To the Editor:
I read the Herald’s article about the March 11 Ocean City Council meeting and I appreciate the information.
I was on the Zoom meeting that night, but my access was interrupted, and I was unable to hear or see much of the latter half of the meeting.
I had several friends who also attended. Some of them were able to participate and some were locked out.
Those in attendance heard from Marina Redmon, Chris Almada and Hugh Giordano, but not Edward Grimes, Jamie Van Scriver, or me.
Apparently, the council was citing hackers. This seems dubious to me and my friends. We feel that our right to public access was infringed.
One reason why we feel that way was that before we were locked out, we had our hands raised during the first comment period, but were ignored and excluded from our opportunity. I personally had my hand raised before any of the theater advocates started to comment.
The council acts as though they are above the law. The host of the meeting made very poor decisions.
I wanted to let it be known because I expect it to continue when the ordinance is up for second reading and adoption.
If the council is so sure they are doing the right thing, then they should be happy to have full scrutiny and transparency. The council has strong opinions on the issue, but they do not afford the public the same right.
Home rule and local bans are understandable, but the process in Ocean City is tainted and reflects poorly on the whole community. We shall see how we are treated in April for the final adoption hearing.
