Consultant vows ambitious city manager search

OCEAN CITY -- Ocean City's mayor and council members met on Tuesday with the head search consultant for the firm that will help the town find a new city manager.

John Anzivino, vice president of Springsted Inc., met individually with them and town department heads to evaluate what traits are desired for Dennis Dare's replacement. Council was also given the opportunity to choose as many as 10 community leaders whose ears Anzivino could bend, as well, as he and his colleagues attempt to form a community and position profile for the candidate recruitment process.

At the council's Jan. 3 or Jan. 10 meeting, Anzivino hopes to have the profiles assembled. After that, his Richmond, Va.-based firm will embark on its "ambitious recruiting schedule" that will span the nation, he told council at its most recent meeting.

In January and February, candidates will be recruited and screened. Then, semifinalists will be identified, and the list will be narrowed down to about 10 finalists. After that, four-to-six of these candidates will be chosen as finalists to be interviewed with council present. The interviews are expected to take place in March, and a council majority will have to approve the man or woman who will fill the position that has been held by Mayor Rick Meehan in an interim status since September.

Anzivino and his team of two other consultants will update council and Human Resources Director Wayne Evans often on its progress, he said.

His consultant team's goal is to take care of all the semantics, so council will be able to focus solely on the individuals who make it through the application gauntlet. The firm will get word out on the job opening in many venues, and it will vet promising candidates by way of background checks and other fact-finding measures.

They will find the "cleanest folks possible," without pending litigation or any serious driving infractions, Anzivino said, to name a few of the traits that may be a dealbreaker for candidates.

"Finding the right person ... is really a difficult task," said Anzivino. "Finding that right fit and identifying the skills you need for that person, their personality traits and all of the other factors that go into being a perfect city manager for Ocean City are very important and often difficult for a government body to pull together."

Anzivino attempted to alleviate Councilwoman Mary Knight's concern about balancing the potentially varied expectations of council members -- the vote to ask for Dare's resignation was 4-3 -- by saying his company works to blend together the desires of all involved in the selection process.

"It's about the expectations of the city, not the individual council members," Anzivino said. "We need somebody who technically has the experience, but who also has the personality to work with everyone."

Anzivino said the blending together of the desirable facets is "an art" his firm has expansive experience with.

Councilman Joe Hall told Anzivino he believes the town has enough talent internally to find someone to fill the position, and Anzivino assured him the application process would be an open one, and that everyone would be considered.

"If (someone internally) is the best for the community, that's fine with us, but we have to get there and we do have to have an open process," said Anzivino.

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410-213-9442, ext. 14

Former OC K-9 officer declines payment for dog's surgery

OCEAN CITY -- Former Ocean City policeman Earl Campbell has declined an offer from the town to pay for a surgery Charlie, his longtime K-9 partner, had on Dec. 5, the day both left the force.
Campbell said he sent the mayor and Town Council an email thanking them, but declining, an offer the council had voted to make at a recent meeting.

"I am standing firm that I do not want any money; I just want to make sure this never happens again," Campbell said.

In his email to council members, Campbell told them he was very thankful for their kindness, but that OCPD Chief Bernadette DiPino's statement that he had never asked the department for money was accurate.

"I don't want to take money from the town that rightfully doesn't belong to me," Campbell said.
Campbell ended his relationship with the Ocean City Police Department by way of resignation Dec. 5. Campbell was upset with the way police leaders responded to his urging Charlie be retired so Campbell could assume ownership and pay for the 7-year-old German shepherd's medical care.

Council President Jim Hall brought the idea of a payment up after he said he and the council had not been aware of the happenings in the police department as they transpired, and that the council had also had nothing to do with any of the decisions that were made during the sequence of events.

"We had no part in the situation," Hall said, but since the dog was in the employ of the town at the time it got injured, he said he felt a reimbursement would be "the right thing to do."

Council members Jim Hall, Doug Cymek, Lloyd Martin and Mary Knight voted in favor of reaching out to Campbell with the offer, while Brent Ashley and Joe Hall voted against it. Margaret Pillas was absent.






