Commentary

Commentary Ocean City Today Jan. 13, 2023 Page 46 Scooter rental ban will be welcomed

The possible ban in Ocean City on the rental of non-typical vehicles such as e-bikes, scooters and their multi-wheeled companions is almost guaranteed to cause outrage in some quarters of the resort business community.

Based on the City Council’s preliminary discussions this week, the loudest cries of foul would come from owners and staff of established businesses that would have until April to plan for their operation’s demise.

These protests, however loud they might be, will almost certainly be drowned out by the cries of joy from residents and other businesspeople who see scooters, slingshots and the like as a danger and a source of great annoyance.

No one, outside of the rental operators, will miss the incessant horn-blowing that frequently heralds the approach of a string of these two- and three-wheelers being driven by the look-at-me set, or the whine of 50 cc motors going ‘round and ‘round the block of an otherwise quiet neighborhood.

Considering the size of these vehicles as compared to the cars, trucks and buses on Coastal Highway during the season, one would think all rental customers would be intimidated into exercising more caution, but no, that is not always the case. And that’s why the proposal by Councilman Will Savage makes sense from the standpoint of highway safety.

As Savage noted, if Ocean City is truly serious about road safety, it must do everything it can to remove these low visibility, under-protected, motorized rides from the street.

Obviously, local government can’t dictate who has access to Coastal Highway, a state highway, and it cannot and should not prevent people who own e-bikes and scooters from riding on any street. But it can reduce the number of irresponsible recreational motorists by putting an end to the rentals.

The council’s 6-1 vote in favor of imposing a ban was surprising and the hope here is that the follow-through is complete. Council members should know that they have the backing of a great majority of resort residents in their pursuit of safer and quieter streets.

Ocean City Today

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EDITOR ............................................ Stewart Dobson MANAGING EDITOR................................ Lisa Capitelli STAFF WRITERS ..............Jack Chavez, Mallory Panuska, ................................................................Cindy Hoffman ACCOUNT MANAGERS.......... Mary Cooper, Vicki Shrier ..............................................................Amanda Shick CLASSIFIEDS/LEGALS MANAGER .... Nancy MacCubbin SENIOR DESIGNER ................................ Susan Parks GRAPHIC ARTIST .................................... Kelly Brown PUBLISHER........................................ Christine Brown ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT ...................... Gini Tufts

PUBLIC EYE Elective intelligence

It’s amazing how much smarter people get after they’re elected. It’s a law of nature — you get 1,000 votes more than the other guy and suddenly you’re splicing genes in the garden shed on your days off. You win the vote, are sworn into office and things you never knew unexpectedly surface. “Oh, now I get it!” and off you go to Harbor Freight to buy some tiny little hammers so you can bang away on the chromosomes you found lying around the house. Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but it does seem that elected officials become experts on everything once they take the oath of office.

Consider, for instance, Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, a former wrestling coach, who has been put in charge of an investigations subcommittee that can pretty much do whatever it wants.

Putting a wrestling coach in charge of investigations is like hiring a truck driver to take out your tonsils. This isn’t to say that wrestling coaches and truck drivers aren’t experts in other ways — I mean I’m not splitting atoms in my spare time either — but expertise in one field doesn’t automatically transfer to another just because you have your hand up.

Unless you’re elected, of course, in which case your IQ rachets up exponentially, which, for people like me who’ve never held office, means a lot, real fast.

Here’s an example: a one-time chairman of a congressional subcommittee on health had an agency created to investigate alternative medicine. Good thing, too, because it found that stress is not reduced — repeat, not reduced — by harp music. This was especially good news to many people, who suddenly had plenty of room to store their Xanax pills after removing the harps from their medicine cabinets. On the other end of that spectrum was a member of a House committee who told followers that “Jesus hates science,” which apparently qualified him as a member of a subcommittee on space, technology and, of course, science. Then there was the congresswoman who

By mused about a possible connection between Stewart outbreaks of swine flu and the election of a Democratic president, not to say that the Dobson American people have anything against electing swine from either party to office now and then. But the real disconnect between skill and force of will was Ocean City’s own Mayor Harry Kelley, who was beloved throughout the state, but ran the town like his own business ... unfortunately. Let’s just say his personal control of the city checkbook reached a point where it looked like drawings of nesting material. Council members no longer with us eventually staged a palace coup and brought in a city manager to handle the resort’s business affairs. It could be that I’m just jealous that I don’t know more than I do. As I was asked some years ago by a neighbor who was trying to explain to me how to make a minor home repair, “Let me get this straight,” he said. “All you know how to do is newspaper? That’s it?” “Well, yeah,” I replied. “I’ve never been elected to anything.”

Continued from Page 45 the Air Staff; Field Marshal Sir John Dill, Chief of the British Joint Staff Mission in Washington; Lord Frederick Leathers, minister of War Transport; Vice Adm. Lord Louis Mountbatten, Chief of Combined Operations Headquarters.

