{"id":3024,"date":"2018-12-23T03:15:09","date_gmt":"2018-12-23T03:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fairnessintaxes.com\/?p=3024"},"modified":"2021-08-29T19:41:27","modified_gmt":"2021-08-29T19:41:27","slug":"term-limits-eliminated-on-ocean-city-boards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fairnessintaxes.com\/term-limits-eliminated-on-ocean-city-boards\/","title":{"rendered":"Term limits eliminated on Ocean City boards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posted: Wednesday, December 19, 2018 10:00 am<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a0By ERIC AVEDISSIAN Sentinel staff <\/span><\/span> Ocean City Sentinel<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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OCEAN CITY \u2013 Term limits for members of local boards, authorities and commissions are a thing of the past.<\/p>\n

Council voted Dec. 13 to repeal term limits for members of local volunteer boards. Currently, appointees on these boards serve for no more than two terms.<\/p>\n

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These local boards provide input and oversight to everything from planning, zoning, the environment, utilities and historic preservation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Council and Mayor Jay Gillian said retaining knowledgeable people was the impetus for nixing term limits.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cLimiting the term of volunteer citizen leaders can have the effect of depriving the municipality of experienced, qualified individuals still willing to serve the city,\u201d according to the ordinance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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During the ordinance\u2019s introduction, council added a three-year sunset provision in order to examine its effectiveness.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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City Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson said the ordinance would remain in effect for one year and will be automatically repealed or adopted again on or before Dec. 13, 2021.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The ordinance passed 5-0. Councilmen Keith Hartzell and Tony Wilson were not present to vote.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Some residents questioned the motives behind the ordinance, saying it could lead to some members becoming entrenched on boards and not allowing new members.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ocean Avenue resident Donna Moore said while the sunset provision is \u201chelpful,\u201d current serving members could still be reappointed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s a great idea, but the three years allows for the same people to be reappointed during this timeframe,\u201d Moore said. \u201cWhen you talk about the shortage of people volunteering for these positions there are people who have volunteered for these positions and they\u2019ve been told there were so many people applying for these positions that they just couldn\u2019t appoint everyone and the positions were already filled.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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David Hayes, president of the taxpayer watchdog group Fairness in Taxes, said he views the ordinance \u201cboth ways\u201d in retaining those with talent while at the same time unfortunately discouraging any new members from serving.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI\u2019ve gotten several calls from taxpayers in Ocean City and they said they\u2019re not in favor of this (ordinance). They just think it\u2019s a way to keep the same people on the boards for as long as they can,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cI think it is important that we encourage new people to come onto the boards and new people to apply.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Councilwoman Karen Bergman said people have volunteered but are not qualified for certain local boards.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cYou need a certain background to serve on the planning board. You need a certain background to serve on the tourism commission and the zoning board. They\u2019re very important positions that shape our city,\u201d Bergman said. \u201cIf we have people that are talented and qualified to have to lose them in three years and (get) people that don\u2019t have the same qualification or talents to me that\u2019s a shame and a loss for our boards.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Councilman Michael DeVlieger noted that some of the city\u2019s volunteer boards are \u201cmore popular than others\u201d and receive the most applicants.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cYou can have 500 people apply to the planning board. It doesn\u2019t mean 500 people are qualified for the planning board,\u201d DeVlieger said. \u201cTheir opinions are valued but they\u2019re not necessarily the best fit.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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DeVlieger said some boards should require a certain level of expertise from their applicants.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Councilman Bob Barr, a past member of the city\u2019s Utility Advisory Board, noted the number of members were limited because of a lack of a quorum.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe only had one meeting a year simply because we couldn\u2019t get enough people to show up,\u201d Barr said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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As council\u2019s liaison to the Utility Advisory Board, Barr said the number of meetings were cut from 12 to six.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Barr, current chairman of the Ocean City Housing Authority, noted that six people applied to the authority to fill two vacant positions earlier this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe younger generation sadly isn\u2019t as civically engaged as most of the members of the audience tonight. I have a personal commitment that as long as somebody wants to come up and serve and are qualified they will be dutifully considered,\u201d Barr said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The city is currently seeking volunteers to fill vacant seats on the following boards and commissions: Environmental Commission (1 seat), Tourism Development Commission (2 seats), Historic Preservation Commission (1 seat), Zoning Board of Adjustment (1 seat), and the Shade Tree Committee (1 seat).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Send resumes to Melissa Rasner, City Clerk, 861 Asbury Ave., Ocean City NJ 08226.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Duties and responsibilities of each entity can be found on the city\u2019s website, www.ocnj.us<\/a> under Government, Boards & Commissions. Applicants can complete an online Citizen Leadership Form on the city\u2019s website.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted: Wednesday, December 19, 2018 10:00 am \u00a0By ERIC AVEDISSIAN Sentinel staff Ocean City Sentinel OCEAN CITY \u2013 Term limits for members of local boards, authorities and commissions are a thing of the past. Council voted Dec. 13 to repeal term limits for members of local volunteer boards. Currently, appointees on these boards serve for …<\/p>\n

Term limits eliminated on Ocean City boards<\/span> Read More \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[85],"spectra_custom_meta":{"_edit_lock":["1551562386:6"],"_edit_last":["6"],"_wp_page_template":["default"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":[""],"site-sidebar-layout":["default"],"site-content-layout":["default"],"theme-transparent-header-meta":["default"],"stick-header-meta":["default"],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["30"],"_uag_page_assets":["a:9:{s:3:\"css\";s:263:\".uag-blocks-common-selector{z-index:var(--z-index-desktop) !important}@media (max-width: 976px){.uag-blocks-common-selector{z-index:var(--z-index-tablet) !important}}@media (max-width: 767px){.uag-blocks-common-selector{z-index:var(--z-index-mobile) !important}}\n\";s:2:\"js\";s:0:\"\";s:18:\"current_block_list\";a:2:{i:0;s:14:\"core\/tag-cloud\";i:1;s:11:\"core\/search\";}s:8:\"uag_flag\";b:0;s:11:\"uag_version\";s:10:\"1706048605\";s:6:\"gfonts\";a:0:{}s:10:\"gfonts_url\";s:0:\"\";s:12:\"gfonts_files\";a:0:{}s:14:\"uag_faq_layout\";b:0;}"],"rank_math_primary_category":[""],"rank_math_news_sitemap_robots":["index"],"rank_math_robots":["a:1:{i:0;s:5:\"index\";}"],"rank_math_analytic_object_id":["89"],"rank_math_internal_links_processed":["1"],"_uag_css_file_name":["uag-css-3024.css"]},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"OC FIT GUY","author_link":"https:\/\/fairnessintaxes.com\/author\/meltaylor\/"},"uagb_comment_info":2,"uagb_excerpt":"Posted: Wednesday, December 19, 2018 10:00 am \u00a0By ERIC AVEDISSIAN Sentinel staff Ocean City Sentinel OCEAN CITY \u2013 Term limits for members of local boards, authorities and commissions are a thing of the past. Council voted Dec. 13 to repeal term limits for members of local volunteer boards. Currently, appointees on these boards serve for…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fairnessintaxes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3024"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fairnessintaxes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fairnessintaxes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fairnessintaxes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fairnessintaxes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fairnessintaxes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3024\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fairnessintaxes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fairnessintaxes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fairnessintaxes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}