Page 20 The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch November 8, 2013 . . Supporters Request Current Petition Be Dropped FROM PAGE 18 leading convention. Meehan clarified the first phase of the convention center that was completed last year included an expansion of a bay-front ballroom, and replaced all exhibit space that will be taken up by the PAC. The PAC is an addition to the square footage the convention center consisted of before the expansion project began. According to the mayor, Christ’s statement that the firemen’s memorial service will no longer be able to be held at the convention center due to loss in space is false based on the fact the new ballroom can hold up to 1,896 people and the largest group the convention center has held is 1,720. “I think it is all subject to interpretation. I am not going to sit here and dispute it with you,” Diegelmann said. “After reading all of the controversy around this…the divisiveness over this has just sickened me … no matter what happens we will lose.” Meehan furthered the food and beverage tax was established in the 1990s during the first expansion of the convention center by the State of Maryland. The state established the restrictiveness of the food and beverage tax to only be spent on bond indebtedness related to construction at the convention center to avoid any ambiguity. Currently, Ocean City’s food and beverage account stands at over $7 million. “Since you assume nobody is telling you the correct information, it becomes more difficult,” the mayor said to Diegelmann. “What I am saying is it is a fact the food tax money is there and it will continue to be there but it can only be used to offset and pay the bond indebtedness. You cannot just take it and pay the contractor. It can only be used by state statute to pay the bond indebtedness.” Diegelmann accused the Mayor and City Council of steamrolling by beginning construction before going to the bond market. “That is a cliché, and if you want to run things with misinformation that is okay,” the mayor said. “This has been voted on and approved unanimously five different times by two different councils … it wasn’t done with smoke and mirrors. It was done right here in this council chamber, and it was done with everybody’s complete knowledge of what it is going on.” Council Secretary Mary Knight, who spent the weekend researching to clarify misconceptions advertised by Christ, stated the convention center will be gaining 9.5 percent more space to exhibit area. Knight added Christ’s assertion the PAC will be just as large as Stephen Decatur High School’s auditorium is false. Stephen Decatur’s auditorium seats 600 and the PAC will seat 1,200 which is the same amount of seating at Virginia Beach’s PAC. “When the state of Maryland conducted the economic study, they didn’t use just pretend numbers. They looked at other resort areas like ourselves and took actual numbers of their economic impact,” Knight said. “In Ocean City they are expecting $3 million in economic impact. In the state of Maryland, they are expecting $300,000 in additional taxes and Worcester County is expecting an additional $70,000. So, all of this negative that is out there, nobody is looking at the actual study and the actual numbers.” Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra Vice President Marlene Ott was the first to approach the Mayor and City Council on Monday and thank them for growing Worcester County’s cultural atmosphere. “A lot of times we think of Ocean City as a tourist attraction for those who come here, but the improvements that you are doing at the convention center, especially the 1,200seat professional theatre, will benefit the entire county,” Ott said. Area resident Nicole Hills, who homeschools her 6-year old son, thanked the Mayor and City Council for bringing a cultural experience to Ocean City that she would otherwise have to drive to Salisbury, Washington, D.C., or Philadelphia for. “I have to say if two different councils agreed on this five times then it should probably just be the law of the land,” Hills said. “There will always be those people who don’t like change … but where would we be if Ocean City was still a dirt road … People need to read the economic report, and if you don’t have time to read the report then you certainly shouldn’t have the time to come before the council and complain. You need to read everything before you question the people who are doing this to benefit the entire town.” Ocean City Cultural Arts Advisory Board Co-Chair Patti Miller has worked over 10 years to bring a PAC to Ocean City. “It is a really wonderful and important entity to Ocean City for all of the future children, families, and for our own growth,” Miller said. “What saddens me is with all of the correct information … compiled over the last 10 years, with that many facts and information, just to prove a point that the people are the boss and government is not, is sad. This is going to be the best thing that happened to Ocean City in many years. I hope that common sense prevails, and I hope that Mr. Christ will retract his petition because it doesn’t make sense when you do know the facts. There are facts to be read, and misinformation is not right to be disseminated out by petitioners who do not understand the facts.”