At Rotary Club, he says Night In Venice likely, disappointed about Bay Ave. work
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
OCEAN CITY — Mayor Jay Gillian joined members of the Rotary Club of Ocean City-Upper Township online Thursday, June 11, when he updated the club on the state of the city as the midway point of 2020 approaches.
Gillian, serving his third term as mayor, talked off the cuff on several issues, including moving forward from COVID-19, businesses reopening, high school graduation, city finances, roadwork and beach replenishment, then addressed questions on racism, private dinner clubs and other issues.
“These last few months have been eye-opening to so many,” he said.
Gillian explained how he handled the pandemic outbreak by putting a group of business leaders and citizens together to help gather information.
“I started with Shore Medical Center. Their doctors, their infectious disease people. They were in contact with Cape (Regional Medical Center) and with AtlantiCare, so you know all the decisions we were making here in Ocean City that we could make, that the governor didn’t take away from us, was all on the medical side of it,” Gillian said. “It was just so paining to learn the misconceptions and the facts that we were being given that were absolutely not true. It’s sort of sad but it’s also a learning moment for all of us that when we look for our facts, we don’t listen to the person we think knows what they’re talking about, we actually go digging and get them.
“That’s the one thing I think I learned most of all is that I stopped watching the news and I started focusing on where I can get the actual facts from hospitals and what does it mean to be positive, not positive, who’s in jeopardy. Hospitals were making money with every COVID patient they could come up with. It really was an eye-opening situation and a lot of us are paying the price for that.”
He said he thinks the efforts have helped slow the spread of the virus.
“I think things are going to get better. Obviously the governor has lifted a lot of things. I know, just talking with the hospitals, it’s all flattened. It continues to decrease, there’s been no spike. We did what we were supposed to do. We were all good people, we stayed home and it flattened and it seems like things are going to get a lot better.
“I really do believe when you look at the boardwalk and downtown in Ocean City, people are doing social distancing.”
He did express some impatience with the slow reopening process.
“I think in the year to come, the month to come, the week to come, we listen to our governor. I hope he gets sensible and looks at the statistics and facts that are out there. We keep an eye on the people that have pre-existing conditions. I think that’s the biggest thing that we have to think about and keep doing what the CDC has been recommending,” Gillian said.
He said everybody is asking what he is going to do regarding Night in Venice, which is scheduled for July 18.
“I think Night in Venice is going to happen,” he said, adding that Gov. Phil Murphy has approved holding the annual boat parade. “I’ll probably make a decision toward the end of the week, but it looks like now, with the 500 (limit) outdoors and everything, that we’ll probably get that in.”
He was excited to announce that retail businesses were set to reopen Monday.
“On June 15, they’re going to allow some indoor shopping and the restaurants can do some outdoor dining. It’s been tough for our small businesses. When you can go in Walmart and you can go in Acme and do all you can do and then some of these small businesses can’t open, it’s really just a crime,” he said. “The governor, I guess after his march this week, I guess he realized if he can go marching he can let us live our lives once again, so he lifted stay-at-home orders and as many as 50 people are able to gather indoors for things like church services.
“By July 3, it’s expected that about up to 500 people are allowed to gather outside,” he said.
He then addressed the evolving options for holding high school graduation.
“The one thing we’ve been working on since the beginning, being on the school board, the school and the kids are very important to me. Everything is being lifted. I think we’re going to be able to have a pretty good, normal graduation on July 9. I was hoping we could do it sooner so we don’t lose anybody but again, we have to follow the governor’s guidelines on all these things,”
The mayor said he was “very disappointed driving down Bay Avenue” the other day, seeing that the work had not been completed and what was done was short of ideal.
“The county MUA needed to fix some pipes and the contractors, I guess did the best they could but they were supposed to be done before Memorial Day; and when I saw the way that it was not getting fixed, I asked them to stop working. I think it’s probably done until fall so we can mill it and pave it properly, but I know there’s a little more cleanup. But I think that Bay Avenue is more or less done for the summer. It’s a lot better than what it was, but we are going to get involved come the fall to make sure that it is back to the way it should be.”