Charlie is recovering from surgery to remove scar tissue that was putting pressure on his spine. Campbell said recently the dog is doing well, and has been walking.

Ocean City will pay for K-9's surgery

OCEAN CITY — The Town Council voted to offer former police officer Earl Campbell a monetary reimbursement for his longtime K-9 partner’s surgery.

Campbell ended his relationship with the Ocean City Police Department by way of resignation Dec. 5, the same day Charlie, the dog, was retired. Campbell was upset with the way police leaders responded to his urging Charlie be retired so Campbell could assume ownership and pay for the 7-year-old German shepherd’s medical care.

At Monday night’s meeting, President Jim Hall suggested the council move to have Police Chief Bernadette DiPino contact Campbell about a reimbursement from the town.

Hall brought the idea of a payment up after he stated publicly that he and the council had not been aware of the controversial happenings in the police department as they transpired, and the council also had nothing to do with any decisions made during the sequence of events.

“We had no part in the situation,” he said, adding because the dog was an employee of the town when he was injured, a reimbursement would be “the right thing to do.”

In an email, Campbell wrote he appreciates Hall’s comments but the real concern is “making sure this never happens again. Sure, it hurt my pocket to spend the money, but the money isn’t anything compared to the suffering Charlie went through.”

Campbell said he will wait and see if he is contacted by town officials.

Councilmen Doug Cymek, Lloyd Martin, Jim Hall and Councilwoman Mary Knight voted in favor of the measure. Councilmen Joe Hall and Brent Ashley voted against it. Councilwoman Margaret Pillas was absent.

“As a K-9, (Charlie) helped make a lot of arrests,” Cymek said.

Joe Hall said he didn’t have enough specific information on the situation to vote for the motion, though he was not against the idea itself. He maintained a document he’d seen from Charlie’s veterinarian recommended he be removed from police service, but the note also said the dog could have been made comfortable through medication. He wanted to seek more information — including an opinion from the veterinarian — on the situation before opting to pay.

When asked by Ashley moments before the vote, DiPino said the department had followed the proper procedures in place for the situation. Ashley said her answer helped him make his decision.

“I don’t know why the council got involved,” he said. “I think that sets a bad precedent.”

DiPino pointed out that Campbell had not asked OCPD at any point to contribute money for Charlie’s surgery, and if he had done so, the department would have considered it.

smuska@dmg.gannett.com

K-9 officer resigns over dog's health

OCEAN CITY -- Earl Campbell walked into Ocean City Police Department headquarters on Dec. 5 and paid $1 to become the owner of Charlie, his longtime K-9 partner who was in urgent need of surgery.

Campbell then walked out to his car and told his wife he couldn't abide the way the department had let the dog suffer, in pain, for the past week. It was enough, he felt, for him to resign in protest. The former OCPD officer tendered his resignation by email from the passenger seat on the way home. Then they took Charlie to undergo a surgical procedure from which he is now recovering.

Campbell said in an interview he was deeply upset with the way police leaders responded to his urging that his dog be retired, so he could assume ownership and pay for the seven-year-old German shepherd's medical care. He first requested that the dog be retired on Nov. 28, but was unable to garner department approval until a week later.

"I basically couldn't honestly put my dog out on the street and put someone in danger," Campbell said of Charlie, who was losing more and more feeling in his hind legs. Campbell himself was also on medical leave. On Nov. 30, Campbell determined his dog was suffering and would need a surgery as soon as possible. As Charlie's condition worsened, the delay grew increasingly unacceptable to him, he said.

The reasons for Campbell's disgruntlement and resignation were likely a result of miscommunication and misunderstanding, and so was the delay in the retirement, according to Ocean City Police Chief Bernadette DiPino.

Charlie had been injured on-duty in 2009 and underwent surgery to remove three vertebrae from his spine. Scar tissue formed that began to put pressure on his spinal cord, which caused a loss of use in his hind legs. It initially minor but went quickly downhill over a recent two-week period.

The dog needed a $6,000 surgery to remove the tissue, and Campbell knew OCPD was unlikely to spend more to keep Charlie on active duty. He said he didn't expect them to, since they had spent a great deal of money in the past to ensure Charlie's health. Campbell and DiPino both say Campbell never, at any point, asked the department to pay for the surgery.

