commentary by Joe Reynolds

There is obvious confusion among board members with regard to casino local impact funding received by OPA, based on incorrect statements made by board members at the last OPA Board of Directors meeting. 

Director Cheryl Jacobs was confused about recent newspaper reporting and suggested Worcester County could decide to take away OPA’s impact funds. This was an irresponsible statement to make at a public board meeting. She was confused between the slot machine impact funds that OPA receives, and new impact funds for table games. All table games impact funds go to the County alone.

OPA's casino local impact funds, now pushing around $300,000 or so a year, do not come from Worcester County. Those funds, based on slot machine revenue, come directly from the State of Maryland as a result of 2009 state legislation that took 10% of the total allocated to all jurisdictions in Worcester County and gave it to OPA, while reducing the County percentage to 60% from the 70% stipulated in the original 2008 legislation. In that original state law, the local impact grants for all of Worcester County were distributed as follows: 70% to the County; 20% to Ocean City; 10% to Berlin. OPA received zero allocation.

Back around 2008, early 2009, the OPA Board of Directors, under president Dave Stevens, sided with then Worcester County Commissioner Judy Boggs and voted against requesting our legislators for a direct cut for OPA, and instead, incredibly, voted to ask the legislature to take away the impact funding for Ocean City and Berlin and give all the impact money to Worcester County. Today it sounds incredulous. It sounded incredulous to me back then. Boggs and I argued the issue, on video, back then. How incredible that our Board of Directors were so politically naïve they thought there would be support to take income away from Ocean City.

A few folks in the community began meeting privately in efforts to influence new legislation to obtain a 15% cut for OPA. Those efforts did not work out. Local newspapers declared the community member effort dead. However, I was not taking NO for an answer. There was too much at stake.

This is the part of the casino funds history where I blow my own horn and the horns of 17 others – we are perhaps the sole reason OPA now receives about $300,000 a year. Initially, I created a group called Citizens for Ocean Pines Equity (C.O.P.E.). I called 17 individuals in the community who I thought would influence our local legislators and asked them to become members of C.O.P.E. Every one of the 17 agreed to be on the committee. I asked Dan Stachurski, a Democrat, and Roseann Bridgman, a Republican, to serve as committee co-chairs. At least four of the 18 original C.O.P.E members are now deceased. All this was done via phone or email. C.O.P.E. never held a meeting.

I then wrote the text for a January 8, 2009 letter to our representatives in the Maryland legislature. It was signed only by co-chair Dan Stachurski because Bridgman was out of town at the time. 

On March 17, 2009, the Ocean Pines Independent contained the following editorial:

“Three delegates representing the Lower Shore have put their names -- Mathias, Conway, Elmore -- to a bill that would divert 10 percent of a fund made up of skimmed revenues from slots at Ocean Downs to the OPA, at the expense of Worcester County government. The plan voted on in a statewide referendum called for the local fund to be divided three ways -- 70 percent to the county, 20 percent to Ocean City, 10 percent to Berlin. But the bill introduced last week would peg the county's share at 60 percent, and the Ocean Pines Association would belly up to the table to claim that 10 percent. 

“If - if - the bill passes in Annapolis and is signed by the governor it will be quite a coup for C.O.P.E., the citizens group with some past board members in its ranks that's run a letter-writing campaign to divert 15 percent to the Pines (they say they're content with 10 percent if that's what's achievable politically). It would not, however, buttress anyone's impression that the OPA board pulls weight in Annapolis, because the board declined to ask legislators directly for a slice of the money. As board president Dave Stevens said to an Independent reporter, 'It's not what we on the board thought was the best approach, but we are certainly not opposed to it.'"

The legislation eventually passed and OPA receives the money.

One final note about comments made by Director Herrick at the last board meeting with regard to using the impact funds for operational costs related to public safety. Unfortunately this would violate Maryland legislation granting OPA a 10% cut of the funds. The language of the legislation outlining how the local impact funds can be used by OPA is not the same as how the county and municipalities can use any local impact funds in the 2008 legislation. The 2009 legislation giving OPA a 10% cut stipulates in unequivocal language that OPA can only spend its funds on “public infrastructure.” 

Years ago, OPA stipulated it would spend its local impact funds on roads (this includes road drainage). No board should consider changing this decision. It passed muster with the law and money is fungible. 

Below is the C.O.P.E. letter sent to legislators back in January 2009, as well as a list of C.O.P.E members who worked to obtain this money for OPA. 

As an aside, Jim Mathias is running for re-election this year to the Maryland Senate. If loyalty is a good thing, and considering what any candidate has done for the Ocean Pines community, every resident of Ocean Pines should seriously consider “pulling the lever” for Jim Mathias. Mathias went to bat for us when our own Board of Directors refused to do so.

C.O.P.E.
Citizens for Ocean Pines Equity
60 Beaconhill Road
Ocean Pines, MD 21811

January 8, 2009

Hon. James N. Mathias, Jr. (also to Norm Conway and Lowell Stoltzfus)
Delegate, The Maryland House of Delegates 
Legislative District 38B 
6 Bladen Street 
Annapolis, MD 21401

Dear Delegate Mathias,

I am writing as co-chairman of C.O.P.E., a diverse and non-partisan group of Ocean Pines citizens (See Attachment 1).

C.O.P.E. is seeking equitable treatment for Ocean Pines in the distribution of slots impact funds. To that end we respectfully request legislation be introduced to change the legislated distribution of the total coming to Worcester County as follows:

Worcester County 55%, Ocean City 20%, Ocean Pines 15%, Berlin 10%

C.O.P.E. believes the size of Ocean Pines, its immediate proximity to the proposed slots facility, and most importantly the number of registered voters relative to Ocean City, Berlin and the rest of county supports our request. The following breakdown indicating voter numbers and the percent of slots impact funds in the original legislation also clearly makes our case for equity:

C.O.P.E. fully expects our three local legislators to work together to introduce and fully support legislation for changes in distribution to provide Ocean Pines with an equitable 15% share of the impact dollars.

Respectfully,

Dan Stachurski, for C.O.P.E.

Attachment 1

Partial List of C.O.P.E. Members

Co-Chairs: Roseann Bridgman and Dan Stachurski

• Jack Barnes, host of Focus on the Pines
• Roseann Bridgman, past president Republican Women's Club, past president Worcester County Commission for Women
• Tom Cetola, past OPA Board President and former County Commissioner
• Joan Gentile, President of the Women's Club of Ocean Pines
• George Coleburn, past OPA Board member, former Judge of Orphans Court
• Ron Fisher, Immediate Past President Ocean Pines Area Chamber of Commerce 
• Jean Louis, President Worcester County Democratic Club, member OPA Budget & Finance Committee 
• Norm Katz, past OPA Budget & Finance Committee member, Parliamentarian local AARP
• Doris Lloyd, past OPA Board president
• Ted Moroney, member OPA Community Hall Task Force
• Sharyn O'Hare, past president Worcester County Commission for Women
• Joe Reynolds, OceanPinesForum.com
• Tom Sandusky, past OPA Board member
• Dan Stachurski, past OPA Board president
• Marvin Steen, Steen Associates, Inc.
• Mark Venit, past OPA Board member
• Dave Williams, past president Worcester County Democratic Club & past OPA Board member
• Mary Yenny, past OPA Board president