shops on the Boardwalk and downtown.
Also discussed during the forum was the threat of a massive wind farm lurking 15 miles off the coast. The wind farm all but died last fall when the developer, the Danish energy company Orsted, withdrew from the project largely because of financial reasons. Orsted, though, still retains leases to build the project if it wants to resurrect its plans.
“I definitely do not support it,” Vaules said of the wind farm project, echoing the opposition of the other candidates.
DeVlieger, who was an outspoken critic of the wind farm when he was formerly on Council, said the city must fight to regain its power of “home rule,” which was stripped away by the state Legislature to give the state absolute control over the project.
In another major issue, the candidates were also unanimously in support of maintaining the city’s 8 p.m. beach curfew that was approved last year to help police keep control of rowdy teenagers.
“I 100 percent support it. The reality is, it worked,” Barnes said of the curfew.
Winslow suggested that perhaps there should be some flexibility with the curfew to make it later than 8 p.m. in some of the “outlying areas” of town where teenagers do not gather in large groups.
In touting the importance of the curfew, the candidates also emphasized the importance of protecting and cultivating Ocean City’s image as “America’s Greatest Family Resort” to give the town a competitive edge in the Jersey Shore’s tourism market.
“Our brand is the best brand,” Hartzell said.
All of the candidates also strongly voiced their opposition to any possibility of a high-rise hotel being built on the family-friendly Boardwalk, although the city’s zoning regulations currently would not allow such a project.
Stryker said he is “totally against” any efforts to develop a Boardwalk high-rise hotel, but added that the zoning laws would make it a “near-impossibility.”
The candidates also expressed their support for “parents’ rights” to allow parents to be closely involved in school programs affecting their children.
Gallelli-Keyes, who was still on the school board when debate began on the parents’ rights issue, maintained that no one is in better position to protect their children than the parents.
Vaules was among the candidates who emphasized that parents should also work closely with teachers and the school board on the issue.
Sean Barnes, whose brother, Kevin Barnes serves as the school board’s president, pointed out that the school board members are elected officials and that the community should “let them do their job.”
(Video of Ocean City candidates forum courtesy of Ocean City Sentinel and Martin Fiedler of Just Right TV Productions)