To act in accordance with OCPD policy, DiPino has to personally approve the retirement, and a document must be provided by a veterinarian stating the dog is no longer fit for police work, she said in an interview. DiPino was first informed of Charlie's situation on Dec. 5, she said. While Campbell was pressing the department to retire Charlie, she was in Baltimore, needed for testimony in a
wrongful termination suit against the department.

On Dec. 5 DiPino retired Charlie without hesitation, she said, before even seeing the note from the vet. It was one of the quickest retirements she's ever done.

"I trusted the handler to tell me the condition of his animal, and we allowed (Campbell) to get the pup for $1," she said. "I know of nothing else we could do but take the officer at face value, and I think our police department responded properly and in a heartfelt manner. We care about our police dogs and horses as much as we do the police officers; we consider them a member of the police department family, and their care is quite important to us."

Campbell first contacted Lt. Scott Kirkpatrick, the officer in charge of the K-9 unit, about Charlie's need to retire. Campbell is adamant that Kirkpatrick told him many times he was unable to make a decision to retire Charlie, and that it would require Town Council approval -- with the next council meeting several days away. He said also that Kirkpatrick was lax about returning his emails and phone calls, and that he wasn't told until Friday evening he needed to get documentation from a vet, when it was too late for him to reach the animal doctor until after the weekend.

According to DiPino, council only came up in the conversation because the veterinary documentation is needed for OCPD to justify the need for a new dog during the fiscal budgeting season. DiPino said also that Kirkpatrick was out sick during the week when Campbell was pressing for the retirement.

"(Kirkpatrick) wasn't saying council had to approve... He was saying we need a letter from a vet to get another K-9 dog. I believe it was a miscommunication," DiPino said. She said Kirkpatrick would not have done anything intentionally to delay Campbell's request, saying he is a former K-9 officer who cares deeply for the animals.

Campbell, however, disagrees, saying Kirkpatrick is "a compulsive liar who has gotten away with it for years," and that many officers have lost their jobs because of him. The department declined to make Kirkpatrick available for comment.

Since Campbell went public with his story, he has heard from people who want to help him pay for the surgery, something he said he isn't seeking. The reason he quit, he said, was to bring attention to the fact that Charlie had suffered for days.

DiPino said she maintains an open door policy, that all of the officers have her cell phone number and know where she lives. "I've had officers contact me in unusual times and situations, and I encourage them to do that," DiPino said.

Shortly after resigning, Campbell told his story to the blog Salisbury News, which reported -- wrongly, he says -- he had tried to convince the town to pay for the surgery. The post was met with anonymous reader comments that disenchanted him. Some were supportive, but many others levied accusations and criticism at Campbell, OCPD, DiPino, Kirkpatrick and others.

"Going to (the blog) was probably the worst thing I ever did," Campbell said.

smuska@dmg.gannett.com
410-213-9442, ext. 14

Council, ex-city manager settle severance package

OCEAN CITY -- Former City Manager Dennis Dare and Ocean City Town Council have come to terms on a severance package that will allow him to collect a full salary and generous benefits through March of 2012.

Since Dare's Sept. 9 resignation at the behest of a 4-3 council vote, he has received full pay in accordance with his pay rate at the time, which was set at slightly less than $173,500 a year.
From April 1-Oct. 31, the town will pay Dare based on joint and survivor pension benefits that will equal out to $6,665 a month.

Then at the end of October, Dare will be eligible for unreduced pension benefits based on 30 years of employment with the town. Dare became city manager on April 1, 1990, and served as city engineer for about 10 years before that promotion. According to the agreement, the town deems the offered package "generous, fair and reasonable."

The town will likely hire a new city manager before Dare's pension kicks in. Councilwoman Mary Knight said council has been told a new manager could be put in place somewhere around April 1, and she said she anticipates a low-end starting salary of about $130,000, not including benefits. If this happens, the town will essentially be paying two people to fill one position.

"That's a very expensive undertaking," said Councilman Doug Cymek.

