By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Terrence Crowley Jr., a pharmaceutical sales executive who is making his first foray into elected politics, was unanimously appointed by City Council on Thursday night to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of former First Ward Councilman Michael DeVlieger.
With the appointment, Crowley will temporarily represent the First Ward in the city’s north end until the Nov. 2 general election. He confirmed that he intends to run in the election. The winner of the election will fill DeVlieger’s unexpired term until June 30, 2024.
“I’m thankful to Council for expressing confidence in me with the vote tonight. They came to a consensus,” Crowley said in an interview after the Council meeting.
Crowley, 50, lives on Bay Avenue and is an executive sales representative for the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical company. He has served on the Ocean City Planning Board for five years, an appointed position.
DeVlieger had recommended Crowley’s appointment on Council, citing his “track record of independent voting based on the facts.”
Crowley competed with six other candidates who had also sought to replace DeVlieger until the November election. Council interviewed the candidates in executive session before voting 6-0 to appoint Crowley after reconvening in public session.
“It was a well-rounded group and we appreciate the courage it takes to participate in this process,” Council President Bob Barr said of the candidates.
Other candidates who were there for in-person interviews in addition to Crowley included Richard D. Bennett, an Ocean City substitute teacher, Donna Swan DeRocher, who sells custom window coverings, Donna Moore, a local environmental advocate, and Ferid “Fred” Pleho, who owns an import-export business.
Robert “Bob” Idell, a local real estate sales executive whose family owns several Ocean City eateries, and Gloria J. Votta, who is also an Ocean City real estate agent, were the two other candidates, but they were not at the Council meeting for the in-person interviews.
Citing his multitude of responsibilities as an elected official, business executive and family man, DeVlieger said he decided to step down from Council to avoid being overwhelmed by his workload. He stressed that his family and health are paramount. He formally resigned at the Aug. 12 Council meeting and immediately threw his support behind Crowley.
“I have known Terry for about a dozen years. I have sought his counsel on matters and he has come to me. He has been on the Planning Board for the last five years and has a track record of independent voting based on the facts. I know that he does his research and cares about Ocean City,” DeVlieger said in a statement.
Pointing to DeVlieger’s three election wins in 2012, 2016 and 2020, Crowley said he is well aware that he is following a popular councilman in the First Ward.
“He was elected three times,” Crowley said. “I look forward to working in the same vein.”
Some good-natured jokes followed once Crowley was sworn into office and took his seat at the table with the seven-member governing body.
“Now the fun begins. Have a seat, kid,” Barr said.
Dave Breeden, president of the local taxpayers group Fitness In Taxes, jokingly told Crowley, “Welcome to the Thunderdome,” in a reference to Council’s occasional rough-and-tumble style.
Crowley immediately got a sense of Council’s pugnaciousness when the members began debating a proposed $18.4 million bond ordinance to finance a series of capital improvements highlighted by road construction, drainage work and dredging projects.
Barr and Keith Hartzell were among the Council members who began asking Frank Donato, the city’s chief financial officer, pointed questions about the capital plan’s projects and funding.
At first, Barr proposed tabling the bond ordinance to revise the capital plan, but later seemed reassured by Donato’s answers, as well as comments from other Council members and Mayor Jay Gillian in favor of the proposal. Council has the flexibility to change the capital plan at any time to either add or remove projects, they said.
“At the end of the day, we’re all going to work together,” Gillian told Council of his willingness to make changes to the plan.
The projects included in the $18.4 million bond ordinance represent a key part of the first year of Gillian’s five-year capital plan. Gillian has proposed a $141.2 million capital plan for 2021-2025, but needs Council’s approval to fund the projects.
Although the capital plan serves as a broad blueprint for road construction, flood-mitigation projects, dredging work and other infrastructure improvements from 2021 to 2025, the city is heavily focused on this year to position itself to obtain federal funding.
Altogether, the plan calls for $78.5 million in proposed projects for 2021. The idea is to have those projects ready to go now to position the city to grab a share of federal funds contained in the federal government’s massive, $1.1 trillion infrastructure bill.
However, Barr, Hartzell and Councilman Tom Rotondi expressed doubts that Ocean City will be able to take advantage of the infrastructure bill. They said they have learned from U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew’s office that most of the money in the first round of funding is already “earmarked” for other projects across the country.
“It doesn’t look like we’re going to get a lot of that upfront money,” Rotondi said.
Donato told Council that the city remains confident that it will be able to secure anywhere from $10 million to $40 million from the infrastructure bill.
Vince Bekier, the city’s director of Engineering and Operations, said in an interview after the meeting that the vast majority of the funding in the federal infrastructure bill remains untouched. He said Ocean City officials are researching how the city can win a share of the funding for its capital plan, including flood-mitigation projects.
“There is an awful lot of money that has not been touched,” Bekier said.
Bekier said that Ocean City will also try to secure money from $160 million in state COVID-19 stimulus recovery funding that will be distributed by Gov. Phil Murphy. Some of the state funding will be available for stormwater management projects, like the ones proposed in Ocean City’s capital plan, Bekier added.
Meanwhile, Donato urged Council to approve the bond ordinance without delay to keep a series of crucial capital projects moving along.
“These are priority projects that we are seeking funding for sooner than later,” he said.
Council agreed to introduce the bond ordinance by a 7-0 vote. A public hearing and final vote on the ordinance are scheduled for the Sept. 9 Council meeting.
Donato explained that there would only be a slight increase in local taxes to pay the bonding costs of the capital plan if the city did not obtain any federal infrastructure funding or outside grants.
Under that scenario, the capital plan would translate into an estimated increase in local taxes of about one-third of a penny to one-half of a penny per year for Ocean City homeowners, he said.
For a home assessed at $500,000, that would mean about an extra $25 per year in local taxes
Big-ticket items that are included in the bond ordinance include $5.5 million worth of road construction projects and $5.5 million in drainage improvements to ease flooding in areas vulnerable to stormwater.
Flood-mitigation projects are slated from Ninth Street to 18th Street on West Avenue to the bay and on West 17th Street.
Another $2 million will go toward improvements to public facilities, including restrooms on the Boardwalk. The Council members stressed the importance of having more bathrooms to accommodate the thousands of visitors who stroll the Boardwalk each night during the summer and patronize the local businesses.
Another major project scheduled for 2021 is the continuation of the city’s multi-year dredging program for the shallow lagoons and channels along the back bays.
The bond ordinance includes $2 million for dredging work scheduled this year for Carnival Bayou, Venetian Bayou, Sunny Harbor and South Harbor.
