Vincent Gisriel Jr.
councilman and citizen critic · active 1987–2024
The most persistent voice in Ocean City's modern record, and one of the few who appears on both sides of the rail. He came to the podium in February 1987 arguing for tax relief on beach easements, and in February 1988 took the capital plan apart in public — twenty-four million of bonds sold the previous year, an obligation approaching fifty million, and a contemplated one-million-dollar beach nourishment tax to be spelled out separately on the tax bill. He was on the council from 1989, off it by 1993 and spending that year attacking it from outside over the denominator in the charter's referendum threshold, back on it by 1995, and gone again by 2004. In January 1996 he told the chamber the town had been reprimanded by the Open Meetings Compliance Board for ordering an ordinance in closed session, and by July had generalised it into a doctrine — that the public is entitled to hear the debate and not only the decision — and was told by President Feehley that things were going to stay the way they are. In January 1998 he appealed a failed referendum petition signature by signature under Section C-505 of the charter. He was still objecting to the adequacy of public notification, as a private citizen, in 2013.
In the record (68)
1987 · 1987-02-05
A county assessor told the council that the beach easement it was asking oceanfront owners to sign was one of the most restrictive granted anywhere in Maryland
Vince Gisriel, appearing as a resident rather than in his capacity as a County assessor, proposed limited property-tax allowances for owners who granted beach replenishment easements: "I've read the easement itself and it's a very restricted easement in the sense that the dune once constructed, property owners will not even be able to walk over that dune. When you compare the easement to other easements that are granted throughout the State, even right-of-ways or conveyances of that sort, it's one of the most restrictive." The State's $700,000 appropriation of 1986 could build nothing until every oceanfront owner signed.
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1988 · 1988-02-15
A private citizen took the capital plan apart in public: twenty-four million sold last year, 13.7 million to come, an obligation approaching fifty million — and a beach nourishment tax to be spelled out separately on the tax bill
"Last year alone I think you sold something like twenty-four million dollars worth … future bonds would total like 13.7, so very quickly, in the next few fiscal years we could have an obligation of fifty million dollars in outstanding bonds … I saw nowhere where it talked about the 6.7 million to fund the Beach Replenishment Program. Later on in a budget book I found where there's been contemplation of a one million dollar beach nourishment tax that will be spelled out separately on the tax bill." — Vince Gisriel. He also warned about a $1.5 million Northside Park pool dependent on a million dollars of private donations. A separate line on the tax bill, named for the beach: the cost of the settlement made visible to every ratepayer. Gisriel would be sitting on the council within a year.
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1988 · 1988-10-20
Council President Granville Trimper finished fifth in the October 1988 election with 913 votes, tied with Hank Westfall, and George Hurley was elected president over Rick Meehan by four votes to three
At the organizational special session of 20 October 1988 Lucy Gaffney of the Board of Election Supervisors read the results of the Tuesday election: "Roland E. Powell for Mayor - Total 1,495; for Council: Brent Ashley - 254; Vincent Gisriel, Jr. - 1,146; Sally S. Hacking - 1,132; James S. Hall - 1,262; Richard W. Meehan - 1,217; Granville Trimper - 913; Henry B. Westfall - 913." Four seats were filled; Trimper, president through the whole beach-replenishment fight, was out. Councilman Steckman: "We had a virtual 60% turnout." Steckman nominated Meehan for president; the vote was four to three for Hurley, who said he hoped "to fill the seat of a big man who sat here before who certainly had my respect. I sort of hate to see him go." Meehan was elected secretary unanimously. Mayor Powell: "Most of all I guess we've all got to thank God that we have made it through this election ... no name-calling or anything of that nature." On 7 November Councilman Feehley, noting that the Charter leaves a tied election to the new Council, moved for a run-off election instead; the Solicitor agreed the Council deciding was "an almost untenable situation".
Granville TrimperRick MeehanRoland E. "Fish" Powell
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1989
Vincent Gisriel, Jr. — the private citizen who had stood at the podium in 1987 and 1988 taking the capital plan apart — took a seat on the council, and Granville Trimper left the chair he had held through the whole beach fight
Mayor Roland E. Powell; Council President George Hurley; Councilmen Feehley, Hall, Meehan, Steckman, Councilwoman Sally Hacking, and Councilman Vincent Gisriel, Jr. Gisriel had argued for tax relief on beach easements in February 1987 and warned about fifty million dollars of bonds in February 1988; he is now on the other side of the rail. Trimper had been president through the Trident Report, the governor's opposition, the emergency ordinances and the dredges.
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1989 · 1989-04-17
The council refused a national beach-volleyball tour its July stop, six to one, because the tournament was a DeKuyper promotion "presented by Playboy" and "we try to project a family resort image"
Peter Turnapoll asked the regular meeting of 17 April 1989 for tentative approval of the "DeKuyper DeVotion by DeOcean Beach Volleyball Series", a fifteen-market tour due in Ocean City on 15-16 July with sixty or seventy teams, ten to twelve courts on about a block of beach, 96 Rock on a stage, a $20 entry fee per team and a gross of T-shirts for the Leukemia Society, Polaroid buttons taken "with a local Playboy Playmate", and a boomerang frisbee called the Wheezer. Councilman Hall: "we don't allow selling on the beach period" - the town would not even let its own Beach Patrol sell T-shirts there. Councilman Steckman: "the contest is co-sponsored by Playboy? ... I have a major problem with that because we try to project a family resort image and that definitely does not play for that... I don't think Jim Beam brand... represents Ocean City for what we believe Ocean City's all about. I make a motion to deny the request." Councilman Gisriel echoed him. Turnapoll argued that the two Playmates "will be the most dressed people you'll have" and that "when President Carter decided to give an interview he didn't go to Time Magazine... he went to Playboy"; Councilman Meehan replied that everyone he knew with a subscription "says they bought it for the articles." The motion to deny carried six to one, Feehley opposed, and Meehan told the promoter to go back through Tom Perlozzo of Recreation and Parks with the town as co-sponsor, as a volleyball tournament had been run the year before.
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1989 · 1989-05-01
"we're the second largest city in Maryland" in season — and it had no full-fledged emergency room
"it's so uncertain as to what the Atlantic General Hospital will be and when it'll be … but particularly when the tourist season is upon us, we're the second largest city in Maryland. We really do need what's in the medical trade called the urgency-emergency care center, a full-fledged emergency room." — Councilman Gisriel. A town of a few thousand year-round residents that becomes Maryland's second city every July, spending two million a year on sand, and unable to treat an emergency.
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1989 · 1989-05-15
With the ocean side settled, Feehley proposed dredging the bay — and admitted, as Hurley had the year before, that he had kept quiet while the beach programme was in the balance
"I didn't bring it up a few years ago when we were getting the beach program started. I don't see now how we can say that talking about the Bay is going to jeopardize the beach program … If we just sit back and say well, the environmentalists won't let us do anything, I think we're going to just see the Bay fill up with some narrow channels taking the north and south — and that'll be about all we have." The environmental groups had circulated a petition and called for a task force; one of their number said they would not oppose dredging the Inlet and harbour mouth. Hurley marked the distinction: "That is not necessarily all that these folks are talking about. They're talking about the Bay. That's ten miles up and down the backside of this island." And he put the new councilman in his place while agreeing with him: "Mr. Gisriel, for as long as I can remember, and certainly long before you got here, this Council has done exactly what you're suggesting."
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1989 · 1989-11-20
After three discussions in a year and a work-session vote that lacked a quorum, the council voted 4-3 to let boogie boards on the municipal buses, over the president's warning that federal carrier rules and $300,000 a year in funding said anything carried aboard must fit under the seat
President Hurley put "Boogie Boards on Municipal Buses" back on the agenda of the regular meeting of 20 November 1989 because the work session's 3-2 vote to ban them "is not a quorum" and "I don't want some issues to come back like the boogie board that we discussed yet again after having been discussed three times already this year." Public Works Director Hal Adkins explained that the buses were bought with federal money and so fell under the Federal Carrier Regulations, "part of which states that any item brought onboard should be stowed below the seat"; ninety-nine per cent of boogie boards were styrofoam, some with a hard gel-coat bottom or twin skegs. Councilman Gisriel remembered pipe racks over the seats on Baltimore Transit Company buses and argued that "if an individual can bring a stroller onboard, an umbrella, or several bags of groceries, including bottles in there, that a boogie board is not all that unsafe." Councilman Feehley, "the surfer", distinguished the soft boogie board from the plywood skim board and asked "Have we really had any complaints about this? What brought this up?" Hurley: "we receive over $300,000 a year which I don't care to jeopardize no matter how much I pity the kids or like the boards... I do know of at least three people who have had their legs broken, however, with what we used to call skim boards." "Not on a bus," said Feehley. Councilman Hall's motion to allow them carried four to three, Hurley, Steckman and Hacking against. Feehley: "You want to vote on suitcases now?"
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1990
The document count doubles to 94 as work sessions, correspondence packets and bid documents begin to be filed with the minutes — from here the record is an archive rather than a transcript
About 1.73 million characters. The change matters for how every later year of this campaign must be read: verbatim argument gives way to filed paper, and the kind of sentence that made 1972 and 1988 legible becomes rarer. Mayor Roland E. Powell; Council President George Hurley; Councilman Richard Meehan as Secretary; Councilmen Feehley, Gisriel, Hall, Steckman; Councilwoman Sally Hacking; City Solicitor Guy Ayres III; City Clerk Carol L. Jacobs.