Before Dare's pension kicks in, he will be paid by the town about $133,000 for a period in which he has not reported to City Hall. Added to this will be the payment of 397 vacation hours, 16 personal hours and five holiday hours that Dare accrued but did not use.

"As they say, the devil is in the details, and we spent quite a bit of time investigating how to fulfill the promise," Dare said, referring to the contract that was in effect at the time of his resignation. If things had been worked out differently, he said, the town could have ended up parting ways with as much as four to five times the amount they will provide him.

"I think we found the most economical and most responsible way," Dare said in a phone interview on Friday. He and his wife were en route to "a little getaway," he said, something he'd been looking forward to but had been unable to act on since he'd been "buckled down" dealing with the agreement for the past three months or so.

Jim Hall, Joe Hall, Brent Ashley and Margaret Pillas voted in September to ask Dare for his resignation, and Lloyd Martin, Knight and Cymek voted against it. Those three, along with Mayor Rick Meehan, who is serving also as interim city manager, have been adamant in their opinion Dare should not have been forced out.

In a closed session on Tuesday, council voted 5-2 to approve the severance package, with Ashley and Pillas as the dissenting votes. The arrangement was first reported Friday by the Maryland Coast Dispatch.

"I fully appreciate the five councilmembers that voted on this agreement, and for keeping their promise," Dare said.

Ashley confirmed his vote, but said he was not happy it had been made public. He said also he couldn't comment on the reasons for his vote. "A closed session is supposed to be confidential," Ashley said.

Dare plans on staying in Ocean City and doesn't see himself pursuing another city manager job. He's been enjoying retirement, he says, and doesn't think he wants to relocate and pledge years of work to another municipality.

"You have to understand that for the last 21 years, I've been on call every day all day, and I've gotta say, these last three months have been great. It's been really wonderful leaving all that stress behind," he said. "Of course, I have one more year before I hit the magic 30 years, and you know, I intended to work through that, but it looks like I got there a year early."

Dare, who recently turned 63, said he is looking forward to an opportunity to spend more time with his family and neighbors. He was recently elected president of the Caine Woods Community Association.

If he ever gets bored, he can always hit the links. One facet of his agreement is free rounds of golf for life at Eagle's Landing.

"Ocean City is a great place to live," he said, "and a lot of people tell me it's a great place to retire."

smuska@dmg.gannett.com
410-213-9442, ext. 14

Prosecutor re-opens rape case

OCEAN CITY -- An Ocean City man accused of repeatedly raping a mentally disabled adopted relative during a 17-year period faces multiple sexual charges, including second-degree rape.

Charles Wynter McCready Jr., 63, of Bradley Road was initially investigated for the allegations in 2007 and 2008, but was not prosecuted. The case was reopened this year after reevaluation by the Ocean City Police Department and the Worcester County State's Attorney's Office, a review initiated after prosecutor Beau Oglesby took office.

A combination of information from two investigations has now prompted the state's attorney to file second-degree rape and second-and third-degree sex offense charges against McCready. The victim of his alleged actions, which allegedly took place as recently at February 2010, is now 32 years old. She was born with fetal alcohol syndrome and other disabilities and health problems, according to police notes from the 2008 inquiry.

During the initial investigation, McCready admitted to an OCPD detective -- verbally and in writing -- that he'd had intercourse and oral sex with the alleged victim. McCready said he and the victim had a sexual relationship for 10 years, according to police documents.

The victim alleged McCready had been having unwanted intercourse with her, and engaging in other sexual acts, since she was 12 years old. They were living in Carroll County at this time, the victim said, and the abuse continued when McCready moved to Ocean City in 1999, when the victim was 18, according to police.

Oglesby said weighing whether to charge McCready with sexually assaulting the victim when she was underage is a matter for the Carroll County State's Attorney's Office, because of jurisdictional reasons.

His office has been in contact with those prosecutors, he said.
A preliminary hearing for McCready is scheduled for Dec. 19 at 9 a.m. in Ocean City District Court.

"We'll be re-examining, and if we feel there are additional charges we want to incorporate, we'll certainly evaluate the grand jury for additional charges," Oglesby said.