Other British officials attending the Conference included Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder, Air Officer Commanding in Chief, RAF Middle East Command and Gen. Sir Harold Alexander, commander 18th Army Group.

The responsibility for the providing of the Conference participants’ comfort and security fell to Gen. George S. Patton Jr. The conference was held at the Anfa Hotel in Casablanca.

Also in attendance at the conference, but not as participants, were French Generals Charles de Gaulle and Henri Honoré Giraud.

Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin had been invited, but had declined, saying; he was busy with the Battle of Stalingrad, which by the first of February was over.

Journalists were excluded from the Casablanca Conference until the end, when approximately 50 were invited. They were housed at the Excelsior, an upscale hotel on Casablanca’s main thoroughfare.

The Casablanca Conference was one of the most important of the wartime conferences, because of the many momentous decisions that were made, beginning with the next move for the Allies after North Africa was cleared of Axis forces.

The Americans wanted to follow with a cross-Channel invasion of Europe, for which their Soviet Ally had been clamoring.

Churchill and the British did not believe that the Allies, especially the Americans, were ready for that. Instead, the Prime Minister advocated an invasion of Italy — “the soft underbelly of the Axis,” as he described it.

The Americans ultimately relented and agreed to an invasion of Italy, beginning with Sicily. Too late they realized that the PM’s analysis was incorrect.

The Allies also agreed to the president’s proposal to announce that they would only accept the Axis’ “Unconditional Surrender,” a term that the president had borrowed from Ulysses S. Grant.

The Allies adopted that position, in part, to reassure their Soviet Ally that there would be no separate peace. They also thought that it would help Allied morale.

The United States Army Air Force was just beginning to have an impact on the air war over Europe.

The two countries agreed that the Axis would be bombing round-theclock, with the Royal Air Force taking the night shift, while the U.S.A.A.F. took the day shift. This policy resulted in the second highest percentage of fatalities, behind only the German submarine service. On Jan. 21, 1943, the Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCOS) of the Western Allies established priorities for the aerial assault on Europe. Churchill and Roosevelt disagreed on the future of the British Empire, with the President advocating independence FDR at Casablanc for its various colonies, and the Prime Minister stubbornly refusing to even consider the possibility. On Nov. 9, 1942, the PM had said, “I have not become the King’s First Minister in order to preside over the liquidation of the British Empire!” The president’s brief stopover in Bathurst (now Banjul), capital of the British colony of The Gambia, where he witnessed the poor conditions, strengthened his resolve to push the British to grant their colonies independence. The two Allied leaders also met privately with Mohammed V, Sultan of Morocco, and his 14-year-old son, and successor, Hassan II. Morocco, at the time, was a French protectorate. The president reportedly told the Moroccans that the country would be independent within 10 years. Missed it by two. Then, there was the question of French leadership. Gens. de Gaulle and Giraud had been summoned to Casablanca. FDR didn’t like de Gaulle. In addition to the French general’s haughty attitude, the president thought him a stooge of the British. But in an effort to unify French leadership, both men were brought to Casablanca and sat for photos with the president and the PM. They were also ordered to stand and shake hands. The handshake was so cursory that the photographers missed it and it had to be repeated, much to the chagrin of Gen. de Gaulle. On, Jan. 22, 1943, FDR, assisted by Gen. Patton, awarded the Medal of Honor to Gen. William H. Wilbur, as Gen. Marshall watched. Next week: Casablanca Mr. Wimbrow writes from Ocean City, Maryland, where he practices law representing those persons accused of criminal and traffic offenses, and those persons who have suffered a personal injury through no fault of their own. He can be contacted at wimbrowlaw@gmail.com

OC Fire Department mourns passing of Chief Fisher lll

(Jan. 13, 2023) On behalf of the Officers and Members of the Ocean City Fire Department, Fire Chief Richie Bowers has announced the passing of Past Deputy Fire Chief John E. Fisher III.

Deputy Chief Fisher answered his last alarm on Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023, after a long and dedicated career in the fire service.

Chief Fisher joined the Ocean City Volunteer Fire Company in May 1993 and served the citizens and visitors of Ocean City and Worcester County for many years.

During his tenure with the Ocean City Volunteer Fire Company, Chief Fisher held the ranks of lieutenant (1994 to 1996) and captain (1996 to 2023).

He served as captain of ‘A’ Platoon and was respected for his leadership, community involvement, and his desire to mentor new members.

“The passing of Deputy Chief Fisher is a great loss to our department. He devoted his life to serving and protecting others, and his legacy will be known as a chief who touched the lives of many, including the members he mentored,” Bowers said.

Prior to joining the Ocean City Volunteer Fire Company, Chief Fisher had an extensive career in the fire service, volunteering with the Mount Rainier Volunteer Fire Department, Brentwood Volunteer Fire Department, and Cottage City Volunteer Fire Department.

He also worked as an instructor for the Maryland Fire Rescue Institute, and as a master firefighter and HazMat

John E. Fisher III

See DEPUTY Page 48