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1990 · 1990-10-18
The F.O.P.'s collective-bargaining charter amendment, put on the October ballot by the council itself after the petition fell short at 15 per cent of the voters, was defeated 1,202 to 811
The 18 October 1990 organizational meeting closed the count: "And the charter amendment referendum: For - 811; Against - 1202." The route to the ballot is in the summer minutes. On 16 July the Board of Election Supervisors reported the F.O.P. petition's valid signatures "represented 15% of the registered voters" against the 20 per cent required, and the council accepted the finding unanimously. At the special session of 24 July the council nonetheless moved to put the question on the ballot with the technical defects corrected - Councilman Gisriel: "I presume the ballot question will in essence be the same questions you put on the petition but the technical problems with it will be addressed" - City Solicitor Ayres warning that as drafted "the Mayor here would enter into binding arbitration, but the Mayor in Ocean City doesn't have the power to bind the Council to appropriate money", that a charter petition should cover one subject, and that it "confers a special status onto the Police Department." Councilman Hall: "If this passes by the voters, if they vote in favor of it, this will be binding." Ayres: "If it passes, it becomes law." On 1 October the council voted 6-1 to spend money answering the F.O.P.'s advertising, Steckman saying "because some of the ads are misleading, the public should get real facts", and on 15 October Rudy DiDio read a letter "voicing his disappointment on the Mayor and Council's anti-charter referendum position." Mayor Powell recalled on 17 September that collective bargaining had been on the ballot once before "and it was defeated."
Ocean City Lodge No. 10, Fraternal Order of PoliceOcean City Police Department
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1991 · 1991-01-07
In the week before the Gulf War air campaign, the council waived its special-event rules and fees so the Peace Alliance of the Lower Shore could hold a Sunday peace vigil with ministers and guitars on the Inlet parking lot
At the regular meeting of 7 January 1991 (item 9 of the clerk's synopsis), "Ms. Jane Harrington, representing the Peace Alliance of the Lower Shore, made an appearance to request use of the Inlet parking lot for a peace vigil on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. Because of the short notice, there had not been time to fill in the special events form. She explained that there would be some guitar music and different ministers." City Solicitor Ayres "stated that this gathering was different than those requiring the special events permit." Councilman Gisriel "moved to approve and waive the normal requirements and fees"; Councilman Hall seconded; President Meehan "suggested that Ms. Harrington meet with the City Manager and the Police Department to coordinate this. The vote was unanimous." The Sunday in question was 13 January 1991, two days before the United Nations deadline for Iraq to leave Kuwait; the special session of 25 January would be debating a lighted yellow ribbon for City Hall's front door.
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1991 · 1991-02-20
Offered a tugboat for the fishing reef, the council balked at $5,700 to move it, then voted $2,000 as a one-third share once service clubs and the county commissioners were said to be paying the rest
At the work session of 12 February 1991 (synopsis item 11): "A tug boat has been offered to the City that could be sunk near the Blenny but moving it would be at the City's expense, $5,700. No interest was shown at this time." Eight days later, at the regular meeting of 20 February, President Meehan reported that the proposer "has since gone to some members of the private community, some of the local service organizations. And he believes he has a commitment from them for one-third of the money. And he also told me that he believes that the county commissioners will also agree to pay one-third of the costs which will decrease the cost to the Town from $5900 to $2,000 ... I spoke to the Mayor prior to the meeting tonight and although he voiced opposition to the $5900 expenditure, he thought that by the other parties becoming involved and our costs being reduced to 33% that he would endorse us going ahead." Councilwoman Hacking: "I make a motion that we expend that $2,000 ... for the purpose of sinking a boat as long as we're not having to go out there and watch it happen." Meehan: "We're inviting everybody that ever was on it to come down and watch it go under." Hall: "Some'll be invited to stay on it." Councilman Gisriel asked how far out the Blenny lay - "I've been confused about whether our corporate limits are two-to-three miles" - and was told "It's out by the Jackspot," about twelve miles. The vote, taken after the chair had nearly adjourned without it, was unanimous, subject to the private and county money being appropriated. On 15 April City Manager Dare reported a letter from John Foster of DNR saying "we could come up with the same scenario that we had with the USS Blenny," and the council authorized the solicitor to negotiate the contract of sale; the 1 July agenda still carried an "inquiry as to date of tug sinking."
Maryland Department of Natural ResourcesRick MeehanDennis W. Dare
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1991 · 1991-03-26
A motion to ban dogs from the beach year round, prompted by a Century I complaint about droppings, failed 2-3 after Mayor Powell said seagulls and Boardwalk splinters were the bigger problem
Work session of 26 March 1991, synopsis item 11: "Councilman Westfall read a letter of complaint into the record from property owners in Century 1 concerning dogs and dog droppings. Councilman Westfall then moved to not allow dogs, leashed or unleased, on the beach year round. Councilman Gisriel seconded the motion. Mayor Powell stated this would take an ordinance to enact into law. President Meehan felt this was more of a nuisance problem and should be resolved in some other manner than to just disallow them on the beach. Councilman Mann reiterated it was an enforcement problem. Mayor Powell agreed and felt there were more problems with seagulls and splinters from the Boardwalk. President Meehan suggested tabling the motion and having the Police Commission review this for action. More discussion followed and the vote was 2-3 and did not carry." Dogs were already barred from the beach in season; the motion would have extended the ban through the winter.
Roland E. "Fish" PowellRick Meehan
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1991 · 1991-05-20
To give the June graduates something to do besides drink, the Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention Committee put the 16-foot walk-on piano from the film 'Big' on the beach north of the pier for a play-Chopsticks-with-your-feet contest
Regular meeting of 20 May 1991, item 15. Eleanor Kelley, for the Ocean City Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention Committee and Marty Pusey of the health department: "We have been assigned to organize some activities during the Junebug period that would be healthy activities for the young people who are coming to town so that perhaps we can do away with some of the problems that are created while they are here ... the Super Star Studios offered to bring in a piano which they rent around the country for $4,000. And they offered to give it to us to use ... on the Boardwalk or the beach in front of the Boardwalk or whatever for a night. So we set the date up, June the 5th, with a rain date of June the 6th ... so that the kids can have a contest either dancing on the piano or trying to play 'Chopsticks' with their feet." Councilman Westfall: "Are we going to be up there to see this piano go up on the beach?" Kelley: "It's the same piano that was in the movie, 'Big.' And it is big. As you can see in the specifications, it's five feet wide and 16 feet long. And you don't play it with your hands. You play it with your feet." Mayor Powell suggested a supervisor who "can play the piano with his feet." The committee had no liability insurance; Councilman Gisriel wanted it carried under the town's own risk-retention programme as "a City-sponsored committee," Acting Solicitor Almand called it "a rather low-level of risk" ("Climbing up on the piano"), and the motion passed unanimously with the insurance to come from the studio or the piano's provider. The request had first reached the council through the City Manager on 14 May, when it was for the Inlet parking lot and "just an idea to keep the 'Junebugs' interested in some constructed activities."
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1991 · 1991-10-07
Twice in 1991 the council refused residents permission to keep pet snakes - two pythons in June, and in October a pair their owner had kept for nine years and said were hibernating - and gave the second owner two weeks to get them out of town
Regular meeting of 17 June 1991, synopsis item 11: "Mr. Jalyn Owens made an appearance to request permission to house his two pet python snakes in Ocean City which are not allowed per City code. He informed the Council that they are in a lock-proof cage and he would be responsible for them. Councilman Gisriel moved to deny the request with a second from Councilman Mathias. The vote was unanimous." President Meehan: "Many people would have just gone ahead and, and moved their snake into town and I thoroughly respect you for coming forward and asking. I'm sorry we couldn't accommodate you." (The next speaker, the chairman of the election board, opened with "I'm wondering if our position on the agenda means the election board is a snake pit.") On 7 October (item 8, "Request to keep two snakes in Ocean City") Anthony Kolb of 128th Street asked again. Councilwoman Hacking: "I do believe that we turned down a request maybe three months ago for a young man that came up and asked the very same question. So I certainly would not, you know, in all fairness be able to say yes tonight." Kolb: "I've had 'em for over nine years and they've never been loose. They're caged right now. They're in hibernation ... the cage won't even be opened for nine months at which time I will probably not even be in Ocean City." Gisriel: "my instincts say the majority of the community is opposed to that just out of maybe a perceived fear that they might get loose and wander." Councilman Hall, on the realtor who had no objection: "They're all nuts." Mayor Powell: "I'm opposed to it." The denial was unanimous; Kolb asked for "a couple weeks to get 'em out of town" and was given two. Don Hastings, next up to present Sportsfest '91, said he was "glad I'm presenting Sportsfest and not Snakefest."
Rick MeehanRoland E. "Fish" Powell
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1992
A hundred and six documents and a changed council: Meehan in the chair, Mathias and Mann arriving, Gisriel still on the floor
Mayor Roland E. Powell; Council President Richard Meehan; Councilmen Gisriel, Hall, Mann, Mathias, Westfall; Councilwoman Sally Hacking; City Manager Dennis Dare; City Solicitor Ayres; City Planner Jesse Houston; Finance Director Martha Bennett. About 1.35 million characters across 106 documents — more paper than 1990 and less text, the archive form settling in.
Rick MeehanDennis W. DareGuy R. Ayres IIIJesse Houston
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1992 · 1992-01-14
The January nor'easter was not a disaster, because the beach absorbed it: "The beach replenishment project should fall under the beach maintenance fund. The damage to the Town itself was not significant enough to be categorized as a disaster."
