Gillian also calls out critics who threatened him politically, questioned transparency
OCEAN CITY — Before Thursday night’s public comment to precede a vote on the former Wonderland Pier property, Mayor Jay Gillian asked the people packing Ocean City Council chambers to be respectful. He used the occasion to fire back at critics who he said threatened him, lied about him and said city government was not being transparent.
People say they want leaders in the city to lead, Gillian said, but they “want you to lead for the way they think.”
He said the vote that evening was supposed to be “very easy” because it was just getting the process started to see what could be done with the amusement park property.
The resolution on the agenda was procedural, to refer it to the Planning Board for its recommendation on the property as “an area in need of rehabilitation.” It was not a vote on what could or could not be built there, but some believe that would open the door for a hotel at the site.
Gillian grew up at Wonderland Pier, started by his father, the late mayor Roy Gillian. He bought the park from his father and operated it for part of its nearly 60-year history at Sixth Street and Boardwalk.
He sold it in early 2021 to Eustace Mita after banks called in $8 million in loans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mita leased the property back to Gillian so he could continue operating the amusement park, but in August 2024 Gillian announced it would close permanently the following October because it was no longer a viable business. He asserted the city could not sustain two amusement parks. Playland’s Castaway Cove is a few blocks south on the boardwalk.
It was a difficult time for Gillian.
Soon after his announcement, citizens groups including Save Wonderland and Friends of OCNJ History & Culture sprang up with their own ideas about the park’s future and later advocacy group Ocean City 2050 with a proposal for a mixed-use family entertainment venue with rides for children and a low-rise residential component.
Against this backdrop, tensions arose in the community about the future of the site with those supporting Mita’s concept of an eight-story upscale hotel and retail complex that kept a few iconic rides and those vehemently opposed to the $135 million to $150 million project.
Critics have not been subtle questioning the relationship between Mita and Gillian and other city officials, saying it was a done deal for the man who runs the upscale Icona Resorts hotels and Achristavest Fine Home Builders that builds luxury homes.
As the 6-1 vote against moving the property forward demonstrated Thursday night, it wasn’t a done deal, but the people who packed into Council Chambers didn’t know that until nearly the end of the evening meeting.
“Everybody wants to hit us with processes, that we’re not transparent, and we are because we have to be,” Gillian told the audience. He said that transparency wasn’t a factor for people commenting on social media and making allegations.
“They can say whatever they want to tell you,” he said. “In the paper the other day there was an absolute lie about me.”
He appeared to be referring to a statement from Fairness In Taxes that Mita had made political donations to city officials, but a review of state campaign records, also reported in the newspaper, show Mita did not make any donations to Gillian.
“I’ve got thick skin, but the one thing I’m gonna ask tonight, because that’s what Ocean City is, is that we’re respectful and honorable. So tonight, when we’re talking with our passion, let’s speak and be kind and generous with people,” Gillian said.
The mayor said he’s been through controversial processes before, including when there was a battle over using tropical hardwoods for decking on the boardwalk.
Saying he was brought up to be kind, he hoped people could comment but that “we don’t beat the hell out of each other” and no one had a crystal ball to foresee the future of the island.
He added the people have already come up with their own conclusions and their own opinions, but that night was for a vote on the process before it.
“So whether you believe it or not, whether you think I’m a liar, that’s fine. But at the end of the day, as I know and look at myself in the mirror, I’m honorable and I’ve been doing this for a long time.” He said those in his administration and on council are honorable as well.
Gillian noted he’s been threatened for the past three weeks that he would never be elected mayor again for even thinking there could be a hotel at the site, but added those who think he or those around him can be bought had better think again.
“If anybody in this room thinks you can buy me, you have no idea who I am, because I can tell you that I and anyone that’s close to me, can’t be bought and I have never made backroom deals and all of the crap that we’ve been accused of lately. It’s just a shame because that’s not the Ocean City I grew up with.”
“As the mayor, isn’t that what you want? Somebody who’s going to listen to everybody instead of just a few people?”
He then said he’d get off his soapbox, hoping everyone who spoke would be honorable.
Public comment then lasted nearly two hours.
– STORY and PHOTO by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff