Ocean City's "Rock Star" is Staying Put

By DONALD WITTKOWSKI Ocean City is unwilling to share its “rock star” chief financial officer with another town – even on a temporary basis. City Council on Thursday night shot down a proposed shared services agreement that would have allowed Ocean City CFO Frank Donato to temporarily help out Sea Isle City with its finances following the retirement of Sea Isle’s CFO Paula Doll. In remarks to the Council members, Donato repeatedly assured them that he would not spend a lot of time in Sea Isle and would be able to temporarily split his duties between both towns without hurting Ocean City. “I don’t plan on letting anything slip here,” he said. Noting that Ocean City and Sea Isle have traditionally had strong relations as fellow Cape May County shore towns, Donato also said he felt it would be a good “neighborly thing to do.” Donato also said he did not want to see Sea Isle stuck “behind the eight ball” by not having a CFO for a while. In the meantime, a search is on by Sea Isle to hire Doll’s full-time replacement. The Council members repeatedly complimented Donato for his expert financial skills and also stressed the friendship that Ocean City enjoys with Sea Isle Mayor Leonard Desiderio, but in the end they voted 5-2 to reject the proposed shared services agreement. “I struggle with letting such a rock star go,” Council President Bob Barr said of Donato while voting against the proposal. Joining Barr in voting no were Council Vice President Tom Rotondi and Council members Keith Hartzell, Terry Crowley Jr., and Jody Levchuk. Council members Karen Bergman and Peter Madden voted to approve the agreement. Both Bergman and Madden said they accepted Donato’s assurances that he would be able to temporarily handle financial duties for both towns without any harm to Ocean City. Councilman Terry Crowley Jr., right, does not think it is a good idea to share Ocean City's high-level executives with other towns. During the meeting, Crowley was the first to raise objections about the proposal to have Donato split his time between both towns. Crowley said he thought it was a bad idea to share such a high-level executive as Donato with Sea Isle and have him “pulled in different directions.” He said he wanted Donato to focus exclusively on his duties in Ocean City to benefit the community. “I just think they need to be fully engaged on what’s best for Ocean City,” Crowley said of the town’s top executives. Other Council members who voted against the shared services agreement echoed Crowley’s remarks. “I just don’t want to let our top-notch people go away from here,” Levchuk said. “Frank is the best of the best, and I want him here,” Hartzell said. The proposed shared services agreement called for Sea Isle to pay Ocean City $7,000 per month for Donato’s services. Donato would have been given a monthly stipend of $2,000 from that payment. There are already instances in which Ocean City and Sea Isle share the same executives. Among them, George Savastano serves as the business administrator for both towns and Neil Byrne is the construction code official for Ocean City and Sea Isle. Bergman and Madden, in their remarks in favor of Donato helping out in Sea Isle, said shared services agreements are exactly what the state has been promoting to help municipalities save their taxpayers money. Madden said Ocean City will now lose out on the extra money it would have received from Sea Isle. “This is where we mess things up for the city,” Madden asserted of the decision to reject the shared services agreement. Chief Financial Officer Frank Donato tells Council he would be able to help out Sea Isle without harming his duties in Ocean City. The proposed agreement would have allowed Donato to help out in Sea Isle up until June 30. Ocean City, though, would have had the option of ending the agreement within 30 days if things did not work out. Some Council members questioned whether any rivalries or conflicts could crop up between Ocean City and Sea Isle if Donato represented both towns. They wondered what might happen if both towns were competing for the same grants. “I don’t believe we work at cross-purposes,” Savastano told Council while disputing the possibility of any competition between both towns. “Sea Isle didn’t try to steal Frank. I wouldn’t let them,” Savastano said. Rotondi, who represents Council’s Second Ward, questioned why Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian was willing to let Donato help out in Ocean City, but had turned down Rotondi’s repeated requests to allow Donato to appear at Rotondi’s ward meetings. “I can’t have Frank at a ward meeting, but he can lend him out,” Rotondi said of Gillian. Gillian did not attend the Council meeting, but Savastano suggested that Rotondi should sit down with the mayor to discuss the possibility of letting Donato appear as a city representative at future ward meetings. “I’ll take that advice. I appreciate it,” Rotondi responded to Savastano. Before a vote was taken, some of the Council members asked Savastano what would Sea Isle likely do if Ocean City denied having Donato help out with Sea Isle’s finances. “It won’t be the end of the world for Sea Isle if it goes down, but it will be problematic,” Savastano said. Savastano said he plans to confer with Ocean City and Sea Isle officials “to figure something out” now that the shared services agreement has been rejected. Sea Isle has been conducting a search for a new full-time CFO, but has not yet been able to land the right candidate, Savastano said. He added, though, that the search has become more promising lately and that Sea Isle expects to hire a new CFO soon. City Business Administrator George Savastano says Ocean City and Sea Isle are not working in "cross-purposes."