Ward councilmen sworn in; Madden president, Crowley vice president
OCEAN CITY — Four ward councilmen were sworn into office Monday afternoon at the Ocean City Music Pier. Two opted for short speeches and the other two chose to talk for about 15 minutes each about their motivations for running for office and their priorities, reiterating their campaign platforms. All four men spent much of their time at the podium on the Music Pier stage thanking supporters.
Afterward, First Ward Councilman Terry Crowley Jr., Second Ward Councilman Keith Hartzell, Third Ward Councilman Jody Levchuk and Fourth Ward Councilman Dave Winslow joined with the three at-large members of the seven-member Ocean City Council — Pete Madden, Sean Barnes and Tony Polcini — to choose their leadership for another year.
Madden was immediately nominated for another term as president, earning the votes of all but Levchuk and Hartzell. Crowley was the unanimous choice as vice president for another term. No one else was nominated for either position.
In the May 14 election, Crowley ran unopposed, receiving 675 votes, and incumbent Winslow handily defeated challenger Cecelia Gallelli-Keyes 531-392.
Hartzell, who had served multiple terms through 2022, made it back onto council two years after opting to challenge Mayor Jay Gillian rather than run for re-election to his ward seat. He lost the 2022 mayoral race but beat Paul Striker 364-312 in May to get back on council. The seat was open because incumbent Second Ward Councilman Tom Rotondi opted not to run for re-election to a second term.
Levchuk, who was finishing his first term, defeated challenger Amie Vaules by a razor-thin margin, 402-400.
The other candidate in the May election was Barnes, who defeated former councilman Michael DeVlieger 1,836 to 1,297 in the race to fill the last two years of an at-large term vacated by Karen Bergman. She resigned from council to take a position with the city managing the Howard S. Stainton Senior Center.
Crowley talked about his introduction to some of the movers and shakers in town from his wedding reception at the Ocean City Yacht Club. As he listed members of the old guard, including Charlie Bowman Sr., former mayor Roy Gillian and late congressman and ambassador William Hughes, he said looking at them was his “formation of what I thought Ocean City was. It was a bunch of guys from all walks of life, different skill sets, different ambitions, certainly different political parties, but they always put all that aside to do what was best for Ocean City. And whether they disagreed, they always listened to each other and they were always gentlemen. That was the key takeaway from my beginnings of life in Ocean City.”
Winslow said he is proud to call Ocean City home, listing all the things it has to offer, from the beaches to the boardwalk to vibrant downtown and state-of-the-art community center and high-performing police and fire departments.
“We are one of a kind, and it’s thanks to the administration and City Council for making this happen,” he said. “I will do my best to preserve the great family values and heritage of Ocean City while ensuring the vibrant quality of life we have come to experience in this great town continues while keeping the city moving forward into the next generations.”
While Levchuk offered the most intense speech that was also the most political and at times angry, Hartzell put forward the most emotional, citing the many people in his life, from his late parents to others he has met whose stories and strengths have been so important to his own growth.
He also spoke often of his Christian faith and love for what he called the “most diverse” ward in the city — in race, economic status, religion, rezoning-wise and more.
“I ran for all of you,” he said. “It’s your diversity that will makes us so strong.”
He spoke about his priorities, the same ones he voiced in his campaign. One of them was to stop exceptionally large homes that are built with extra bathrooms and bedrooms but with little to no parking, a problem that ensures surrounding streets are clogged with vehicles.
“We want everybody here,” he said of residents and visitors. “We just want them to be able to park and enjoy themselves.”
Hartzell also acknowledged his support for people trying to preserve a historic home in his ward and gave a shout out to the residents fighting a commercial marina in a residential neighborhood on Tenth Street and the bay.
He said one of his greatest influences was the late Richard Grimes, who founded youth sports leagues and other means to help people in need, saying if there were a citizen of the century, it would be him.
Hartzell pledged to increase the number of ward meetings and find ways to ensure as many people as possible can participate.
“We’re going to livestream it; people can watch it later or come in person. As much as I don’t like Zoom, and I am a fuddy-duddy about that, it’s the way things are done today and I want to make sure there is maximum participation and everyone gets a chance to voice their opinion on what happens,” he said. “I can only succeed if I take direction from each and every one of you.”
Levchuk, whose family owns JiLLy’s shops on the boardwalk and downtown, said he was motivated to run for office in 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic hit and he was upset by the mandates that shut down businesses by state government “that decided to pick winners and losers in one of the most unfair practices this country has ever seen.”
He said he knew the resort would face hardships if it couldn’t open for the 2020 season.
Levchuk said as a political newcomer, his run “was seriously underestimated by those who did not welcome my bid for the position.”
But, he added, drawing some laughs from the audience, as a New York Jets fan he knows what it’s like to be an underdog.
Levchuk said he will remain committed to the values in Ocean City, including being welcoming to families of all socioeconomic statuses and remaining alcohol-free with no bars, nightclubs or liquor stores, a “tiny detail that shapes the entire psychology of the city.”
He emphasized public safety and how he tells everyone Ocean City is a “wildly safe town. Those are my three favorite words.” He said his top priority is supporting public safety to keep the resort “a wildly safe town.” To that end he mentioned how City Council recently approved the funding for replacing the Public Safety Building where it is on Central Avenue and building a police substation at Eighth and Boardwalk for less money than a combined public safety building that was proposed by the administration.
He cited the importance of his advocacy for getting extra bathroom facilities at 10th and 11th streets on the boardwalk, and closing a loophole that would have allowed residential communities on the boardwalk, which has helped keep overdevelopment away.
Levchuk credited the administration for the infrastructure work and advocated for a parking structure, an idea that has been studied but so far dismissed as not economically viable. Like Hartzell, he blasted the construction of oversized homes with inadequate parking.
On a personal note, he thanked the voters of Ocean City for believing in him and included among them his brother, his neighbor and business partner, “and a lifelong voter in Ocean City.” He said it was shameful what some people have done to his brother, subpoenaing records of where he does volunteer work to determine if he was eligible to vote in the resort.
“Shame on you,” Levchuk said.
– PHOTOS and STORY by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