Councilman Gisriel asked whether the City Manager had estimates of beach damage costs. City Manager Dare "stated that the storm damage falls into several categories and that requests seeking federal disaster relief is for public and private facilities. The beach replenishment project should fall under the beach maintenance fund. The damage to the Town itself was not significant enough to be categorized as a disaster." This is what the two million a year bought, stated the first time it was ever billed. The council then reallocated $150,000 meant for the Worcester Street parking lot to repairing the Inlet lot, and argued about tar-and-chip at $35,000 against hot mix at $140,000 — hot mix winning because tar and chip "does get torn up when the bulldozers move sand."
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1992 · 1992-03-02
An Indiana carriage company asked to run two horse-drawn carriages for hire in the Philadelphia Avenue bus lane from 15th to 30th Street, and was refused unanimously because the lane belonged to the buses
Elizabeth and Leah DeBoy of Touch of Elegance Carriage Company, Whitestown, Indiana, told the 2 March 1992 regular session they wished to "run two carriages here in Ocean City" on the restricted bus lane, June through September, "from 6:00 to 1:00 a.m.", with the horses stabled at a farm outside Salisbury. City Solicitor Ayres: "I think you need a permit from the Mayor and Council to bring a horse into Ocean City." Councilman Hall: "I've never seen a horse with brake lights." President Meehan said the lane "has been placed there expressly for the service of ... the bus itself", and Councilwoman Hacking, noting the council had "just denied about a month ago a request to utilize the bus lane for another form of transportation", moved "with regret" to deny; Mathias seconded "Regretfully" and the vote was unanimous. Gisriel recalled one earlier carriage request in Caine Woods, also denied, with only weddings and holiday events allowed.
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1992 · 1992-03-16
Councilman Gisriel went on record against a male revue held in a local bar to raise money for the town's EMS, warning that exotic dancing "has the tendency to proliferate" and citing a Worcester County ban
Under council comments at the 16 March 1992 regular session Gisriel raised "something that's a little uncomfortable to bring up": "We had a recent event in Town. I think it was a charitable event to raise money for the EMS that involved - I'll call it what it is - a male review. And this was held in a local establishment ... now I see and hear it's gonna be held again in March." He cited a state law "in which at least three counties are on it, Anne Arundel, Worcester, and one other" that "banned and prevented exotic dancing in Worcester County", and went on: "if you begin to let it happen, it has the tendency to proliferate. It could become a monthly event ... I've even heard, looking back, of like wet T-shirts' contests ... I mean the Mayor talked about thongs on the Boardwalk." A woman caller, he said, had been offended by the photo spread in a local paper. The index lists the item as "Discussion of exotic dancing and similar events"; no motion is recorded.
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1992 · 1992-07-06
Leighton Moore, "Chicken Man", brought a 555-signature petition to keep his rooster Jerk and hens Honey and Mustard at Seacrets, and the council granted the permit unanimously amid rooster noises from the floor
At the 6 July 1992 regular session the item was "a Request for Permission to Keep Undomesticated Animals as Pets, one rooster and two hens, presented by the chicken man himself, Leighton Moore. (Various voices imitating chickens.)" Moore, of 117 W. 49th Street: "I would respectfully request that I be allowed to keep Jerk, my rooster, that I've had for approximately two years and his two girlfriends, Honey and Mustard." The petition, "circulated just over the weekend", asked that the birds "be allowed to stay on the premises of O.C. Seacrets, Incorporated, at West End 49th Street", with "555 little children that probably can't vote yet, people that don't live here, some people that do live here". The birds had a heated winter "condominium", feed from Showell Farms and a veterinarian, Dr. Don Ritter. Councilman Mann moved to permit; Hall seconded, citing Fager's peacocks; Westfall asked "Are these purebred chickens?" ("Purebred Rhode Island Red and two of the ugliest hens you ever want to see"). Mayor Powell drew the line at snakes - "we've barred people with their snakes" - and Gisriel, worried about "laying hens" as precedent, was "talked into it". The vote was unanimous.
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1992 · 1992-07-06
The council let the Cactus Juice beach volleyball tournament go ahead with Hair Cuttery haircuts and Nestea samples but refused a 30-foot inflatable Margarita Schnapps bottle over the beach, then voted 6-1 to strip the Molson inflatable from the Beach Patrol's own lifesaving contest
At the 6 July 1992 regular session an addendum was sought for "the previously approved Cactus Juice Volleyball Tournament on July 18 and 19": "the Hair Cuttery will be doing hair cuts while the tournament is in progress with proceeds donated to the Leukemia Society. Samples of Nestea (iced tea) will be given away from a booth in the area. A 30-foot inflatable Margarita Schnapps bottle and 10-foot inflatable Nestea bottle would be flown over the area. Also a live broadcast would be going on at the same time. Mayor and Council voiced concern regarding the image the liquor bottle presents and any loud music ... Councilwoman Hacking pointed out that the Beach Patrol contest approved earlier has always had a Molson inflatable as have other tournaments of which the Mayor and Council were not aware. Councilman Mann moved to approve deleting the inflatables and keeping the music volume to a minimum ... The vote was unanimous. Councilman Gisriel then moved to have the Molson inflatable deleted from that contest if in fact it would be there. Councilman Mathias seconded. The vote was 6-1 with President Meehan in opposition." The Beach Patrol contest was the Mid-Atlantic Surf Lifesaving Championships of 15 July, approved the same night on Captain Schoepf's request.
Ocean City Beach PatrolRick Meehan
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1992 · 1992-10-05
After Hurricane Andrew the town's Disaster Relief Committee adopted the small town of Franklin, Louisiana, whose last working police car had died, and the council pulled cruisers 872 and 875 from the surplus sale to give them away
Pat Anthony of the Ocean City Disaster Relief Committee told the 8 September 1992 session that "Several employees including Mayor Powell were to leave the following day with various pieces of equipment, money, and donations" for Hurricane Andrew victims. On 5 October, "Clay Stamp apprised the Council of what the Disaster Relief Committee has accomplished to date. He stated that the committee has been in touch with the small town of Franklin, Louisiana, whom they have designated as the target of future efforts. At the last work session Mayor Powell reported that Franklin's last working police car had expired and requested that a vehicle or two from the surplus sale list be removed and donated. Councilman Gisriel moved to accept the recommendation of the committee and adopt Franklin, LA, for future concentrated relief ... The vote was unanimous." Ordinance 1992-28 to sell surplus property then passed "subject to the deletion of police cruisers 872 and 875 which are being donated to Franklin, LA." Committee members were "flying to Franklin next week, at their own expense, to present a check and any accumulated building materials."
Ocean City Police DepartmentRoland E. "Fish" Powell
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1992 · 1992-10-20
In the 20 October 1992 election 2,626 voters returned Mayor Powell 2,015 to 457 over Mr. Harris and put George Feehley and Lee Duggan on the council, while sitting members Vince Gisriel (915) and Sally Hacking (1,049) lost their seats
Mary Adeline Bradford, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors of Elections, certified the result at the special organizational session of 22 October 1992: "We had 2626 voters. For Mayor: Mr. Harris, 457; Mr. Powell, 2015. Mr. Powell is elected Mayor. For City Council: Lee Duggan, 1238; George Feehley, 1319; Vince Gisriel, 915; Sally Hacking, 1049; Jim Hall, 1530; Richard Meehan, 1616; Glenn Steckman, 1205. The four Councilmen elected: Rick Meehan, Jim Hall, George Feehley, Lee Duggan." Councilman Mathias moved to accept the results. Duggan had left the council by 1987 and Feehley had lost his seat in 1982; both returned. Gisriel, the citizen critic of the beach programme who had won a seat in 1989, finished last of seven. The December work sessions list the new council as Meehan, Westfall, Mathias, Hall, Duggan, Feehley and Mann.
Roland E. "Fish" PowellRick Meehan
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1993
The referendum fight of 1993 was not over signatures gathered but over the number they must be measured against — the 20 per cent denominator in the charter — and it was run by the former councilman
Vincent Gisriel is off the council this year and spends it attacking the council from outside. Ocean City's charter puts a referendum petition at 20 per cent of qualified voters; in 1976 that arithmetic had defeated a petition by 356 verified signatures, in a year when 200 to 220 non-residents registered in a single day. Seventeen years later the same threshold is being contested from the other direction, by a man who had sat on the winning side of it.
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1994 · 1994-09-19
A year after the petition fight, the council changed the charter so that a referendum petition needs signatures equal to 40% of the voters who voted in the previous election, and has forty days instead of twenty to gather them
Regular session of 19 September 1994, item 6: "At the previous work session a recommendation by the members of the Board of Supervisors of Elections to use 40% of the voters voting in a previous election be the number needed for a petition to referendum. This was prepared as Charter Resolution Amendment 1994-1. Councilman Feehley moved to pass; seconded by Councilman Mathias. Vince Gisriel made an appearance favoring the resolution but requested that the 20-day period presently stipulated in the Charter be extended to 40 days. The motion was amended to include this. The vote was 6-1 with President Meehan opposed." Gisriel, the former councilman who had run the 1993 petition, was elected to the council the following month. Earlier the same evening Feehley had failed to get a second for a motion that any capital project competing with private enterprise - "Lighthouse Sound, swimming center, ice rink, and covered tennis courts" - go to referendum, even after Duggan narrowed it to projects over $100,000.