When the investigation was reopened in June, the victim reiterated an account of her allegations to a forensic interviewer in Mississippi, where she now lives. They were similar to accounts she gave Martin, according to Ocean City police.

The victim also reported McCready controlled the money she obtained from disability checks, and would tell her she "owed" him whenever he would give her food, money or help.

Woman charged with harassing councilmen

OCEAN CITY -- Three Ocean City Town councilmen allegedly received multiple early morning calls of a harrassing nature from an Ocean City woman.

Amy Lee Durham, 39, of Ocean City, was charged by the Worcester County State's Attorney's office with three counts of telephone misuse. The charges stemmed from calls Durham allegedly placed on Oct. 4 and 5 to Councilmen Jim Hall, Joe Hall and Brent Ashley, according to charging documents viewed Friday.

Ashley confirmed he received a number of early-morning phone calls in October from a private number, but declined to answer further questions. The three councilmen said they had been instructed to direct inquiries to the State's Attorney's office, and they wished to follow those instructions. Ocean City Mayor and interim city manager Rick Meehan also declined to comment.

Durham misused telephone facilities and equipment for repeated calls with intent to "annoy, abuse, torment or harass" the three councilmen, according to the charging files. The files do not state the specifics regarding the exact time or nature of the calls.

Assistant State's Attorney Paul Haskell is handling the case, and would not comment further on the allegations except to confirm that he had filed charges.

The calls came at a time when the three councilmen and Margaret Pillas were facing scrutiny from some town residents over a 4-3 vote they made to ask longtime city manager Dennis Dare for his resignation.

A preliminary hearing in Durham's case is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Dec. 12 in Ocean City District Court.

smuska@dmg.gannett.com
410-213-9442, ext. 14

State: Evacuation made sense

OCEAN CITY -- Richard Muth, Maryland's director of emergency management, says he backs the timing and the reasoning of Ocean City officials who evacuated the resort in anticipation of Hurricane Irene.

Muth visited a Town Council work session where officials from the Ocean City Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Association voiced questions and concerns they had with the way the evacuation was executed.

Muth said numerous factors -- including the necessity to close the Chesapeake Bay Bridge when winds hit a certain speed, and the evacuation of multiple low-lying areas in Delmarva and the immediate area -- made the decision to evacuate in the days before the storm hit a prudent one.

"It was the right decision made based on the information they had at the time," Muth said of the Aug. 26 evacuation date, echoing a comment Mayor Rick Meehan has made about the decisions. The brunt of the storm came about a day later.

Fishtales owner and HMRA member Shawn Harman pointed out during the discussion that Ocean City had been evacuated before places like Cape Hatteras, N.C., an area that was hit by the storm hours before Ocean City.

Muth said it didn't matter to his staff what other states and towns had handed down evacuation orders when Ocean City did, adding that in that situation, places often look for a town elsewhere to make the initial move before following suit.

By leaving Ocean City early, people were able to get away from the Eastern Shore without some of the traffic congestion some areas of Delaware saw when they evacuated later, Muth said.

"If the Bay Bridge had been closed when people were trying to leave, that would have taken away a very important route," he said.

Councilman Joe Hall said the storm was a real threat, and that town officials took it as one. If Ocean City had felt the force of the storm that some areas north and south of the resort had, there wouldn't be a discussion about the evacuation, he said. Instead, there would be one about rebuilding the town.

"We did the right thing for the town of Ocean City," Hall said.

HMRA Executive Director Susan Jones said the association did not wish to question the decision to evacuate, but wanted to speak with council in an effort to make practical improvements in the event another natural disaster looms on the town's horizon.

The town's official press release on the evacuation was confusing, and calls to a hotline listed on the release gave HMRA members conflicting reports on what they were to do, Jones said. Meehan and the council acknowledged that improvements can certainly be made.

Ocean City spokeswoman Donna Abbott recommended the town make plans to establish a joint information committee that can be assembled in the event of another impending disaster. The group could form a comprehensive communication plan, and training for facets of the group could be provided by the town. Muth pledged the state's help with training if necessary.

