Crown jewels on the chopping block

With any luck, in about five years the state-of-the-art mix of fixed span bridges and causeway leading into Ocean City will be finished. After enduring the chaos yet to transpire, I’m sure we’ll all breathe a collective sigh of relief at the ribbon cutting.
What will we find when we come into town, where exactly will that modern bridge, the largest construction project of its kind in South Jersey, take us? Will it lead to an enhanced version of our once viable year-round community or will it become the bridge to nowhere, an expensive ghost town, full of big homes and condominiums yet devoid of people, including the coveted families once the backbone of the place we call home?
We’re at an important crossroads, and it may be that as we build a bridge across the bay we are dismantling the heart and soul of our community. On Dec. 11, 2001 we rallied to build a new high school, perhaps the most pivotal decision in a generation. The 2007 municipal budget is another big milestone; decisions made today may affect our children in ways unimaginable a few years ago.
The proposed $56 million budget is the most controversial in recent memory. A few years ago, citizens filled the Music Pier in protest of a larger increase than the proposed 1.9 cents by Mayor Sal Perillo. The stakes are much higher today. With a sagging real estate market, future rateables are in question. A perfect storm is on the horizon. As new construction dries up, our year-round population is dwindling, business is down and a soon-to-be state imposed 4% cap on budgetary increases combined with an outcry from the seasoned citizenry has city council members on the offense.
The battle is raging, with council poised to take a carving knife to everything from the fire and police departments (the heart of our public safety) to the Ocean City Aquatic and Fitness Center, as well as the municipal golf course and airport and myriad city services. Every city employee, once an asset, now a cost, is in jeopardy. Outsourcing is the name of the new game. “FTEs,” full time employees, once revered, are deemed too costly. As construction on the new bridge continues, are you willing to “wing it” when it comes to unknown and unpredictable catastrophic events won’t necessitate more bodies rather than less?
There are not many more pressing issues facing us than where we are headed as a community. What sort of town do you want to live in and how much are you willing to pay for services? Do you value public safety and our brave police and firemen, those who risk their lives every day to protect us, enough to stand up and fight for them or are you willing to throw in the towel and accept the loss of a firehouse and three full-time firemen and the introduction of seasonal employees and volunteer firemen to the mix? Are you willing to see your insurance costs go up as a result?
Are you willing to accept inevitable cuts in our police department, emergency management and the privatization of the Aquatic and Fitness Center? Do you value a clean, safe community or is that not important? What sort of trade-offs are acceptable?
Every one of the many crown jewels in our city is on the examination table. The fire department has had their exam, and despite passing with flying colors and gold stars, surgery is being scheduled as we speak. The police department is next, and who knows how severe that amputation might be. Personally, I feel a lot safer knowing that they are around. More is better; more is a deterrent. To this council, every asset is now a “cost center” to be evaluated.
Times are changing, but it’s been a long time coming, according to 1st Ward Councilman Jody Alessandrine. The new bridge, he said, is going to lead to an empty town, similar to Longport or Avalon.
“We have to change the culture,” said Alessandrine. “With projections of our budget going up 24% over the next four years we have to start cutting bodies. We have lost 22% of our registered voters since 1998. We’re number six in the nation in terms of population loss.”
Alessandrine did not mince words as to the origin of the problem.
“It was by design,” he said. “The bridge is going to lead to a beautiful community with fewer people, a homogeneous community devoid of diversity. It is by design of those in the development community and their friends. It’s an attempt at gentrification, driven by greed. I said it all along during the boom that it was going to come to an end sometime. We lost a lot of people. They left town and now we have four years of unsold inventory and we’re less and less of a community. We have only 30% of the kids in the high school and Little League is down by half.
“They didn’t want seniors on fixed incomes, they didn’t want Fairness in Taxes members,” said Alessandrine. “They offered them enough that they gave up and cashed out. We have to make changes, tough decisions. We have to be responsible, make some unpopular decisions. The senior citizens are begging for more to be cut. That’s the reality. We look rich on the outside, but there are people out there just making ends meet. There are ways to do more for less, and there are two areas where we can do it, police and fire. We have to reduce full-time employees. It’s hurtful, but what’s more hurtful is the evaporation of the community.
“It goes beyond politics and policy,” he added. “It comes down to morals and morality; we do the moral thing and make it affordable. Yes, people say its capitalism and the American way. What did the city do to stop the migration, to mitigate it? We need to invest in our downtown, our infrastructure, cut bodies and invest in our town. We have to do the right thing and make it more cost effective to live here. But I guess it’s a whole heck of a lot easier to control the community if you only have 6,000 people.”
Ouch! Not surprisingly, Mayor Sal Perillo disagreed.
“What has caused people to leave Ocean City is the same thing that has caused people to leave all the shore communities from Brigantine to Cape May, the real estate prices increased and the people moved out of town,” said Perillo. “There is no one to point to and no one to blame. It’s a good thing when real estate prices go up and a bad thing when they go down. The key now is to attract people to live in Ocean City. They want a clean and safe place to live. Cutting public safety is not the way to do it.”
Perillo said he ordered performance evaluations on all city employees and department heads would be asked to establish annual goals. All “cost centers” will be evaluated.
“This talk that we haven’t done anything is irresponsible,” he said. “We have managed the city very responsibly.”
Council President Jack Thomas said that’s not good enough.
“We are working on the 2007 budget with an eye on 2008,” he said, adding that the state-mandated budget cap was going to be a big problem. “It means we have a choice to go ahead as we are now and hope for the best or try to mitigate the changes next year. This is going to have a major impact on towns all over the state. It’s significant. We’re going to have a big shock and have to lay people off next year if we don’t do something this year.
“In our mind, it’s not prudent to wait until next year,” Thomas said. “That’s no way to manage a business which is what the city is. If you have one department asking for more than four percent increase, then you have others that have to cost you less. People in Ocean City demand a lot of quality services. Our job is to deliver these services in an efficient and effective manner. We can’t keep doing things the way we were. Our hands are not tied, but handcuffed.”
Perillo said he feared any cuts in public safety would be detrimental.
“Public safety is the most serious responsibility of a municipality,” he said. “Taking any action which would compromise public safety is not in the public interest.”
“That anything would compromise public safety is a perception,” said Thomas. “It hasn’t been fully discussed. We’re in the middle of the issue. We’ve been using the same old model for years and years, there are other ways to provide public safety. We have to look at a new model. If we have cooperation from all parties, we can do this. The issue of public safety is far from over.”
To be fair, Thomas is correct that the budget cap is looming. But it’s a long way off, and if it’s going to happen, shouldn’t we be well positioned at the baseline? Shouldn’t we be marching on Trenton? Why is everyone accepting this “cap” as the solution to property taxes? Maybe the Trenton politicos ought to cut some of their state-wide fat and leave our fire and police departments alone.
Thomas is also correct that the issue is far from over. You, the citizenry need to be a part of it. How important is public safety? Is it your priority? The police and fire department cost the average homeowner about $370 each year, a combined $720 for 24/7 coverage at your door within four minutes. If that’s important to you, you’d best let your councilman and mayor know it. Sit this one out at your own peril. The future of your community is at stake. The health and safety of your family is on the chopping block. Council members are holding carving knives. The council and mayor are listening. Speak up.

Ann Richardson can be e-mailed or you can comment on this story by calling 624-8900, ext. 250, or visit Speak Out.