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1994 · 1994-12-19
St George Greek Orthodox Church's request for a Sunday school in a house on East Biscayne Drive and a parking lot on the vacant lot beside it went back to the Planning Commission, because the commission had cut the lot by two-thirds at a morning deliberation the neighbours never heard about
Regular session of 19 December 1994, item 11, conditional use PZ 780 for lots 17 and 18 at 8804 and 8806 East Biscayne Drive. Zoning Administrator Blaine Smith explained that the Planning Commission, deliberating "Thursday morning" rather than on the night of its 6 December hearing, had restricted parking to the part of lot 17 behind the house and barred any drive onto East Biscayne Drive; asked by Councilman Mann "Is the public aware of that change?" he answered "No. No ... the public did not have any input at that time." Councilman Mathias: "the people that testified overwhelmingly said that they did not have a problem with the Sunday School but they had a problem with the parking lot ... I can support the church, the Sunday School, but I have a real problem even with the limited scope of the parking lot." Councilman Gisriel noted the church "admitted in evidence that it wasn't needed. They admitted that they borrow some spots from a nearby bank." Smith on the Sunday school's use: "your normal, Sunday morning Sunday School hour. They will have study and counseling at random during the week, but it's very seldom." Mathias moved to approve the Sunday school and deny the lot; Hall wanted a drawing; Betty Phillips said from the floor that the deliberation had been "a closed session and not legal", which the city solicitor denied; the motions were withdrawn and the case remanded to the Planning Commission for a revised site plan, unanimously.
Source · checked 2026-09-10
1995
Ninety-eight documents and about 2.23 million characters — the archive still growing, and still the only source
Mayor Roland E. Powell; Council President George Feehley; Councilmen Duggan, Gisriel, Hall, Mann, Mathias, Meehan; City Manager Dennis Dare; Finance Director Martha Bennett; City Solicitor Ayres. Two hometown papers had been publishing for years by now and neither is held here.
Rick MeehanDennis W. DareGuy R. Ayres III
Source · checked 2026-09-02
1995
The Convention Center Feasibility Committee had sixteen members and Granville Trimper among them — the man who presided over the entire beach fight now sitting as a private citizen
Chaired by John Staley, the committee reported in January and the bond ordinance followed in July. Trimper had been Council President through the Trident Report, the governor's opposition, the emergency ordinances of 1988 and the dredges. Gisriel is back on the council this year, having spent 1993 attacking it from outside.
Roland E. Powell Convention CenterGranville Trimper
Source · checked 2026-09-02
1995 · 1995-03-20
The Ocean City Ministerial Association applied for a special-event permit to walk up Baltimore Avenue on Good Friday, stopping to pray at each church, and the city solicitor told them a procession of churchgoers needed no permit at all
At the regular meeting of 20 March 1995 (item 5B) Jim McGinnis, for the Ocean City Ministerial Association, presented "a new request for a gathering of people on Worcester Street at the Sunspot Ministry and to march up Baltimore to the Atlantic Union Methodist Church in honor of Good Friday ... stopping at each church. And we'll be there for approximately 15 or 20 minutes each place. The pastors of each church will offer a small sermon, and the people will move on." Councilman Gisriel offered to waive the $25 application fee but not the insurance rider. City Solicitor Ayres: "Well, I'm not even so sure this requires a special event permit." Mayor Powell: "For a group of people walk along the sidewalk and stop at a church and do some praying." Ayres: "To my knowledge, just about every church in town on Palm Sunday people get out and walk around with palms ... I don't think church members going from one church to another requires a special event permit in this town." McGinnis said they had been sent to the Convention Center for the form; the council counted the group at 150 people; the trolley they had asked for was not handicapped-accessible and the City Manager offered a van instead. Gisriel withdrew his motion and no permit was issued.
Roland E. "Fish" PowellGuy R. Ayres III
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1995 · 1995-04-01
The town borrowed to double a convention centre that loses money, because a $1.4 million loss shared with Annapolis is smaller than the $824,000 loss it already carried alone
City Manager Dare: "In 1996 and 1997 the operating deficit of the Convention Center is [$]824[,000] — and then it grows to 908. In 1998 when the building's expanded, the operating deficit is gonna be 1.4 million but we're only gonna pay half of it, the 709 — which is less than the 824. And the bottom line, guys, is … with the 50% contribution from the state, once this building's up and functional and being utilized, the increased business is gonna pay for your 50% of the operating costs." Councilman Hall: "'Cause you're getting half from the state." Finance Director Bennett: "You're getting half from the state. The first two years we're paying 100% of it." Gisriel, restored to the council, pushed back on the projections — "if we've been approaching this conservatively, how can we be going lower in these projections today?" — and Bennett conceded the earlier figures had been November estimates. Bonds are the word of the year, 424 mentions, nearly all of them this building.
Roland E. Powell Convention CenterDennis W. Dare
Source · checked 2026-09-02
1995 · 1995-10-10
The owner of Shock Value Body Piercing at Baltimore and Dorchester wrote the standards the council adopted for body-piercing establishments, 5-2, after a councilman raised the Rehoboth Beach rule requiring a physician
At the regular meeting of 2 October 1995 Melissa Adams appeared under "Discussion of Tattoo Ordinance with request for changes and Standards for Body Piercing Establishments": "I'm a resident here in Ocean City. I also own Shock Value Body Piercing which is on the corner of Baltimore and Dorchester ... I have been piercing for about four years. I'm a member of the Alliance and Professional Tattooists ... I also feel that there should be some standards on body piercing ... But I think they should be reasonable, enforceable and reasonable." Her guidelines: a permit issued only on a Health Department certificate of inspection, "an autoclave is a must," all instruments sterilised before use on any patron, sharps containers. The town's Chapter 61A, adopted 1 July 1985 as Ordinance 1985-18, allowed a tattoo establishment only to a licensed physician or osteopath. At the work session of 10 October (item 17): "Councilman Hall moved to adopt the recommendations provided at that meeting by Melissa Adams, owner of a body piercing establishment, and to incorporate this as an amendment to the code. Councilman Gisriel voiced concern over the issue, especially relative to genital piercing, and referred to the Rehoboth Beach ordinance where a physician or osteopath is required. Councilman Mathias seconded the motion and felt this should come under the Health Department's revue. Councilman Duggan added that a progressive fine schedule should be added. The vote was 5-2 with Councilmen Feehley and Gisriel opposed."
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1995 · 1995-10-16
The owner of the skate shop at 2nd Street and the Boardwalk asked the council to open the Ocean Bowl skate park to rollerbladers, arguing there were 25 million in-line skaters to 4.9 million skateboarders; the park had been cut back to weekends for want of use
Craig Wolfe, at the regular meeting of 16 October 1995: "I own the skate shop at 2nd Street and the Boardwalk. And what I'd like to do is I'd like to get the skate park open for rollerbladers ... There's 25 million skaters in all across the country. And because there's only 4.9 million skateboarders, there's six times as many rollerbladers." He brought two "new locals," Fritz and Mike, one of whom "said that ... the next $15 you spend, just like $15 for like a seasonal pass to the skate park if they open it up." President Feehley: "the skateboarders really have no place else to go where rollerbladers have a lot of areas where they can skate." Councilman Gisriel, who had read the packet's American Medical Association safety figures, was ready to move approval. Councilman Mann: "the hours were cut back. It wasn't being used enough to justify the salaries up there." Bev Harrington: "It's just weekends." The Recreation Department's memo in the packet reported that "skateboarding is definitely on the upswing," and, citing Camp Woodward's figures (107 in-line to 758 skateboarding campers in 1994; 586 to 1,080 in 1995), that "since skateboarding is not permitted on the Town's streets and sidewalks, the Town has an obligation to provide an area where skateboarders may practice their sport." A decision was deferred until the Recreation Department reported back, and Wolfe left his demonstration tapes for the department.
Source · checked 2026-09-10
1996
1996 is Roland Powell's last year as mayor, closing the eleven-year term that began with Harry Kelley's death and ran through the pumping of the beach
Ninety-three documents, about 2.26 million characters. Council President George Feehley; Councilmen Duggan, Gisriel, Hall, Mann, Mathias, Meehan; City Manager Dennis Dare; Finance Director Martha Bennett; City Solicitor Ayres. Powell had first appeared in this record as a councilman in the town's full-page advertisement in the Democratic Messenger's centennial edition of August 1969.
Rick MeehanDennis W. DareGuy R. Ayres III
Source · checked 2026-09-02
1996 · 1996-01-03
The town was formally reprimanded by the Open Meetings Compliance Board for ordering an ordinance in closed session — and the ordinance reached the council's packet without reaching its agenda
"once this ordinance came out to this packet, even though it wasn't on the agenda, and even though it's hidden so to speak in the agenda in the packet because there's no reference to it, it wasn't even on the TV monitor this weekend … There was no authorization to go forward and draw up a second ordinance. And we just got reprimanded from the Open Meetings Compliance Board for ordering an ordinance in a closed session before it came to public discussion. And this is an ordinance that got ordered by staff without any direct instruction from the Council." — Councilman Gisriel. President Feehley: "Vince, I have to agree with you. That's why I wondered if I missed something when I wasn't here that last meeting." Gisriel also objected to the substance — a capital project put before the council with basic questions unanswered: "What happens in the event of a hurricane … we didn't even know about the FAA agreement; at least I didn't — we voted seven to nothing. And I think it is wrong for us to even be considering such a capital project when we haven't even brought the concept to the public."
