thorough process of interviewing candidates and reported the Mayor
and Council should make their selection by the first of June. These
things usually take longer than expected, but sources indicate the
appointment will be made sometime in June and that the city is near-
ing the end of the extensive process.
tially yielded over 80 applicants, will result in an internal promotion
or an external choice. According to knowledgeable sources, there
were several individuals currently employed with the Ocean City
Police Department that applied for the top cop job, and I understand
at least three made the cut that winnowed it down to 15.
proposed reduction of the skate park's hours in the next year's budg-
et.
and its operations over the summer and then to issue a recommen-
dation back to the city. The problem was the city was planning to
leave the $20,000 savings from the proposed closures during the off-
season in the budget, meaning the plan was still to reduce its hours
in the offseason and shutter the skate park completely in January
and February. That worried many who felt once the savings were fig-
ured into the budget it may be difficult to extract at a later time.
idea of forming a skate park committee to report on the facility at a
later date.
main as it has for years. That's a good thing. In this particular case,
the savings realized was just not worth the harm to certain aspects
of the community and the perception many would inevitably draw of
local government. Most already are skeptical of what government
does with our tax dollars, and this would have only heightened those
concerns and led to a major backlash against the town.
exempted from new storm water management rules, despite the fact
many of its key approvals had lapsed.
neer and not specifically the Berlin Mayor and Council. The waiver
was granted because the project had already met the former require-
ments but has been delayed in recent years due to the economy and
other factors. That decision has been discussed at length, including
during a recent Berlin Planning Commission meeting and later by
Councilwoman Lisa Hall during a town meeting.
less expensive regulations because the project has been dormant
and approvals had expired at one point. Complicating matters is the
town will soon begin charging residents $50 a year and commercial
properties much more to fund a storm water utility to address flood-
ing woes. The idea this project could contribute, rather than help, the
flooding situation in town is disturbing.
ture, sent a letter to Town Administrative Director Tony Carson ap-
pealing the town's decision to allow Main Street Homes to continue
with its 40-home development near Stephen Decatur Park under the
town's former stormwater regulations.
the procedure by which the storm water management approval was
granted and, in particular, whether any waivers were granted and
whether or not the plans are compliant with current storm water man-
agement regulations." He also asked to receive a copy of the docu-
ments that led to the approval and offered to pay for the copies to be
made at his expense.
cess outlined in a town ordinance. Gaskill furthered, "in my opinion,
you lack standing to appeal unless you can demonstrate that you
own property which would be adversely affected by the storm water
management decision made in this particular instance."
Officer Harold Higgins informed
the commissioners at a recent
meeting that, unless there is a ma-
jor change in projected revenues
(unlikely considering the contin-
ued stagnation in the real estate
market), the Budget Stabilization
Fund will be depleted by 2015,
only two years in the future. That
$7 million surplus isn't just lying
around waiting to be spent.
any part of the budget, including
the Board of Education. Listening
to some of the emotional speech-
es from those in favor of increased
school funding and teacher raises,
one could be forgiven for expect-
ing to see the teachers present
sprout wings and halos. Such was
the emotionalism of the "pro-edu-
cation" speakers, as if it is "anti-
education" to state the obvious
fact that we don't have the money
to fund increasing the budget in
any area, including education.
of our teachers are very good and
probably do deserve raises, but
the bottom line is this budgets
are based on facts and figures,
not emotion. Lots of taxpayers in
the county probably deserve rais-
es, but wishing doesn't make it so.
departments should be able to
make do with their current budg-
ets.
tion in celebrating National Emer-
gency Medical Services (EMS)
Week. I commend the Maryland
EMS providers who respond every
day of every month to emergency
situations, making our Statewide
EMS and Trauma System a
national model for life-saving care.
With Gov. Martin O'Malley's com-
mitment to public safety and the
well-being of all Maryland's citi-
zens, he has recognized the ac-
complishments of EMS providers
by designating Emergency Med-
ical Services Week in Maryland.
licensed, volunteer and career e-
mergency medical dispatchers,
emergency medical responders,
emergency medical technicians,
cardiac rescue technicians, and
paramedics, as well as hospital
personnel. As with any organiza-
tion, it is the people that make the
system work. What is extraordi-
nary about Maryland's EMS sys-
tem is that over half of those peo-
ple are volunteers. Both career
and volunteer personnel engage
in thousands of hours of special-
ized training and continuing edu-
cation to enhance their life-saving
skills. I applaud these men and
women whose efforts save lives
and minimize the disabling effects
of injury in Maryland.
all Maryland citizens to do their
part as a vital link in this EMS sys-
tem. By calling 9-1-1 when they
see an emergency and learning
CPR, they become a part of the
team. The earlier the response,
the greater the chances are of sur-
vival. I challenge everyone to be-
come involved, and not be one to
say," Someone else will make the
call and step up to help save a
life."
ical Services system and its EMS
providers, and join me in congrat-
ulating them on a job well done.
to all the citizens and other sup-
porters who attended our 27th
Annual Health Fair on May 8. Yes,
the weather was a little challeng-
ing, but the enthusiasm displayed
by all the attendees and vendors
made it the great event it has been
for all these many years.
Denton and the staff of Atlantic
General Hospital, the Mayor and
City Council of Ocean City, along
with the staff of the Roland Powell
Convention Center.
donated their time and talent to
making the Health Fair a success.
September through June at the
Knights of Columbus Hall on 99th
St. All national AARP members
are welcome to join us.
lican Women of Worcester Coun-
ty, I would like to thank all who
supported our efforts to collect
over 200-plus boxes of breakfast
bars and other breakfast items for
the "Breakfast Bars for the
Troops" drive.
portation to Fort Meade U.S.O.
from which the boxes were ship-
ped to troops in Afghanistan. We,
also, thank the following for provid-
ing drop-off locations: The Ocean
Pines Community Center, the Wor-
cester County Library at Ocean
Pines, Allstate Insurance in West
Ocean City, Copy Central on Cath-
ell Road, Re/Max on Route 589,
Prudential Pen/Fed Realty on
Manklin Creek Road, Community
Church at Ocean Pines, The Parke
Community Center, and Atlantic
Physical Therapy on Cathell Road.
who participated in this drive.