Gillian Talks Race, COVID, Carousels to Rotary Club

OCEAN CITY – In a brief but wide-ranging talk with members of the Rotary Club of Ocean City-Upper Township June 11, Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian spoke of COVID-19, race, and matters from the quotidian to the existential.
Described as a state of the city report, the event was held remotely due to the ongoing pandemic and the rules put in place by Gov. Phil Murphy aimed at slowing its spread. At the talk, and later that evening to Ocean City Council, Gillian offered criticism of the governor, even as he continued to call on residents and visitors to remain cautious because of the virus.
He said Murphy officially lifted a stay-at-home order after the governor joined Black Lives Matter protesters demonstrating against police brutality, part of a wave of protests around the nation in the wake of the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police.
“After his march this week, I guess he realized if he can go march, he can start letting us do our lives again, so he lifted the stay-at-home order,” Gillian told the Rotarians. He said he hopes the governor “gets sensible” and eases the restrictions to allow more of the economy to open, relying on individuals to take responsibility for their health.
As of June 15, outside dining was set to be allowed, along with indoor shopping at businesses listed as non-essential. As have other local officials, Gillian noted that large retailers remained open through most of the crisis.
“It’s been tough for a lot of our small businesses,” he said. “It’s really just a crime.”
More changes are on the way, with outdoor public pools set to open June 22, church services with up to 50 people returning, and up to 500 people allowed to gather outside by July 3. Gillian welcomed this, which will allow the Ocean City School District to move forward with a modified graduation ceremony July 9. He said the school is very important to him.
“Obviously, the governor has lifted a lot of things,” Gillian said.
Throughout the crisis, Gillian called for patience from residents and visitors, while speaking harshly about comments on social media that he saw as divisive and unnecessarily hostile. He also said there is little the city can do to enforce the guidelines put in place on social distance and other recommendations.
“I can’t make people wear their masks,” he said. “We’re in America.”
The talk ran a little over a half hour, and, in that time, Gillian spoke about road projects and beach replenishment, along with expressing frustration about the condition of Bay Avenue after a county project. City Council recently introduced a $15.9 million bond ordinance for various projects (read related digest on page A). A $40 million bond is likely on its way this summer for more work, Gillian said.
Much of his time with the Rotary Club was devoted to the pandemic and the series of protests against racism.
Gillian praised his police department’s handling of a June 2 march that started in Somers Point and ended at the police station. He lauded the efforts of Chief Jay Prettyman and the officers. Close to 1,000 people participated in the event, and police blocked off Central Avenue between Eighth and Ninth streets.
One participant asked if there is racism in Ocean City.
“This is one of those tough ones. You’ve got to be really careful about what you say in this PC sort of world,” Gillian said. He spoke about the city’s actions in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, which badly damaged the city’s housing project. “It was the saddest thing and it was the hardest thing that I’ve ever been through as mayor, even harder than what we’re going through now.”
Gillian said the city worked with local contractors to get members of that community home as quickly as possible.
Not all residents of the Pecks Beach Village federal housing project are black, and certainly, not all black Ocean City residents live in subsidized housing, but in a city the 2010 census found to be 92% white and 3.5% black, seeing several families relocated to the mainland would have had an impact on the city’s diversity.
At the later City Council meeting, Gillian said the state put too much on local police departments during the pandemic.
“They want our police department to make sure everybody’s behaving themselves. That’s a hell of a thing to put on our police department,” he said.
Roads and drainage, beach replenishment, and more were covered at the Rotary Club meeting, along with some lighter topics, including a question about Gillian’s favorite ride. He owns and operates Gillian’s Wonderland on the boardwalk, a business started by his grandfather.
He named the carousel. He called it an easy one.
Gillian also cited his “be nice, be kind” policy, under which he said police issue fewer summonses for parking violations and other infractions.
However, COVID-19 remained at the center of the conversation. He said he relies on information from local hospitals and health professionals.
Gillian sees a marked improvement in COVID-19 numbers. He said he has been in close contact with local hospitals on the issue.
“It continues to decrease, there have been no spikes,” he said. “We were all good people. We stayed home, we did all the right things and it flattened. It seems like things are getting a lot better.”
Nationally, numbers continue to increase in the South and West, even as the hard-hit Northeast sees improvement. New Jersey saw some of the worst numbers in the nation, but is now seeing an encouraging drop in new cases.
He expects some version of the long-running Night In Venice boat parade to proceed this year, with plans to make the final call by the end of the week.
“I got off the phone with the governor’s office about a half hour ago. He OKed it. He said it’s up to me,” Gillian said, but Murphy wants the city to be careful about crowds at the street ends.
Gillian said residents and visitors around town have been careful and responsible on the boardwalk and in the downtown, with many people wearing protective masks and keeping the recommended distance apart. He said the increase in takeout from restaurants who can’t otherwise open has meant more pizza boxes and containers on the boardwalk and elsewhere. That has meant more work for city crews.
“The trash is piling up,” Gillian said at the council meeting.
He was also critical of a state law requiring cars to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks, a law that came about after a deadly incident in Ocean City, but not everyone is aware of the law, and some drivers do not notice walkers until they enter the roadway.
“It’s one of the most dangerous laws that we have in New Jersey,” Gillian said. “We have so many close calls.”
The mayor also touched on another hot topic in town: the growth of private dinner clubs at which patrons may drink wine or beer at closed events. Critics see the clubs as an end-run around Ocean City’s ban on alcohol sales and BYOB (bring your own bottle), while Gillian said the city is the wettest dry town imaginable.
“At the end of the day, these private clubs are legal, and they’ve been doing it in a positive way,” he said.
To contact Bill Barlow, email bbarlow@cmcherald.com.