Source · checked 2026-09-02
1996 · 1996-05-20
The $1.00 licence that had let farmers sell produce, fish and fowl from a pickup in a hotel parking lot was repealed, over a local farmer's objection, so that every vendor paid the same business licence
Ordinance 1996-11, second reading at the regular meeting of 20 May 1996 (item 20): it "amends Chapter 72 which repeals from the code the $1.00 license provision for hawkers or peddlers of fish, fowl, and local produce". Attorney Peter Wimbrow, for the farmer Harry Wimbrow: "it's my understanding that there were only four of these licenses issued last year ... if there isn't a problem, I just don't understand why it needs fixing." City Solicitor Ayres: "I can remember ... when these people used to come in their pickup trucks and pull into the hotel parking lots and ring their bell and that's where a lot of people went out and bought their produce. These people don't come into town anymore." Councilman Gisriel: "We had a series of complaints by businessmen ... who pay a business license, pay property taxes, and have a designated produce stand ... we've since ... found out there apparently is no Maryland law that guarantees a farmer, who grows produce in Maryland, the right to be on a corner." Harry Wimbrow, from the floor, sold "wherever the property owner'll give me permission ... so basically north of the city, bayside". Mayor Powell asked how much parking was required for a pickup truck selling produce; the planner cited the vendors' set-up on Brice Phillips's lot at 142nd Street. The synopsis: "The repealing of this section does not prohibit selling of the produce; it just requires the same business license be obtained." Passed 6-0, Feehley absent.
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1996 · 1996-07-15
By July Gisriel had generalised the reprimand into a doctrine — that the public is entitled to hear the debate, not just the decision — and was told things would stay the way they are
"The Open Meetings Compliance Board has made it very clear … one of the important aspects of government and due process is to hear the exchange of ideas and the thinking that goes into laws, ordinances, decisions … I think the public is entitled to hear the dialogue that goes into that decision, not simply reporting back to the City Manager what a policy ought to be … Part of good government is having the exchange of ideas and the debates. … if we have an involvement with a liaison and a board of directors, then it ought to be open to the public." President Feehley: "You certainly presented your case and the Council is aware of it; but right now things are gonna stay the way they are."
Source · checked 2026-09-02
1996 · 1996-08-19
The Sister City Committee reported that thirteen visitors from Finale Ligure, Italy, led by its mayor, would arrive on 14 September for a two-week stay and a signing ceremony, and the council voted city buses, the Sunset Room and up to $400 for punch and finger food
Jim Pescetto for the Sister City Committee at the regular meeting of 19 August 1996 (item 6): "We're in the windup stages of our sister city. They're arriving here on September 14th. Sixteen - until I got a letter today that we've had some injuries there, in Finale Ligure. There's three less coming, so it'll be thirteen. But the mayor and his wife are coming ... the mayor will be here five days staying from the 14th to the 20th because he must lay a wreath for the Unknown Sailor in Finale Ligure. And - but the rest of the group will be here til the 28th. And the mayor will be here for Sunfest, for the opening of Sunfest." The committee had "about $1000 in our treasury" and asked for bus service within Worcester County and the Sunset Room for two hours: "a half hour for the ceremony and the other hour-and-a-half for a small luncheon, no booze; punch and some finger food. That's all we can afford." Councilman Gisriel moved to provide the buses and "a modest refreshment"; Councilman Duggan seconded with a cap, set at $400. Councilman Mathias, recalling the reception for the Governor in the Sunset Room the previous Thursday that "was like a candy land", asked whether the Italian restaurants in town might donate the food; Pescetto: "I don't think we'd get it free." The motion passed unanimously as "the use of the city buses within Worcester County; the use of the Sunset Room; and if nothing else can be worked out, the city will furnish food up to $400." Pescetto: "I hope everyone is coming to the signing ceremony ... It's a two-year project that we've been working on." Two host families who had gone to Italy were giving the visitors "thanksgiving" dinners.
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1996 · 1996-10-17
The October 1996 election results were read into the record on 17 October: James Mathias 1,424 for mayor against George Feehley 664, John Staley 456 and Margaret Pillas 364, and Nancy Howard led the council poll with 1,684, so that the elections chairman opened with "this'll be the last time I'll be saying gentlemen"
Special session of 17 October 1996, the organizational meeting, chaired by Council Secretary Hall because "Council President Feehley resigned his seat to run for Mayor and his resignation takes effect the day after the election." Mary Adeline Bradford, chairman of the Board of Supervisors of Elections: "For Mayor: George Feehley 664; James Mathias 1424; Margaret Pillas 364; John Staley 456. The winner for Mayor, James Mathias. For Council: Seymour Bridge 254; Douglas Cymek 561; Leroy Duggan 1571; Jim S. Hall 1465; Joseph T. Hall 750; Nancy Howard 1684; Lloyd Martin 961; Richard Meehan 1516; Stanley Rodman 259; Pat Sadowski 966; Kyle Sandler 142; Glenn Steckman 1287; Henry Westfall 946. Those elected for full four-year terms: Nancy Howard, Leroy Duggan, Richard Meehan, Jim S. Hall. And elected to fill the remaining two years of Councilman Mathias's term: Glenn Steckman." Councilman Gisriel questioned why poll watchers were sent out at 7 p.m. before the count (the board "took 'may' to mean 'may' and not 'shall'") and learned that "five or six" absentee ballots marked with a check instead of the X the Charter requires had been disallowed on the City Solicitor's reading. Feehley, without a vote: "I was asked to send in a letter of resignation this time which I thought was not necessary because up to now, a Councilman stayed a Councilman until the next group was sworn in." The results were accepted on Mann's motion, Meehan seconding. Richard Meehan was council president by the next regular meeting on 21 October.
James N. "Jim" Mathias Jr.Rick MeehanGuy R. Ayres III
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1997
James N. Mathias, Jr. became mayor in 1997 — the councilman who had sat through the beach fight, the convention centre bond and the open-meetings argument
Council President Richard Meehan; Councilmen Duggan, Gisriel, Hall, Mann, Steckman returned; Councilwoman Howard; City Manager Dennis Dare; Public Works Director Hal Adkins; Superintendent of Transportation Woodrow W. Shockley. Ninety-eight documents, about 1.86 million characters. Mathias had seconded the 1994 motion to thank Senator Smelser for restoring a quarter of a million dollars to the beach fund; he would later serve in the Maryland Senate.
Rick MeehanDennis W. DareHal Adkins
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1997 · 1997-04-29
The council kept the bulk-trash pickup fee at $10 for up to three items on 29 April 1997, refusing Public Works' proposed doubling to $20 but raising each extra item from $3 to $5
Clerk's synopsis of the work session of 29 April 1997, item 3: "Bruce Gibbs presented a summary of items, locations, and collection totals for the bulk pickup system since the fee was initiated, 7/1/96. The current fee schedule is $10 for up to three items and $3 for each item over that. Mr. Gibbs proposed to increase the initial charge to $20 and $5. Several Councilmen commented that compliance had been good and the fees remain the same this year. Councilman Gisriel moved as such; seconded by Councilman Mann. Varying opinions surfaced where it was suggested that the additional fee be raised to $5 per item. The motion was amended to accept this. Councilman Steckman commented on commercial items being picked up, such as freezers, and felt the costs should be more for those. Mr. Gibbs stated these are picked up but at a minimum. The vote was 6-1 with Councilman Steckman opposed. A resolution will be prepared for the next meeting."
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1997 · 1997-07-07
Ordinance 1997-8, signed the night it passed on 7 July 1997, let street performers work anywhere in town but confined First Amendment merchandise tables to two ten-block Boardwalk zones rotated daily by a calendar kept by the City Clerk
At first reading on 16 June 1997 the ordinance amending Chapter 72, Peddling and Soliciting, proposed two areas "comprising approximately 10 blocks each" that "would rotate on a daily basis" - Area 1 from 12th Street south to 2nd, Area 2 from 2nd to South Division - with "First Amendment activists that offer merchandise ... limited to one table each in the daily designated block." "Richard Hobbs, an entertainer whose activities include comedy and balloon sculpting, voiced concern over rotation stating that many patrons know where he sets up and look for him." Saul Porecki of One World said the change "was seemingly based on competition complaints"; several Boardwalk merchants favoured it. Councilman Gisriel asked whether street performers should carry insurance like vendors. At second reading on 7 July, City Solicitor Ayres, having "been reviewing numerous cases," recommended "repealing and reenacting Section 5.1 that would allow street performers free movement throughout the Town and limit First Amendment activities to the two rotating areas discussed previously with the City Clerk maintaining a calendar of which blocks are allowed on a particular day." The vote was unanimous and "Mayor Mathias announced he was signing the ordinance that moment and it would be in effect the next day." Hobbs then came back to the microphone to introduce his helper Glenn Murphy, "an accomplished weight lifter," and suggest the town hold weight-lifting events.
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1997 · 1997-10-06
A $42,534 bid from the Greene Turtle's owner and the Balmoral condominium board for the city's canal-side lot on Jamestown Road brought Balmoral's own owners to a 6 October 1997 hearing to say the twenty-five-year-old park was not "no longer needed for public use," and the sale was put off sixty days
Bids opened at the work session of 29 July 1997 for "the advertised property on the northerly side of Jamestown Road" were Nolan Graves $30,000 and James Park Joint Venture $42,534; the council accepted the high bid 6-1 and set a hearing, Councilman Gisriel objecting because "there has been public opposition" and the price was low against "recent expenditures to repair the bulkhead." At the hearing of 6 October the joint venture was identified as "Steve Pappas, owner of the Green Turtle, and the Balmoral Condominium Association"; Albert Fasulo, the association's president, said pier owners wanted "a few more slips." Five Balmoral owners spoke against, with neighbours from Shipwreck Road, Fountainhead Towers and 94th Street; "the major thrusts of opposition were the activity, traffic, noise, and possible expansion coincidental with the Greene Turtle and the removal of the park-like, community setting." Doris Crabtree's filed letter: "Did the children who fish and crab from the property say they no longer need it? did the many residents from the neighborhood who walk their dogs on the property say they no longer need it? ... And now we learn there is a budget surplus of $750K. The reason for selling the property in the first place no longer exists." Robert Lester, an original Balmoral owner since August 1972, called the statutory finding "contrary to fact - preposterously so." Gisriel's motion to keep the lot as park space found no second; Mayor Mathias "recognized the division of the neighborhood"; Councilman Steckman's motion to postpone sixty days, with first reading on 1 December advertised in the legals and on the government channel, passed 4-2.
