Questions about candidacy elicit strong response from councilman who stepped down
OCEAN CITY – With only a brief agenda, Thursday evening’s Ocean City Council meeting was dominated by public comment, a good portion surrounding council’s actions at a previous meeting and council candidacies in the May 10 election.
Council and the administration got a mixed reaction from the public on whether to allow high-ranking city employees to split duties with another community.
Resident Dave Hayes of Battersea Road said he looked to Ocean City for help when his water was turned off “without warning” because of nearby work. When he contacted the New Jersey American Water Co., which handles the water and sewer in the resort, the company referred him to the city, but when he contacted the mayor’s office, he was told it was the water company’s issue. He said he also contacted the city Engineering Department but didn’t get support.
“When I reached out to Ocean City for help in an emergency situation, I received no help at all,” Hayes said, wondering aloud if the Engineering Department “was over working in Sea Isle City.”
Ocean City business administrator George Savastano, an engineer, also works for Sea Isle City in a shared services arrangement between the two communities. At the previous City Council meeting, council members voted 5-2 against allowing a temporary shared services agreement with Sea Isle for Frank Donato, Ocean City’s chief financial officer. Sea Isle’s CFO retired and that resort wasn’t successful in finding a replacement and had requested Donato’s help until a new CFO was hired. The proposal was for Sea Isle to pay Ocean City $7,000 a month for up to five months for Donato’s services, with Donato being paid $2,000 of that sum per month.
At the meeting, Savastano and Donato supported the proposal, but the majority on council said they didn’t believe in sharing the city’s top employees.
Hayes agreed with the council vote. He said shared services “just don’t make sense when Ocean City has the incredible tax revenues that pay our high city salaries.”
He said he managed a $45 million budget with 25 employees and in his business customers expect services 24/7 and he couldn’t moonlight even if he was allowed.
“If I found out any of my top employees were moonlighting I would fire them on the spot,” Hayes said. “If our top city employees really have that much time to spare … maybe our city needs to find more work for them to do.”
Just because the administration thinks it found a loophole to allow the resort’s highly paid employees to work in other cities while working full-time in Ocean City, he said, “it’s still irresponsibly bad management.”
Resident Frank Worrell did not agree, saying council’s decision was “grossly unfair” to Donato and the city could have used the extra $25,000.
He also took issue with the 5-2 vote, referencing a regular occurrence on council with the same majority-minority vote. At-large council members Pete Madden and Karen Bergman were the two who supported the shared services agreement for Donato.
“I have a problem with council voting 5-2 as usual. I would think you might mix it up slightly, maybe 4-3, so it wouldn’t seem like it was previously agreed to,” Worrell said. He pointed out how all members of council sang Donato’s praises but still voted against allowing him to help Sea Isle City.
“When I was in charge of very large HVAC construction jobs, I found giving praise for a job well done was not really much of a reward,” Worrell said. “One of the young fellows working for me said, ‘Put it in the envelope.’ This council had the perfect chance to put it in the envelope but chose to deny (Donato) the chance” to earn the $2,000 a month. He said council also denied taxpayers the $25,000.
“The reasoning was you didn’t want him to work part-time jobs. We all know part-time jobs are bad but every one of you, except for Mr. (Bob) Barr, are part-time employees for Ocean City,” he said, referencing the fact being a City Council member is a paid part-time position and council members have full-time jobs.
Was the real reason the proposal was rejected, he asked, because it was something the administration proposed? “All council personnel took an oath to do the right thing for the city and its citizens. That vote was against the best interests of the citizens and Mr. Donato,” Worrell said. “We all like small government, but no one likes small-minded councilmen ….”
Election comment
elicits response
Near the end of the council meeting, during the second public comment section, Worrell questioned the motives of two candidates, leading to a spirited defense by former First Ward councilman Michael DeVlieger.
It’s getting “curiouser and curiouser,” Worrell said, referencing Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” while wondering why DeVlieger is running for council six months after resigning, and sitting Second Ward Councilman Tomaso Rotondi is seeking an at-large seat while only midway through his first term.
Worrell pointed out DeVlieger had an emotional farewell in August and chose his replacement (Terrance Crowley Jr.), whom council appointed. In August, DeVlieger said he didn’t have the time because of work and family commitments.
“Now we have a sitting council person who is not up for election circulating a petition for an at-large seat,” Worrell said. “Would it be possible this move, if he is successful, to be able to appoint another person to council?” He suggested having another appointment to council was not democratic.
DeVlieger, who spoke after Worrell during public comment, said he knew the local resident and likes him, but that those comments – and similar ones by a “news agency” (the Sentinel, in an editorial) made it sound like he was being sneaky and trying to displace the two at-large council members who are seeking re-election, Bergman and Madden.
He said that was not the case at all and that he loves Bergman and Madden after serving with them.
DeVlieger said his family had a crisis and he couldn’t give his full attention to the city so he resigned to focus on his family, a point he made at the time. He said he felt it was his obligation to step down and that he did “everything I could” to get Crowley into his seat. (Crowley was then elected in a three-way race to the First Ward seat in November.)
Now, he said, the crisis in his family has been addressed and he believes there is unfinished business.
“I love being on council. I’m not running to unseat anybody,” he said, pointing out at-large Councilman Keith Hartzell is not running for re-election and leaving a position open, choosing instead to challenge Mayor Jay Gillian for his job. “I’m running to be in the top three.” Ocean City Council has three at-large positions and four ward positions.
DeVlieger said if anyone has been able to live without a crisis in their family, “bless you.” As for anyone who doesn’t respect his choice, “I’m good without your vote.”
DeVlieger is the only person to have returned his nominating petitions and to have them certified by the city clerk, making him the only official candidate so far.
Aside from Rotondi, Bergman and Madden, the other two candidates who have taken out petitions are Donna Moore and John A. “Tony” Polcini.
Gillian and Hartzell have also taken out petitions in the mayoral race.
As of Monday, there were no other potential candidates in the May 10 election.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff