Thoughts From the Publisher’s Desk

Thoughts From the Publisher’s Desk
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For the
first time, an official and independent study quantified the impact the White
Marlin Open has on the Ocean City area. Although the figures are difficult to
put into prospective because they are so huge, the bottom line is the annual
billfishing tourney positively impacts everyone in this region. What’s most
interesting about the study, requested formally by Delegate Jim Mathias and
conducted by the state’s Department of Business and Economic Development’s
Division of Marketing & Communications – Office of Research, is it
calculates a total economic impact from the 2009 event to be about $16 million
in visitor spending and about $745,000 in total tax revenue. Based on a
seven-day period, it was calculated visitors spent $2.2 million per day during
the tourney.

To
those of us familiar with the tournament, these figures are not surprising.
Clearly, it’s the largest draw on Ocean City’s annual special event calendar.
By the nature of the event itself, it brings fishermen, usually with lots of
disposable income to spend on hotel stays or lodging rentals, dinners and
parties, to the town that normally would not be here otherwise. Additionally,
it doesn’t hurt that it’s held at summer’s peak and that surely helps with the
big crowds felt in this two-weekend stretch. What will be interesting is
whether this study sits on a shelf or is actually used for some kind of
political leverage in the future. Founder Jim Motsko acknowledged this week he
might rely on the study’s findings when the time is right down the line to make
some requests that previously he has not.

Councilman
Joe Hall is not a popular guy at City Hall this week. As a matter of fact,
wherever city employees work or convene Hall is getting the stink eye today
after he suggested all city salaries be reduced by 5 percent and then amended
the request to 2 ½ percent as a way to cut the city’s property tax rate.

There
are two ways to look at Hall’s suggestion. He could be criticized for asking
city employees to take home less money when they have not gotten their typical
annual raises for a couple years and are having to do more with less in
challenging times. On the other hand, he could be applauded for willing to take
a hard stand on a touchy situation in exchange for saving property owners money
on their tax bills.

No
matter where you stand on the matter, it was clear at this week’s meeting Hall
has alienated himself from a majority of the council who found his proposal
lacked details and homework. Council President Joe Mitrecic, an unabashed
critic of Hall’s during his time on the council, was the most outspoken,
saying, “To arbitrarily just throw out
numbers without calculating what it would save us is just a ridiculous thing to
say, and if this council even considers this, I believe it’s totally irresponsible.”

What’s
also known is Hall clearly doesn’t care what his colleagues, some of whom he
has served with for years including Mitrecic, think about him. Some would say
that’s laudable while others could make an argument it’s risky politically.

The front-page
account detailing the local effort to save a rare whale is a memorable one for
those who spent much of their day getting wet and dirty in the process. One of
the more interesting aspects of the story is that a golfer on the other side of
the bay had earlier in the day tried to help out the whale. According to a
story in the Independent Press out of New Jersey, Jeff Gibson took a little
hiatus before hitting his tee shot on the sixth hole at Lighthouse Sound to
assist the stranded beaked whale. According to Ashley Cooper of Summit, N.J.,
“I was looking back over the water enjoying the view from the sixth tee box
when I saw what I thought was the fin a surf board turned upside down … before
I knew it, my friend Jeff Gibson was in the water [fully clothed, with golf
shoes on] trying to push the whale off of the beach. After 10 minutes of
pushing him/her, Jeff freed it and it swam away. Jeff climbed out of the water
to wild applause, stepped to tee and ripped a 280-yeard drive in soaking wet
clothes and shoes.”

About The Author: Steven Green

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The writer has been with The Dispatch in various capacities since 1995, including serving as editor and publisher since 2004. His previous titles were managing editor, staff writer, sports editor, sales account manager and copy editor. Growing up in Salisbury before moving to Berlin, Green graduated from Worcester Preparatory School in 1993 and graduated from Loyola University Baltimore in 1997 with degrees in Communications (journalism concentration) and Political Science.