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1997 · 1997-12-31
A referendum petition against the $600,000 purchase of the trailer park west of the airport for a runway protection zone was counted at a special session on 31 December 1997 and failed by eleven signatures - 1,158 valid of the 1,169 the charter required
Ordinance 1997-20 authorised buying the Sapperstein property near Route 611 in West Ocean City for the airport's Runway Protection Zone, "in the amount of $600,000," 90 per cent from the FAA and 5 per cent from the Maryland Aviation Administration; it passed second reading 5-2 on 12 November 1997 over the objections of the trailer park's residents, one of whom had found the nearest comparable park "in Delaware for $61,000, nowhere near the price the state is offering." A petition to referendum was filed at 10 a.m. on Monday 29 December. Mary Adeline Bradford, chairman of the Board of Election Supervisors, reported to the special session of 31 December: "There were 1353 signatures submitted; 20 were not Ocean City addresses; 42 were duplicate signatures; 132 were not registered Ocean City voters; one was an invalid date of a signature; for a total of 1,158 signatures. Based on the Charter Resolution 1994-1, the valid total needed is 1,169. The petition fell 11 short of the required number for a successful petition." Councilman Gisriel questioned the count line by line; Bradford: "if we err, we err on the side of the voter." The document is filed under the 15 December meeting but is dated 31 December 1997 on every page.
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1998
Clay Stamp appears in the record as Emergency Manager — the town's storm response now a named post rather than a mayor phoning weather stations
Ninety-five documents, about 1.49 million characters. Mayor James N. Mathias, Jr.; Council President Richard W. Meehan; Councilman Lee Duggan as Secretary; Councilmen Gisriel, Hall, Mann, Steckman; Councilwoman Nancy L. Howard; City Manager Dennis Dare; City Clerk Carol L. Jacobs. In 1978 Kelley had listened to three or four weather reports and supposed they were wrong; in 1984 the town assembled a disaster vehicle out of bid lots without knowing what to put the radio in.
Source · checked 2026-09-02
1998 · 1998-01-02
A referendum petition of 1,353 signatures fell to 1,158 after the Board struck 132 as unregistered, 42 as duplicates and 20 as out-of-town — and a councilman appealed it name by name
The Board of Election Supervisors' finding of 30 December 1997, signed by Chairman Mary Adeline Bradford: "1,353 signatures submitted … 20 not Ocean City addresses … 42 duplicate signatures … 132 not registered Ocean City voters … 1 invalid date of signature … 1,158 Total." Not enough. Councilman Gisriel appealed under Section C-505 of the Charter and did the work by hand: "petition volunteers have secured valid voter registration cards and written or signed statements that prove that three rejected petition signers are indeed Ocean City voters … There are sixteen people who appear on the County voter list, but who have been erroneously rejected by our Board … There are five names rejected by the Board who appear on the printed 1996 Town voter list, used by candidates for office that year, with identifying voter registration numbers … There are nine individuals … who are registered County voters appearing on the County's inactive voter list, but who are still eligible to vote, particularly since a recent Maryland Appeals decision said that a voter could not be removed from a registration list for being an 'infrequent' voter … There are six people who signed the petition, but rejected by the Board, who insist that they have registered to vote." Two days later he filed "six pages of names and remarks, consisting of at least 46 names," and appealed in advance any decision to accept the Board's findings without reviewing them.
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1999 · 1999-02-09
All three holders of the beach photographer's franchise missed the 80 per cent instalment due on 1 January, and at a sworn show-cause hearing on 9 February none could say when they would pay
City Solicitor Ayres opened the hearing at the work session of 9 February 1999: "The Beach Photographer's Franchise in Ocean City requires that the annual franchise fee be paid in increments, 80% on or before January 1st of each year and the remaining 20% on or before June 30th ... The amounts due from Mr. Gregory Ferrante comes to $129,780; Kathleen Ferrante comes to $128,880.80; and from Patrick O'Malley $128,400." The code made no provision for a hearing, "however, in view of the substantial contract rights involved, in the interest of fairness and due process, this hearing is being extended." O'Malley, owner of Sunbeach Studio, read a statement recalling his years as "a beachboy on 10th Street, a Boardwalk casino attendant on 10th Street ... a bellhop at the Kittywake Hotel" and "an Ocean City Beach Patrol Lifeguard for three years" - the four O'Malley brothers, he said, held the patrol's record for lifeguards from one family - and said "I'm not prepared to make it today." Gregory Ferrante: "I would be unable to do so until sometime this summer." Kathleen Ferrante: "I cannot make a payment now." Councilman Gisriel read O'Malley's record into the minutes: the payment due 30 June 1996 was 18 days late, 1 January 1997 27 days late, June 1997 about 35 days. The franchises were revoked and rebid; on 5 April all three were debarred from bidding on municipal contracts until 2003.
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1999 · 1999-04-05
Rebid after the defaults, the four-year beach photography franchise drew eight bids topping out at $774,711.56, each bidder sending 80 per cent of the first year in certified cheques
Bid openings at the regular session of 5 April 1999: "Bids for the Beach Photography Franchise for the next four years were as follows, and all had included 80% of the first year's amount in certified checks" - Timothy Keffer, Ellicott City, $616,618.16; Kenneth Mann, Wye Mills, $672,000; Richard Wallace, Potomac, $655,000; Patrick McLaughlin, Ocean City, $671,469.32; Stacey Wisler, Berlin, $637,502; Robert Kuechler, Pittsburgh, $388,024.32; James McManus, Virginia Beach, $774,711.56; Bradley Ball, Brownsville, Pennsylvania, $596,949.20. The council acknowledged the three high bids and spent the rest of the item on what to do with the losers' cheques, settling 6-1 on letting any bidder collect his cheque "but that action would withdraw them from the bid". Two names had been misread into the record and were corrected. On 19 April Councilman Gisriel told citizens asking about lost interest on the defaulted payments that "the new bids more than make up any differences".
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1999 · 1999-08-16
Faced with the first application for a tattoo parlour in the town's history, the council passed an emergency ordinance in six days requiring that a physician do the tattooing, with $5 million of insurance, a $500 licence and a $1,000 fine
At the work session of 10 August 1999 "Mayor Mathias addressed the recent submission of an application to establish a tattoo parlor in town, noting if it got approved, it would be the first. Also, a pawn shop has opened here ... Members of the Police Commission had met prior to this meeting and fully support exploring every avenue to deny the application." The City Solicitor and City Planner "were instructed to investigate ways to deny the application as soon as possible." Six days later, at the regular session of 16 August, Ordinance 1999-27 amended Chapter 61A, Licensed Tattoo Establishments: "the major amendments stipulate the person performing the tattoo must be a physician or osteopath, the medical malpractice and liability insurance increases to $5 million, the license fee increases to $500, and the fine for a convicted violation increases to $1,000." Councilman Gisriel objected that the ordinance "was too hastily prepared without considerable study and leaves the Town vulnerable for litigation whereby the existing ordinance has been in the code since 1985 with no applicants"; Ayres said it was modelled on a New York City ordinance upheld on appeal. The applicant, Michael Copley of Wind Chimes Tattoo, "stated he has been practicing this art for 20 years with no complaints" and that the ordinance was unfair since his application "had already been filed and met the current test". It passed 5-2 on first reading and 5-1-1 as an emergency ordinance, with the mayor's concurrence. In May the City Manager had already answered an Orlando firm proposing to sell tattoos carrying "messages" under the peddling exemption: "we do not understand what you are proposing."
James N. "Jim" Mathias Jr.Guy R. Ayres IIIDennis W. Dare
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2000
Ninety-six documents, about 1.6 million characters, and a quiet year — the beach is built and the convention centre rebuilt, and the town has run out of large things to argue about
Mayor James N. Mathias, Jr.; Council President Richard W. Meehan, with President Lee Duggan later; Councilmen Gisriel, Hall, Steckman; Council Members Nancy Howard and Fitzsimmons; City Manager Dennis Dare; Emergency Services Director Clay Stamp; City Clerk Carol L. Jacobs. From here the record's subject changes: what a resort buys once it has finished building.
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2000 · 2000-01-18
With the beach built and the convention centre rebuilt, the argument turned to payroll: privatise major projects to cut it, against a complaint that the pay study reached the public before the council
Gisriel objected to process — "the Mayor and Council should have been given a briefing before it was made public." Steckman went at the substance: "Councilman Steckman … suggested the Mayor and Council weigh the options of privatizing some major projects in order to reduce payroll and its associated costs." He also pressed for meetings with the County Commissioners on development along the U.S. 50 gateway, the Worcester 2000 program, and tax differential — the perennial argument of a town that provides its own police, fire and EMS and pays county taxes too. A quiet year: the council spends it on payroll, wastewater and defibrillators.
