Jay Gillian To Run For Ocean City Mayor

OCEAN CITY — Amusement park owner Jay Gillian is in the race to become Ocean City’s next mayor. Gillian, 45, announced his candidacy for the position in the May election on Monday, Jan 11.
Gillian, is the second person to announce his candidacy for mayor in the past week for an election.
Michael Hinchman,also announced his candidacy for mayor on a slate with council at-large candidates Jim Tweed and Pete Guinosso. Hinchman is the president of civic group Fairness in Taxes.
Mayor Salvatore Perillo has not said yet whether he will seek reelection to a second term this year.
The following is Gillian’s statement as provided by his campaign:
JANUARY 11, 2010
I’m here today to announce a poorly kept secret.
Before I do that, I just want to thank all of you, and many others that couldn’t be here today, for your encour-agement and support over the past couple of months as I’ve been considering this decision.
While it’s a big decision for me, it’s one I’ve become very comfortable with, and confident about, with all of your help.
So again, I appreciate all of you joining me here today as I announce that I will be a candidate for the office of Mayor of Ocean City in this year’s municipal election.
I’m ready to work with the City Council, the city staff and the entire community to make Ocean City an even better place to live, to visit or to invest in.
To do that, we need to work together. It’s time to restore the unity to our community.
That’s something I believe in more than anything else. Anytime we’ve met big challenges in Ocean City we’ve done it by working together.
I’ve been blessed to be part of a number of successful efforts where good things happened by a group of good people working together. I’ve been fortunate to be surrounded by good people in my business, on the Board of Education, at Shore Memorial Hospital, and with local organizations like First Night, the Historic Museum and many other times working to help others.
For this challenge, I wanted to be surrounded by the best. I know most of you know two of the women up here with me, and if you don’t, I hope you’ll join us in the campaign and find out what quality people they are. I’m very proud to be working with Dottie McCrosson as my Campaign Manager and Janet Galante as my Treasurer. The three of us have had a lot of good discussions over the past few weeks, and they share my vision for how Ocean City needs to move forward.
We have challenges as a community, just like communities around the state and around the country. We’ll meet these challenges not by shouting at each other ; not by pitting one part of our town against another; not by trying to scare people; and not by blaming others. We’ll solve problems and move this community forward if, and only if, we can work together.
Now more than ever, honesty and open government is the absolute expectation of this community.
You can count on me to provide both.
I’ll tell you the truth. I’ll tell you what I think. And I’ll tell you when I make a mistake. Last but not least, I won’t promise you I’ll do something as Mayor, unless I’m certain I can do it, and I’m confident it will benefit the community.
If I’m fortunate enough to be elected, you’re going to see the most open local government in Ocean City’s his-tory. On big issues, I want to gather the facts in public, discuss the issue in public and reach consensus with the city council and the majority of the public.
You’re going to see openness in how we manage the city’s budget, how we make purchases and how we issue contracts. We’re going to follow policies and regulations to the letter of the law. And we’re going to solicit multiple proposals and price quotes on every professional service contract ; not just when it’s convenient, but every time!
We’re going to manage our spending closely and prudently. We’re going to prioritize our needs as a govern-ment and a community within both the capital and operating budgets. Most importantly, we’re going to plan.
As it stands today, Ocean City has no real capital plan. A bond ordinance has been passed and there are some projects in the pipeline for 2010. But there’s been no meaningful public discussion of what’s on the horizon for next year, the year after and five years out.
The public wants more dollars allocated to core infrastructure needs like roads and drainage and I agree. But these projects have to be planned and prioritized, not just from an engineering standpoint, but a financial stand-point, and that hasn’t been done.
There also has to be openness in this planning process. The days when a property owner first finds out about a city project when it starts to be built outside their window are over.
Within the operating budget, reductions have been made in some areas, and additions have been made in others. Compared to four years ago, there are now fewer people working for the city today in public safety positions, public works positions and recreation positions. In some cases these reductions have been good adjustments. But these staffing reductions have been partially offset by more people in middle and senior management posi-tions and administrative areas.
One of my top priorities will be safety. I’m willing to consider different models that can allow us to operate more efficiently. Having said that, I’m not willing to sacrifice the safety of our residents and guests in any area of town. Uninformed conclusions about staffing levels, without knowing the ramifications, are not in anyone’s best interest. Presenting the facts, involving everyone in the discussion and working together for consensus will lead us in the best direction on public safety issues and other concerns.
On the subject of hiring, if and when a position can be filled, under my administration there will be a fair and open hiring process that again will follow the letter of the law and city policy. Candidates will be selected for positions based on their experience and qualifications, not where they worked before or who they worked with.
It comes down to fairness and credibility. My experience on the Board of Education, at Shore Memorial Hospi-tal, at my family’s business and with other organizations has demonstrated to me that job recruitment has to fol-low a process. For key positions I’ll involve the council and the public in that process.
The reality is there won’t be a large number of new hires when I’m Mayor. But when there is a need, it will be done right.
I’ve always been very passionate about Ocean City. In return, Ocean City’s been very good to me and my fam-ily. My father always encouraged me to give back to the community, and I’ve tried to follow that good advice. After a good deal of thought, and a lot of good advice and moral support from my family and friends, I’m very anxious to get started with this campaign. And I’m very happy to begin it all here in Downtown Ocean City.
There’s certain things we all know and love about Ocean City. I know this community and I’m not going to have to conduct an expensive survey to know it better. It just comes down to listening to people, involving eve-ryone in the discussion of big issues and reaching consensus. That type of unity has helped us solve problems in the past, and will help us move Ocean City forward in the future.
That’s what has been missing lately. It’s that unity I want to restore to our community. With your help that’s what we’ll do over the next four months until the election, and for the next four years after the election.
Thank you very much and let’s work together to keep Ocean City “America’s Greatest Family Resort”!