Councilwoman Margaret Pillas commended the community on its actions in the time leading up to the hurricane.

"You have criticisms, but you still followed through and complied," Pillas said.

The Ocean City Fire Department has already been analyzing its actions before and during the storm, as part of an effort to create a department plan that will allow them to begin planning for a storm up to 96 hours before it hits, Chief Chris Larmore said later in the meeting.

smuska@dmg.gannett.com
410-213-9442, ext. 14

Street performer eyes bayside park as venue

OCEAN CITY -- Popular Boardwalk magician George Gilbert is taking initiative to begin a new street performer tradition in Ocean City.

It's not involved in a lawsuit, and will likely avoid blowback from town officials -- two pluses that buskers lately haven't been used to. It could even help alleviate some of the tension that has built up through the year among performers, town officials and a selection of Boardwalk merchants.

Gilbert, who has been performing in town the past eight summers, wants to set up a "Sunset Celebration" in the town's rarely-booked Sunset Park, on the west side of Philadelphia Avenue near the Inlet.

He proposes a nightly event where street performers would entertain guests for two or three hours both before and after that evening's sunset, with a specified main event beginning immediately after the sun goes down. The performers would bow out on nights when other park events are scheduled. The Sunset Park Party Nights concert series takes place Thursdays during the summer, but the park is void of any official celebrations most other nights.

Gilbert calls the area beautiful, but underused. "Basically, my goal is to create this to enhance the Ocean City experience," said Gilbert, who is spending the off-season performing in Florida and other places. "We want to open up a new artistic venue that gives our guests a unique artistic and family friendly experience."

Performers would be allowed to set up at the park without council approval, since it is one of the areas in town where buskers are greenlit to display their talents, according to mayor and interim city manager Rick Meehan. He said it's a great location, and a great idea. There would be no need for permitting, either, he added.

"If they want to organize and do that, that'd be terrific," said Meehan. "We would love to have the performers at Sunset Park." If council approval had been needed, Meehan said he didn't believe council would object to the celebration.

Gilbert wants to take on the planning and execution responsibilities for the celebration. He doesn't want the city to incur any cost or departmental headaches. He simply wants access to the venue, he says -- the rest would be organized and taken care of by performers.

For some time, Meehan and the council have been working to ramp up laws constraining public performances, especially on the Boardwalk. For years, performers have had to register with the town and attain a permit to perform on the planks.

In June, Town Council voted unanimously to forbid street performers and others from putting on shows in the North Division Street access area of the Boardwalk. The decision was made for safety reasons, and Meehan signed the rule into law as an emergency ordinance. Graffiti artist Mark Chase took exception to the law, calling it unconstitutional, and lodged a First Amendment complaint against the town.

In September, U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander ruled that performers are allowed to sell their wares on the Boardwalk without having to be permitted by the city, a ruling that will stand at least until the trial's end.

Chase is all for what Gilbert is doing, he said. However, Chase still plans to set up on the Boardwalk to "help progress" his First Amendment battle.

Inspiration for an OC Sunset Celebration came from similar events Gilbert has seen during his travels. The system he has come up with is a combination of what he feels are the best ideas from setups all over the country; one of the most popular has been a tradition at Mallory Square Dock, in Key West, Fla., for years.

"It's really huge (in Key West), and everybody looks forward to it," said Councilman Brent Ashley, who initially brought Gilbert's idea to council's attention during a November meeting. "Whether we could get to that level or not, I'm not sure, but it would be a similar celebration that would attract people to Sunset Park. I don't see any negative in it at all."

Movement of some performers to the park could lessen Boardwalk congestion while giving vacationers an additional in-resort entertainment option, Ashley added.

Gilbert is actively seeking performers who want to be involved with the show who would begin this summer. He'll pick the acts as part of his organizational responsibilities, and invites those interested to contact him at george@george-gilbert.com.

His qualifications for making the selections are, according to Gilbert, his own extensive experience with many things street performer-related.

"I'm a variety performer; I'm a juggler, magician and balloon artist," Gilbert said. "I eat fires. This is what I do all over the country."
smuska@dmg.gannett.com
410-213-9442, ext. 14