Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan lays out priorities for next term

OCEAN CITY, Md. – Mayor Rick Meehan is preparing for his next term is office as he runs for reelection unopposed. In an interview with 47 ABC on Wednesday, the Mayor laid out his priorities.

Public Safety

“Number one is public safety. We face new challenges every year with regard to public safety, and being able to make sure that we have proper staffing for both our police department and firefighter-paramedics,” said Mayor Meehan.

Mayor Meehan says the Town of Ocean City will move away from relying on part-time seasonal public safety employees. Instead, the Town aims to hire more full-time police officers, firefighters, and paramedics. The Mayor says in the past, the Town has relied too heavily on part time employees to keep Ocean City safe, and now they are becoming less and less available.

“We need to be realistic. If we continue to grow as a community, and entertain 8 million visitors a year, and expand our season, we’re going to have to make sure that we have adequate police and fire personnel, in order to make sure that we maintain our top priority as public safety,” said Mayor Meehan.

Boosting Tourism

Since moving from a Ocean City Council seat to the mayoral office in June of 2006, Mayor Meehan says he has seen evolution sweep the resort community. He hopes to continue that.

We’ve continued to develop and redevelop. I think that’s very important for the town of Ocean City. So many communities, especially beachside communities, grow old all at once. We’ve been able to continue to redevelop,” said Mayor Meehan.

Mayor Meehan cites Ocean City’s state-of-the-art public safety building, convention center, and performing arts center as past improvements. He says he plans to expand events at Northside Park, and other types of community engagement in the future.

“We do these things not just for our visitors, but also for our residents. We’ve put a continued emphasis on our residents, and making sure we’re able to supply the amenities here in Ocean City that make it a place that people want, not just to visit, but to live, relocate, and be part of our community,” said Mayor Meehan.

Lessons Learned

Mayor Meehan says with the COVID-19 pandemic, came tough lessons. He admits that the Town “lost track” in terms of promoting local businesses; something he plans to do more of in the next term.

“Even during time periods where other communities and resort areas were falling behind, we were able to continue to build on our customer base. I think offering good, quality service is important,” said Mayor Meehan. “We really learned some good lessons during COVID-19 about how we can allow them to expand business opportunities, to increase outdoor seating, to do a lot of things that make their businesses more attractive to our residents and visitors, which in turn, makes Ocean City a better place.”

The Mayor also says he wants to continue balancing tourism revenue with citizens’ cost of living. It’s a goal that Mayor Meehan says he’s learned the value of during his 16 years in office.

“That’s what’s so vitally important: you need to utilize revenue and increase revenue we receive tourism, to continue to improve our community, and offset expenses, and make this a more affordable place for our residents to live and work,” said Mayor Meehan. “Our number one goal every year is we work through the year and our budget. We’ve been able to balance our budget, and we haven’t had a tax increase in I don’t know how long. I know it’s been ten or 12 years, maybe longer.”

Looking Ahead

Mayor Meehan tells 47 ABC he’s ready to tackle any new challenges that may come his way, while continuing to keep life good for those who call Ocean City home.

Being mayor of Ocean City is a great job. It’s an honor to serve the public, and serve as mayor of Ocean City,” said Mayor Meehan. “It’s a position I take very seriously, and I’m continuing to listen to what the citizens think, what our visitors think, trying to bring forward new ideas, and work with the council in conjunction, and our city manager.”

Ocean City’s Municipal Election will be held on November 8th from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Residents are able to vote in all elections at the Roland E. Powell Convention Center.