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Page 32
The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch
October 25, 2013
. . Proponents Launch Campaign To Educate Public
FROM PAGE 4 Solicitor Paul Wilber whose opinion was to petition the entire bond ordinance instead of singling out the PAC that was causing the confusing language. “Each circulator would have a full copy of the Bond Ordinance for a voter to review. A circulator can explain that the referendum petition is caused by the portion of the Bond Ordinance which relates to the $8.5 million expenditure for the convention center auditorium,” Wilbur submitted. On Tuesday morning, Christ announced the petition for referendum that includes all capital projects listed in the bond ordinance had received approval. By Charter a petition for referendum has 40 days to circulate, and at least 40 percent of the number of voters, who voted in the last election, or 1,226 signatures in this
case, is required to be collected in order for the petition to be successful to have the bond ordinance placed on the next ballot. According to Ayres, there is no provision in the charter to extend the time period for rejected petitions, therefore petition circulators lost 11 days of soliciting time while the petition was going through the approval process. The bond ordinance petition is due on Nov. 20. Christ’s most recent reasoning behind opposing the bond ordinance is the town’s failure to disclose information of the PAC to current convention center clients, such as one of the facility’s largest tenants, the State of Maryland Fireman’s Association, that conducts a memorial service that attracts over 3,000 visitors but the PAC will only seat 1,200. “Stephen Decatur has a bigger auditorium with more seating. A 1,200-seat center will not attract name entertainers that in turn will attract sufficient people to pay. If it were 2,500 seats, things might be different,” Christ submitted. By Wednesday, the news of Christ’s bond ordinance petition had spread and a few city officials began warning the public against signing the petition through social media. Councilman Doug Cymek posted on Facebook, “In the very near future, you may be asked to sign a referendum petition by a group known as Ocean City Taxpayers for Social Justice led by Tony Christ. Please be extremely cautious and become familiar with all the facts of the issue prior to placing your signature on the petition … the truth of the matter is Christ and his local advisor which happens to be a large hotelier apparently are not against what he refers to as the ‘Fine Arts Center.’ As late as yesterday, Christ published a statement stating if the new auditorium were 2,500 seats that would be a different matter. If that is the case, then what is really behind his petition?” Mayor Rick Meehan said signing the bond ordinance petition could cost the taxpayers of Ocean City millions of dollars. The PAC project has been approved and has received five unanimous votes by two different councils to move forward. The town along with an appointed community committee, comprised of local citizens and business people, did its homework before voting to move forward with the project as economic studies have been conducted resulting in justification of the expense. According to the mayor, not only will there be no expense to the taxpayers but additional revenue will derive from the auditorium that benefits the taxpayer. “The funding of this project has already been approved,” the mayor said. “The purpose of the bond issue is to reimburse the city for the funding that has been approved, and the convention center project is being completed at no cost to the Ocean City taxpayer. Our portion of the bond indebtedness is paid off entirely by the food and beverage tax. The food and beverage tax will SEE NEXT PAGE
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