A Celebration of citizen advocacy in ocean city

Ocean City has entered a new era of citizen engagement, and that is something to celebrate. An engaged electorate becomes an informed electorate. An informed electorate produces better government. And a better government yields a better city.

Across the island, residents are stepping forward on issue after issue—not because they want to fight, but because they are passionate about the city they call home.

Concerned Citizens of Glen Cove fought a deeply flawed zoning decision affecting the private lagoon their kids swim in. They took their case all the way to court—confronting what looked, to many of us, like an incorrect zoning decision tilted toward developers rather than residents. That’s courage. But they showed that courage. And we think they will win.

The 34th and West Street Neighbors organized around the 34th Street V2 development but were never anti-development. Their objection was the scale. Had the developer compromised—had the project been suggested at a more reasonable size—it could be moving forward. That failure is on the developer, not the citizens.

OCNJ Citizens Against Living Next to Cell Phone Towers has formed around the proposed cell tower in the same area, bringing more passionate voices into the civic debate, this one about process and transparency.

Fairness in Taxes has spent years focused on the financial strength, transparency, and integrity of city government. Their longevity speaks to the role they play as the conscience of the city’s financial story.

The Kennel Group pushed back against an ill-conceived dog kennel, not because they were anti-dog, but because the siting was inconsistent with the character of their  neighborhood. They won. 

Save Wonderland responded with extraordinary passion to the closure of our beloved amusement park, engaging thousands of voices from around the world and refusing to let the boardwalk’s identity be quietly erased.

Plaza Place and Beach Watch Associations are two groups of residents facing the impact  of an oversized proposed high rise in place of  Wonderland. Neither opposed a hotel. Neither asked for the return of the amusement park. Both just asked for collaboration, consideration, and compromise. 

Ocean City 2050 formed to bring a broader focus on good government in Ocean City: Fact-driven, transparent, free from financial conflict. On the Wonderland debate, the group fought for one, simple thing: for the city to run a full master plan process before deciding whether to change zoning. Not anti-hotel, not Wonderland or bust. Just the right process. They asked for that in November 2024 and have never wavered.

Dave and Marie Hayes individually deserve their own paragraph. Their persistent, well-documented advocacy against the oversized Soleil project ultimately drove the building down to a more palatable height, despite them having been told “It’s a done deal.” That is what citizen advocacy can accomplish—when residents refuse to be steamrolled and insist that the rules apply to everyone.

Friends of OCNJ History & Culture formed several years ago to celebrate and educate the public about Ocean City’s remarkable historic home stock. Through house tours, garden tours, and ongoing celebration, their approach to preservation is through education and, frankly, having fun.  They are a quiet, comfortable but informative place in the storm. Other groups appear before city council; they invite you into their homes, and onto their porches, for a discussion. And their impact on placing a spotlight on our beautiful historic homes has been fantastic.

Our Ocean City is the first resident-lead political action group in the city to focus on livability issues, among them overdevelopment, taxes and the preservation of our boardwalk.  The developer community has always had a strong voice through the FOCUS PAC.  Our Ocean City is seeking to level that playing field and balance the voices in the debate. 

There are certainly more.

Does all of this make Ocean City a louder town? Of course it does. But loud is not the same as broken. Loud is the sound of a community making sure its decisions serve the people who actually live here—not developers from outside the city, not outside financial interests, but the residents of Ocean City. Period.

The Pressure Citizen Groups Face

It would be naive to pretend this work is universally welcomed. It is not. Advocacy groups are often disliked by the very government they engage with. They are challenged. They are second-guessed. At times, real efforts are made to discredit them—to question their motives, their numbers, their standing, even their right to participate.

That is part of the nature of the game. When citizens ask hard questions, those in power do not always answer them. Sometimes the response is redirection. Sometimes it is dismissal. Sometimes it is a quiet effort to suggest that the people raising concerns are the problem rather than the issues they have raised. In Ocean City, we have seen all of that.

The good advocacy groups withstand that pressure. They keep their facts straight. They keep their tone measured. They keep their focus on what matters. And they move forward—because they are not in this for applause from City Hall. They are in it because they believe in what is right for Ocean City.

The advocates also represent an unique and efficient opportunity to inform the elected officials.  Instead of needing to arrange meetings with a long list of individuals, the advocate groups represent a means by which elected officials can sit down with a large group of people and hash things out. They may not always agree, but communication can be very important in narrowing disagreements, and gaining the respect of the other side.

And, yes, citizen groups are not always the administration’s friend. But they are always the city’s friend. They watch out for things. They ask the questions that should be asked. They read the documents that should be read. They do the math others would prefer no one do.

Why This Matters

Every group named here—the Concerned Citizens of Glen Cove, the 34th Street neighbors, the cell tower opposition, the Hayes family on Soleil, Save Wonderland, Fairness in Taxes—represents the same underlying truth. Ocean City belongs to its residents. Decisions about its future must be made in the open, on the merits, with the people who live here at the center of the analysis.

That is what Ocean City 2050 stands for, and it is why the citizen advocacy flowering across this island is not a problem to be managed. It is the city working exactly the way it should.

To everyone who has stood up, organized, written, called, attended a hearing, or simply paid attention: thank you. You are making Ocean City stronger.