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OCTOBER 9, 2020
SERVING NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
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Endless Summer Cruisin’ returns to Ocean City, Special Event Zone rules in place – Page 23
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Dare, Knight out, resort ballot set Gehrig, DeLuca seek return, another Knight joins Buas, Hagan, Eastman in contest By Josh Kim Staff Writer (Oct. 9, 2020) The paperwork is in — four new faces seek a council seat, two incumbents drop out and Mayor Rick
Meehan will go unopposed for this year’s Ocean City municipal election. The election will take place on Nov. 3 at the Ocean City convention center on 40th Street from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. The terms of Mayor Rick Meehan and Councilmembers Dennis Dare, Tony DeLuca, John Gehrig and Mary Knight are expiring this election cycle, and the candidate filing deadline was
Tuesday. Going on the official ballot is Meehan running for mayor and council candidates, DeLuca, Gehrig, Peter Buas, Dan Hagan, Nicholas Eastman and Frank Knight, who is married to Councilwoman Knight. Not turning in paperwork required to seek reelection were councilman and former city manager Dennis Dare, and
Councilwoman Mary Knight. Dare and Mary Knight have chosen to relinquish their seats on the council. “After 38 years of service to the Town of Ocean City, I have decided not to seek re-election to the City Council,” Dare said in a Facebook post. “Since 1982, I have served as city engineer, city manager and city council member. It is See DARE Page 4
County bets $400K on riverboat project Paddlewheeler seen as economic driver for southern county
ALLY LANASA/OCEAN CITY TODAY
WELL TUNED
Wade Mahaffey of St. Mary’s County, Maryland, displays the 1927 Ford Roadster he built that has been featured in TV shows and national magazines in the 94th Street shopping center on Wednesday. Ocean City welcomes the annual Endless Summer Cruisin’ event this weekend.
Council cautioned about meetings law By Josh Kim Staff Writer (Oct. 9, 2020) The Ocean City Council got a refresher on the Maryland Open Meetings Act Monday and what constituted as a violation. “I would like [city legal counsel] Heather [Stansbury] to give a brief explanation of emails, texts and the [Maryland] Open Meetings Act,” Councilman Tony DeLuca said.
“We should talk about it right now, because the public should know how limited we are able to communicate and how a lack of communication just paralyzes this group,” Councilman John Gehrig said. Stansbury said that the act requires all workrelated discussions between elected officials to be conducted publicly when a quorum is involved. See QUORUM Page 5
By Elizabeth Bonin Staff Writer (Oct. 9, 2020) Snow Hill has secured money to buy a riverboat attraction, as the Worcester County Commissioners approved a $400,000 no-interest loan over 15 years for the town. The town and county hope to use the Black Eyed Susan paddle-wheeler to revitalize the
southern end of the county. Earlier in the meeting, commissioners voted to attempt to use $250,000 of CARES Act funding for the riverboat. County Commissioner Chip Bertino expressed frustration that the loan proposal had only been given to the commissioners that morning and that two weeks after the special session for the riverboat, there was still no business or marketing plan. “We’re being asked to loan money, $400,000, and we don’t have any supporting documenSee BERTINO Page 5
Tyndall new Berlin mayor By Ally Lanasa Staff Writer (Oct. 9, 2020) With a strong campaign and favorable feedback from many townspeople, District 2 Councilmember Zackery Tyndall was elected as the mayor of Berlin on Tuesday in a landslide victory against four candidates. “I think that it’s going to be a good thing for the town,” Tyndall said. “The people, from the numbers that I heard, are ready to take a different step forward, and I’m happy to lead that step forward along with the three new councilmembers.” See KNERR Page 8