Next he addressed beach replenishment.
“I always get emails about this because they want to know why I am doing beach replenishment in the summer. Well, one of the biggest reasons is, we only pay 10 percent of it; 90 percent is paid by the state and federal. I know it’s all tax money, but we’re getting our money back so,” Gillian said. “There’s only about three of these companies that do it. They are going to start on Morningside, that’s where the sub line comes in from the site out there in the ocean. Again, it’s more about protection than sunbathing but we get best of both worlds on that.”
Gillian said when the pandemic hit, he reconsidered the city budget, pulling it back and lowering spending to eliminate a tax increase.
“We have been doing a lot of different things here in the government to try to take the burden off of a lot of people that are not making money, that haven’t had an income, and I can tell you, personally it’s been a rough few months for all of us,” he said. “We sent our budget back. When I first gave the budget, we were at maybe a half of a penny (increase) or something like that.
“But I sent it back and with all of our department heads we took it back to zero. With all of the ratables we’re getting, we’re taking advantage of that and trying to do whatever we can to cut back and cut. I had all of my department heads cut their departments by a percentage. They all stepped up because I tried to explain to them that they are getting paychecks every two weeks, I’m not. It’s a whole different mindset. So until you are really in this, you don’t understand the ramifications of just being open and getting paid.”
Gillian has not accepted a salary since becoming mayor. He owns and operates Gillian’s Wonderland Pier amusements on the boardwalk, which is closed.
He said city council likely would vote on the new budget at the next meeting June 25.
He said he expects a loss in revenue from beach tags and the parking but that residents should not worry that a big tax hike is coming next year.
“We’ll probably be down this year but we have been so conservative in our budget the last couple of years that I don’t think we are going to be hit that hard. I already told (Chief Financial Officer) Frank (Donato) that come next year we’re not going to be seeing a 2- or 3- or 4-penny tax hike. That will not happen,” Gillian said. “The fact that we’ve done great planning over the years, we’ll make sure that that doesn’t happen so I don’t want anybody to panic, to think that next year we are going to have a tough budget.”
One participant asked in questions submitted before the meeting began whether there is racism in Ocean City and if so, what is being done to mitigate it.
The mayor said he helped “that community” rebound after Hurricane Sandy destroyed many homes in October 2012.
“When Sandy came and the Housing Authority sort of got caught up and that community was out of homes and every two weeks I would go to a church and look in their eyes, it was the saddest thing and it was the hardest thing that I have ever been through as a mayor,” he said. “Even harder than what we are going through now.”
He said the city along with some local businesses “we put that community back in. So I think Ocean City has always been a leader in that.”
He lauded the Police Department for doing a good job of handling the crowd of marchers June 2.
“I think Ocean City does a great job. I know Chief (Jay) Prettyman is very in tune with how he does his operations at the Police Department,” Gillian said. “Compared with some of the other cities, I think we did fairly well. Our Police Department and everybody here, we’re doing the best that we can and we are always learning.”
Finally, he answered a question about private clubs, where members can drink alcohol with their dinner at certain times or on specific days.
“At the end of the day, these private clubs are legal, and they’ve been doing it in a positive way,” he said. “I don’t want bars, I don’t want people walking down the street.”
Gillian said he does not imbibe and that he hates it.
“Alcohol and alcoholism has been very difficult in my life with many people around me. It’s very difficult for me to be objective when it comes to drinking and these kinds of events and situations,” he said.
Instead, he relies on his advisers.
“I have a great solicitor that has guided me through these things. Right now, it’s the way of doing things and people enjoy it and it helps some of our restaurants. I’m against a lot of these things but I try to say it like this, ‘If I make a decision yesterday and I get better information tomorrow, I will change my mind.’ I always surround myself with smart people. I never want to be the smartest in the room.
“The alcohol thing with Ocean City is something that means a lot to me. I don’t want bars. Obviously we are probably the wettest dry town in the United States. Private clubs have been OK for now. I haven’t seen too many problems, but we will definitely stay on top of that.”
