Environmental Advocate Donna Moore Files to Run in Council Election

By DONALD WITTKOWSKI Ocean City resident Donna Moore regularly attends City Council meetings as a member of the public, often speaking to the governing body about her concerns for the environment. Frequently, she carries handwritten signs warning about the potential dangers of landscaping chemicals to humans, marine life and the bay waters. She was instrumental in the city’s decision last year to switch to chemical-free, organic landscaping on public grounds. Touting her credentials as an environmental advocate, Moore now wants to join Council as a new member. She filed her nominating petitions Friday for the May 10 municipal election, when three at-large Council seats will be up for grabs. In an interview, Moore said her campaign will focus on the concerns of local residents, protecting the environment, reducing the city’s flooding problems and being fiscally responsible with taxpayer money. “My campaign for at-large Council encourages listening to our year-round residents to hear their concerns about the quality of life within their neighborhoods,” she said. She also believes it is time for Ocean City to conduct a review of its master plan – a comprehensive guide for such things as local planning and zoning regulations – to see if any changes are needed amid the city’s ongoing redevelopment. “As change is inevitable, I would like to listen to the residents’ concerns about the impact of redevelopment in the neighborhoods,” she said. She added, “I see the need for revisiting our master plan to ascertain if it effectively benefits our island’s quality of life for our residents.” Moore, 68, lives on Ocean Avenue and has been an Ocean City resident since 1978. Now retired, she formerly worked as an art teacher at the Ocean City Arts Center and as a circulation assistant at the Ocean City Free Public Library. She formerly served on Ocean City’s Environmental Commission and the Ocean City Shade Tree Commission. She frequently attended the city's Zoning Board meetings in 2018 and 2019 to advocate for the neighborhoods when residents raised concerns about projects. As an environmental advocate, she helped persuade Mayor Jay Gillian’s administration and City Council to stop using chemical pesticides on public grounds and instead switch to eco-friendly, organic landscaping to help protect residents and the environment. Her campaign slogan emphasizes her environmental background: “For Our People and the Environment.” She noted she is concerned with how Ocean City, a barrier island, is affecting the environment and marine ecosystem on a more comprehensive scale. “(I’m) working to preserve our neighborhoods, the quality of life, and our environment,” she said in her campaign literature. Council candidate Donna Moore, second from left, is joined by her campaign manager Mary Beth Clevenger, campaign treasurer Bill Hartranft and campaign supporter Jeff Taylor at City Hall after filing her nominating petitions. Moore is currently a member of the Ocean City Flooding Committee and Fairness In Taxes, two private groups. She said her membership in both groups reflects her emphasis on protecting the city from flooding and keeping an eye on how taxpayer money is spent. “Having been a part of FIT for some time, I am mindful of our need to be fiscally responsible to our taxpayers,” she said in the interview. This will not be the first time Moore has sought a Council seat. She ran in last November’s election in the First Ward Council race, but lost to Terry Crowley Jr. She believes the experience she gained in her first race should help her in the May election for an at-large Council seat. “I learned to listen to the concerns of our residents and to understand how I can potentially address the residents’ needs as an at-large Council member representing the entire island,” she said. Also running in the May election are incumbent at-large Council members Karen Bergman and Pete Madden, current Second Ward Councilman Tom Rotondi, former First Ward Councilman Michael DeVlieger and political newcomer John “Tony” Polcini. Council members serve four-year terms. All of the Council candidates have filed their nominating petitions except for Rotondi, who plans to turn his in on Monday. Rotondi is looking to move from the Second Ward into an at-large Council seat. Monday at 4 p.m. is the filing deadline for nominating petitions for the nonpartisan May 10 municipal election. Candidates must collect at least 97 valid signatures on their petitions, a number that reflects the required 1 percent of the city’s 9,654 registered voters, City Clerk Melissa Rasner said. The election will also include the Ocean City mayoral race pitting Mayor Jay Gillian and current at-large Councilman Keith Hartzell. In order to run for mayor, Hartzell will leave Council. Both Gillian and Hartzell have filed their nominating petitions. Another potential mayoral candidate, Michael Mercurio, has taken out nominating petitions but has not yet filed them with the City Clerk’s Office, Rasner said.