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2000 · 2000-01-18
The town's no-gambling policy stopped the Ocean City chapter of the AARP running a 50-50 draw in the recreation centre — and nobody in the room disputed it
"Councilman Gisriel related, since the Ocean City Chapter of AARP has been meeting on city property, Northside Park, and the Town's policy of no gambling is enforced, they cannot offer their 50-50 drawing. Councilman Gisriel hoped this could be clarified for them. Mayor Mathias stated he had been at one of their meetings where the gambling issue was brought up and felt the membership understood the Town's position. Paul Stewart, an AARP member and resident, quoted the policy for use of the multi-purpose room and the membership is fully aware of it." The refusal that began in January 1976, when Kelley told a Prince George's delegate to keep his casinos in his own bailiwick, now stops a pensioners' club splitting a pot — and an AARP member reads the policy back to the council to show he knows it.
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2000 · 2000-02-07
Councilman Gisriel's son asked the council for $25,000 a year, bus advertising and lifeguard-chair space for JobJester.com, a seasonal-jobs website, and the council sent it to staff 6-0 with his father standing down
At the regular meeting of 7 February 2000, "Councilman Gisriel stepped down from the following discussion. Vince Gisriel III made an appearance to present a website entitled JobJester.com that he has designed. This website is available to applicants interested in seasonal job opportunities in the Town of Ocean City and surrounding areas. Mr. Gisriel has been advertising via the net to college campuses promoting this new approach for jobs. Mr. Gisriel then requested a commitment of $25,000 from the city. Councilman Steckman moved to have this remanded to staff for review and recommendation since the item was not funded in this fiscal budget and to report back as soon as possible; seconded by Councilman Hall. Councilman Steckman recommended grant money be investigated to help fund this venture. The vote was 6-0 with Councilman Gisriel standing down." His faxed statement, attached to the minutes, asked for "advertising space on your municipal buses, selected lifeguard chairs on streets geared towards the younger generation, and an annual monetary commitment of twenty-five thousand dollars," promising to reach "over 250 colleges and universities"; a supporting letter came from Bay Shore Development Corporation. "Every summer, the work force in our town gets tighter and tighter," he wrote.
Source · checked 2026-09-10
2000 · 2000-07-17
The Air Force tested radar for the Patriot air-defence system from the Ocean City airport for two weeks in August 2000, paired with Wallops Island and a Navy Aegis cruiser offshore, and a motion to delay it until the public had seen the environmental assessment lost 2-5
The permission was given in a closed session on 30 May 2000 - reported on 5 June as "a motion made by Councilman Hall and seconded by Councilman Duggan with a unanimous vote to allow use of the Ocean City Airport by members of the Patriot Missile Program to test radar"; present were Colonel Samuel Harris of the US Air Force, a lieutenant and a warrant officer from Wallops Island, three Johns Hopkins University people and Al Nelson of Naval Sea Systems Command. By 17 July "community concern has arisen and military and civilian personnel were invited to tonight's meeting to provide an overview of what the test will include. USAF Colonel Harris highlighted the steps that will be taken over the course of the testing. Radar at Wallops Island and aboard a Navy AEGIS-class cruiser patrolling offshore will be combined with that used at the airport for overlapping coverage. Colonel Harris assured everyone there are no health hazards from the equipment outside of a 120-meter range." Councilman Gisriel moved to delay the testing until the environmental assessment was complete and the public had time to comment; it found no second, and Lt. Colonel Woods, the public affairs chief, said "no public comment is taken for environmental assessments." Gisriel's amended motion, to delay until the assessment had been reviewed by the council and the public, was seconded by Fitzsimmons and lost 2-5. Gisriel asked that the full text of the 30 May closed hearing be made public. A letter from Thomas and Elizabeth Hemmick objecting to the testing is attached to the minutes.
Source · checked 2026-09-10
2000 · 2000-10-17
Mayor Mathias was re-elected on 17 October 2000 with 2,030 votes to Bonita Gisriel's 692, four council seats went to Meehan, Howard, Joe Hall and Jim Hall, and the first of two ballot questions lost by 31 votes
At a special session on 19 October 2000 Mary Adeline Bradford, chair of the Board of Election Supervisors, "presented the results of the election held on Tuesday, October 17, 2000. With 2,828 people voting, the results were as follows: For Mayor - Bonita Gisriel 692, James Mathias 2,030. For Council - George Feehley 1,124, James S. Hall 1,266, Joseph T. Hall II 1,299, Nancy Howard 1,476, James McGinniss 674, Richard Meehan 1,536, Joseph Mitrecic 1,232, Margaret Pillas 1,036, Paul Stewart 319. The successful candidates were: Mayor Mathias, Richard Meehan, Nancy Howard, Joseph Hall, and James Hall. Ballot Question #1 - 1,134 votes In Favor; 1,165 votes Against. Ballot Question #2 - 1,344 votes In Favor; 764 votes Against." Steven Hales, Clerk of the Circuit Court, swore in the winners; Joe Hall took his seat beside the incumbents. Meehan was re-elected council president without opposition, and Jim Hall beat Erin Fitzsimmons 5-3 for council secretary, the mayor casting a vote. The work session of 12 September had identified the two questions as "collective bargaining/binding arbitration and purchase of property as part of airport flight safety zone," to be placed "in the order the petitions were received"; the minutes do not say which was Question 1. Councilman Lee Duggan did not stand - at the 16 October meeting a citizen "wished Councilman Duggan well wishes in his retirement." Councilman Vincent Gisriel, Jr., whose seat was not up, stayed on the council; the minutes do not state the mayoral challenger's relationship to him.
James N. "Jim" Mathias Jr.Rick Meehan
Source · checked 2026-09-10
2002
Ninety-six documents, about 1.55 million characters, one source — and a council that has shrunk to a settled group
Mayor James N. Mathias, Jr.; Council President Richard W. Meehan; Councilmen Jim Hall, Steckman, Gisriel; Council Member Nancy Howard; City Manager Dennis Dare. The same names recur through the whole of block 1.5, which is itself a fact about the town: the people who settled the beach question stayed to govern what it produced.
Source · checked 2026-09-02
2002 · 2002-10-15
In the October 2002 election 2,219 people voted, Mayor Mathias was returned with 1,605, Vincent Gisriel topped the council poll with 1,444, and incumbents Erin Fitzsimmons and Glenn Steckman lost their seats to Lloyd Martin and Joseph Mitrecic
Special session of 17 October 2002, Presentation of Election Results: "Mary Adeline Bradford, Chair Person of the Board of Election Supervisors of the Town of Ocean City, presented the results of the election held on Tuesday, October 15, 2002. With 2,219 people voting, the results were as follows: For Mayor - James Mathias 1605. For Council - Justin Bowen 186, Erin Fitzsimmons 811, Vincent Gisriel, Jr. 1444, Lloyd Martin 944, Joseph Mitrecic 1082, Glenn Steckman 926, Albert Warner 389. The successful candidates were: Mayor Mathias, Vincent Gisriel, Jr., Lloyd Martin, and Joseph Mitrecic. Ballot Question #1 - 1,090 votes In Favor; 927 votes Against." Fitzsimmons had carried the town's environmental arguments all year and Steckman had chaired the Tourism Commission; Martin had come before the council in February for the Caine Woods bull roast. On 21 October Council Member Howard, "addressing her recent comments regarding the low voter turnout in the city's election", asked for free bus service to the polls for the November general election.
Source · checked 2026-09-10
2003
Eighty-eight documents, about 1.91 million characters, now including the Planning and Zoning Commission's own transcripts — the record's centre of gravity moving from the council to the commission
Mayor James N. Mathias, Jr.; Council President James S. Hall; Councilmen Gisriel and others; City Manager Dennis Dare; Planning Director Jesse Houston; Zoning Administrator Blaine Smith; Commission Attorney Will Esham. The decisions that shape the town are increasingly taken in a room the council does not sit in, and this corpus can read it only because the transcripts are filed with the minutes.
Source · checked 2026-09-02
2003 · 2003-10-06
A St. Louis Avenue resident had to ask the Mayor and Council for leave to keep a year-old ball python in an aquarium, and got it on a 4-2 vote after the Animal Control Officer inspected the tank
At the 6 October 2003 regular session: "Steve Bowers of 701B St. Louis Avenue requested permission to house an undomesticated animal, a ball python snake. It is a little over a year old and is housed in an aquarium. Pam Bunting, Animal Control Officer, has inspected the habitat and recommended a few improvements for the snake's welfare. Councilman Joe Hall moved to approve: seconded by Councilman Martin. The motion was amended to include having the Animal Control officer reinspect the habitat for compliance. The vote was 4-2 with Council Members Howard and Gisriel opposed and President Meehan absent."
Source · checked 2026-09-10
2003 · 2003-11-17
A Boardwalk joke-shop owner asked the town to ban black henna tattoos as a skin hazard; the county Health Officer said there was no law to enforce and only three complaints in three years, and the council settled for warning the trade associations
Al Wendling, owner of Pop's Joke Shop, had raised the matter on 20 October 2003 with a letter from Deborah Goeller of the Worcester County Health Department "regarding dyes being used on the skin which have not been approved by the FDA." At the 17 November regular session he "again addressed the dangers of the dye materials and requested the Mayor and Council ban their use. Deborah Goeller, Health Officer for Worcester County, reiterated from her letter of October 14, 2003, that there is no regulatory authority for this issue and no law banning it"; her letter "noted that only three complaints had been received in a three-year period." Councilman Gisriel's motion for a public awareness programme and a work study group died for want of a second. "Councilman Joe Hall moved to have the Hotel/Motel/Restaurant Association and Chamber of Commerce be made aware of the possible hazards of black henna tattoos and to disseminate information to their membership"; Yadigar Karsli of Hollywood Art & Henna showed his product, "a natural product ... used in the Mid-East for hundreds of years," and advised a patch test; the vote was 5-0.
