Our View: Will council change its mind on Wonderland?
Is City Council going to change its mind Thursday evening over the future of the former Wonderland Pier amusement park site? In spite of what seemed a definitive vote in August and subsequent support for a comprehensive study on that property, this is a resolution that just won’t die. Critics allege shady backroom dealing and […]
Editorial: Non-partisan election looks plenty partisan
Three of the candidates running for the Ocean City school board have claimed their opponents are getting political in a non-partisan election. What is hypocritical is that all three of those candidates, in their profiles that appeared in last week’s edition of the Sentinel, all listed as most important getting a Republican elected governor. They […]
Editorial: Whiplash on decision about police station
It was whipflash. The Ocean City administration rushed a resolution before Ocean City Council Sept. 24 to buy the former Crown Bank building and two parking lots for $12.6 million. The prospect was to make the old high-rise at 801 Asbury Ave. into the new police station. The city was already planning to renovate and […]
Opinion: Now what?
Wonderland hotel concept is finished. What will replace it and when will it happen? For more than an hour before the meeting started and then through nearly two hours of public comment Aug. 21, the atmosphere was tense in Ocean City Council Chambers. Citizens packed the room early, hoping the show of force would send […]
Editor’s Desk: Defensive driving, the E-bike and E-scooter edition
Almost everyone who drives tries to avoid running into an errant E-bike or E-scooter rider. It’s a problem that seems to keep getting worse with those riders believing they are unencumbered by traffic laws and common sense. I was driving south on West Avenue in Ocean City toward the Ninth Street intersection around 5 p.m. […]
Editorial: Peaceful protests are all-American
Let’s defend each other’s rights to speak out Local political protests have been able to draw a lot of people this year. We are happy with the fact they have been completely peaceful. There are those who support these protests and those who can’t stand seeing them, but there should be consensus and understanding that […]
Our View: House and Senate Republicans giving up their power
The passage of President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” further diminishes our faith in Congress, in part because of the weakness of the party out of power, but more so because the party in control of the House and Senate continues to cede its own power to the Executive Branch. After all the promises from […]
Our View: Competing visions for Wonderland; still one owner, zoning barrier
Ocean City 2050, a local citizens group, has put together an interesting concept for the former Wonderland Pier amusement park site, unveiling a comprehensive plan at a packed meeting Saturday at the Ocean City Free Public Library. The group has proposed Wonderland Commons, a multi-purpose site with a more compact amusement park for young children […]
Our View: Somers Point should table short-term rental changes
City Council formed a subcommittee and took months to study the issue before it enacted rules in 2023 aimed at regulating the practice and protecting neighborhoods where they are being operated. Now, with summer rapidly approaching, the governing body proposed a major modification that owners of the homes say would likely put them out of […]
Our View: Another look at work on city site is a good idea
Waiting two weeks to ensure Ocean City Council is on board with work at the vacant, blighted 16th Street lots made sense. Council tabled a resolution last week on a contract to do just over $1 million in work on the area between Simpson and Haven avenues that used to be home to a former […]