Ocean City Chamber of Commerce
Source · checked 2026-09-10
2004
Eighty-nine documents and about 2.29 million characters, with Joseph Hall II and James Hall both on the council alongside Lloyd Martin and Joseph Mitrecic
Mayor James N. Mathias, Jr.; Council President Richard Meehan; Councilmen Vincent Gisriel, Jr., Joseph Hall II, James Hall, Lloyd Martin, Joseph Mitrecic; Council Member Nancy Howard; City Manager Dennis Dare; Public Works Director Hal Adkins; City Solicitor Guy Ayres III. Martin and Mitrecic would both later serve as mayor or council president; the bench of the next twenty years is assembled here.
Rick MeehanDennis W. DareGuy R. Ayres IIIHal Adkins
Source · checked 2026-09-02
2004 · 2004-04-08
Twenty-seven years of Eagle's Landing read into the record in one session: land acquired with FAA and MAA help specifically for a cross-wind runway, then used for a golf course on an "interim" basis for fifteen years
The council met in special session for one purpose — "to discuss our response to the letter that we have received from the FAA" — and the Public Works Director laid out the history from the beginning: "I went back as far as 1977. The 1977 Airport Master Plan at that time indicated there was a desire and need to construct a cross-wind runway … there was additional land acquisition … concluded with the assistance of the FAA and the MAA. Lands to the south were purchased where the golf course currently resides, specifically for the construction of that cross-wind runway … around about '80-'81, the actual runway itself was built. Later on in 1986 the Mayor and City Council passed a resolution, 1986-4. You acquired 40 additional acres of land known as the Mumford Farm … In '89 there was a series of letters … relative to the Town's desire to use a portion of those lands on an interim basis for the construction and operation of a golf course. On December 6th of '89, then-Mayor Powell received approval from FAA for the use of the land for a golf course with specific guidelines … There were some issues that occurred in the '90s relative to trying to gain clarification on what the financial arrangement was to be between the golf course and the airport relative to revenue accountability. Councilman Gisriel at that time had sent a letter to the FAA for clarification. And a response was received back … alluding to the fact that the arrangement was on an interim basis and was to account for a 10% revenue stream."
Source · checked 2026-09-02
2004 · 2004-07-06
A councilman reported hearing of a young boy scarred by a henna tattoo applied in town, and asked why the shops were not posting the notices of adverse reactions he thought had been required
Comments from the Council, regular session of 6 July 2004: "Councilman Gisriel commented on hearing of a young boy who had had a henna tattoo applied here which had left a scar. He thought notices of adverse reactions were to be posted in shops administering these tattoos." The year before, the council had heard of three complaints in three years about black henna.
Source · checked 2026-09-10
2004 · 2004-10-21
Councilman Gisriel resigned his seat to run for Mayor and lost to Mathias 1,633 to 1,331 in an election of 3,034 voters, while Rick Meehan topped the council poll with 1,749 and newcomer Jay Hancock took a seat
Work session of 14 September 2004, item 14: "Following the procedures outlined in Section 506(B) of the Charter, Councilman Gisriel resigned his position as Councilman, effective October 20, 2004, as he will be pursuing the office of Mayor of the Town of Ocean City." Special session of 21 October 2004: "Mary Adeline Bradford, Chair Person of the Board of Election Supervisors ... presented the results of the election held on Tuesday, October 19, 2004. With 3,034 people voting, the results were as follows: Candidates for Mayor - Vincent D. Gisriel, Jr. 1331; James N. Mathias, Jr. 1633." For council the clerk's two-column table reads Richard W. Meehan 1749, Jim S. Hall 1573, James 'Jay' Hancock III 1277, Nancy L. Howard 1218, Joseph T. Hall II 1183, Margaret L. Pillas 1133, Richard Garzony 1112, Joe Coleman 1062, Jim E. McGinniss 865, Mary P. Knight 828, Sarah J. Conway 405, Seymour C. Bridge 314, Norma R. Flicop 178 and Mary D. Kanely 165. "Those earning four-year seats were: Richard Meehan, Jim Hall, Jay Hancock, and Nancy Howard. The two-year unexpired term was awarded to Joe Hall." Steve Hales, Clerk of the Circuit Court, swore them in; Meehan was re-elected Council President and Jim Hall Council Secretary, and Meehan "gave special thanks to former Councilman Gisriel whose resignation was effective yesterday." The 2002 turnout had been 2,219.
James N. "Jim" Mathias Jr.Rick Meehan
Source · checked 2026-09-10
2006
Mathias's last full year as mayor, with Council President Richard W. Meehan — who succeeds him — in the chair beside him
Councilman James S. Hall as Secretary, later Councilman Lloyd Martin; Councilmen Gisriel, Mann, Joseph Hall; City Solicitor Guy R. Ayres III; City Clerk Carol Jacobs; Planning Director Jesse Houston; Zoning Administrator Blaine Smith. Ninety-four documents, about 2.34 million characters, including Planning and Zoning Commission transcripts. Meehan had been council president on and off since 1992.
Rick MeehanGuy R. Ayres IIIJesse Houston
Source · checked 2026-09-02
2012 · 2012-12-04
Hurricane Sandy enters Ocean City's own record five weeks late, as evidence in a conditional use hearing on a Delmarva Power substation — cited by the utility against burying power lines and by a former councilman for the opposite conclusion
Delmarva's witness used the storm to argue against undergrounding, which residents had asked for: "just because lines go underground doesn't mean they're not susceptible to problems. And we learned that with Hurricane Sandy because, quite frankly, some of our most extensive problems were in areas where we had to preemptively de-energize customers. And it happened in West Ocean City. It happened in Bethany in low lying flooded areas where we actually took service out to customers that were fed by pad mounted transformers and underground power lines … if you went back and looked at the duration of outages during Hurricane Sandy, probably the longest outages were associated with customers that had underground electric service. And needless to say, it is much more expensive to install those, and that's why it wasn't considered." He also warned that conversion needs "transmission terminal structures … very large — larger than what currently exists transmission wise in Ocean City," and that the town had "no room or rights to put one of those on the property there." Vince Gisriel — a councilman in 1989-92 and 1995-2004, here speaking as a citizen — used the same storm to argue the other way.
Source · checked 2026-09-02
2013
The Caine Woods substation ran into the new year and produced the town's oldest complaint again: "Vince Gisriel expressed his disappointment of the Finding of Fact. He also claimed that public notification was inadequate. City Solicitor Ayres disagreed."
The same objection Gisriel made as a councilman in 1996, when the Open Meetings Compliance Board reprimanded the town over an ordinance that reached the packet without reaching the agenda, and as a petitioner in 1998, when he appealed 1,353 signatures name by name. Ayres has been City Solicitor since the early 1980s and has disagreed with him for most of that time.
Source · checked 2026-09-02
2013 · 2013-09-03
A referendum petition with 1,648 valid signatures against 1,226 required forced the council to repeal its new paid-parking ordinance as an emergency measure on 3 September, three months after passing it, and to switch off the parking machines it had already installed
Ordinance 2013-10, "Establishing Additional Pay for Parking Areas in Ocean City (to implement paid parking on various municipal lots and street locations)," passed second reading on 3 June 2013, 5-2, after public-comment periods on 6 and 20 May in which Ron Deacon, Austin Purnell, Mike Feen, George Stoll, Jerry Stoll and Phyliss Moore opposed it. At the work session of 27 August, "Mary Adeline Bradford, Chair of the local Board of Elections presented the results of the Petition for referendum of Ordinance 2013-10." Her letter of 22 August: "1,771 signatures submitted; 86 signatures of non-registered voters; 5 rejected signatures; 32 duplicate signatures; 1,648 valid signatures. Section C-411 of the Charter of the Town of Ocean City requires a petition to have 40% of the number of voters in the most recent general election for the petition to be valid. There were 3,064 voters in the November 8, 2012 Municipal Election. Forty percent of that number is 1,226. The petition is successful." Mitrecic moved "to ask City Solicitor Ayres to prepare an ordinance repealing Ordinance 2013-10 for first reading in the next regular session of the Mayor and Council and to immediately deactivate the cale machines referred to in said Ordinance." On 3 September: "Ordinance 2013-11 to Repeal Ordinance 2013-10 Regarding Additional Paid Parking ... Council Member Joe Mitrecic moved to ratify Ordinance 2013-11 as an Emergency Ordinance; seconded by Council Secretary Knight. The vote was 5-2 with Council Members Pillas and Ashley opposed. The Mayor concurred with the vote." Joe Groves "thanked the Council for repealing the paid parking ordinance"; Vince Gisriel "spoke about the petition process and suggested that ordinances become effective on certain dates in advance of passage." Ashley had moved on 19 August "to stay Ordinance 2013-10 regarding paid parking immediately" and lost 2-5; the deactivated machines, the City Manager said on 3 September, "will be kept for replacements."
Source · checked 2026-09-10
2025
Guy Ayres, city solicitor since the 1970s, is gone — the town is advised by City Attorneys Heather Stansbury and Maureen Howarth
Mayor Richard W. Meehan; Council President Matthew M. James; Council Secretary Tony DeLuca; Council Members John F. Gehrig Jr., Jacob H. Mitrecic, Carol L. Proctor, William C. Savage III, Larry R. Yates; City Manager Terry McGean; Deputy City Manager Elton JR Harmon; City Clerk Diana Chavis. Ayres advised this council on the dune line in 1975, on Lucas v. South Carolina in 1993, and on public notification against Vince Gisriel for thirty years. A Mitrecic sits on the council forty-five years after Joseph Mitrecic first appears in this record.
Terry McGeanRick MeehanGuy R. Ayres IIIDiana Chavis
Source · checked 2026-09-02