With City Council poised to cast the final votes to eliminate Ocean City's Ethics Board, Mayor Jay Gillian interrupted the council meeting on Thursday night.

A succession of citizens had just made public comments arguing for the city to keep the board, and Gillian asked City Council President Michael Allegretto for a 10-minute adjournment.

"I'm going to ask the council president to honor what the public has been asking," Gillian said when the council reconvened.

"I've listened for a long time," Gillian said. "I think public comment is important, and my gut is not comfortable to let this go."

He asked council to table the ordinance calling for the elimination of the Ethics Board, and he asked to have a full board reappointed.

Without further discussion, City Council voted 6-0 (with Councilman John Kemenosh not present) to table the ordinance. Council respected the mayor's resolve, even though he has no vote within the governing body.

The sudden reversal was the latest twist in a saga that began in November when City Council was asked to approve the transfer of $22,000 to pay for legal expenses in an appeal of an Ethics Board ruling.

While the sum of money sought was relatively small, the request led to a larger discussion of the Ethics Board and whether the city can afford to risk similar legal expenses in the future. 

Council ultimately drafted an ordinance to eliminate the board as a cost-saving measure. They said the state's Local Finance Board provides the same ethical oversight to New Jersey towns.

Council approved the first reading of the ordinance on Jan. 26 in a 6-1 vote with only Councilman Roy Wagner dissenting.

The Ethics Board was formed in 2006 under the administration of Mayor Sal Perillo as a way for citizens to file complaints about ethics violations among city officials and employees. The board is charged with investigating complaints and ruling on potential violations.

The board has spent only $1,500 in its existence, according to former Chairman Stanley Pszczolkowski. 

Pszczolkowski was among the citizens who spoke Thursday in favor of retaining the board. He noted that he's heard nobody speak in favor of eliminating the board in public comment at several meetings and in published letters to newspaper editors.

He questioned the effectiveness of the state's Local Finance Board (a name Ocean City resident Jim Tweed called "Orwellian" in that it's not local and has little to do with finance). Pszczolkowski said the current legal expenses for the appeal became necessary because the Local Finance Board "threw their hands up" and referred the case to an Administrative Law judge.

The appeal is scheduled for May and involves a ruling that Ocean City Beach Patrol Operations Director Tom Mullineaux falsified records for lifeguard requalification tests.

Two Fourth Ward candidates for City Council, Pete Guinosso and Ed Price, spoke of their own separate frustrations in dealing with complaints filed with the state board. They described experiences that indicated the state board has too little time and too few resources to give attention to local complaints.

Unaware of how the meeting would turn out, Ethics Board member Jim Rybicki assumed the elimination of the board was a foregone conclusion.

"I think it's short-sighted," Rybicki said. "But I get it."

He pushed for alternatives to the Ethics Board, including written policies on payroll and purchasing, in-service training, internal safeguards and administrative discipline against violators.

"If you're listening to your constituents, you will keep the Ethics Board," Ocean City resident Julie Baumgardner said, in what turned out to be a prophetic comment.

The five-member Ethics Board currently has only three members. Pszczolkowski's term as board chairman expired on Dec. 31, and the city did not reappoint him or anybody else. Richard Waddell moved to the Zoning Board.

Rybicki, Joan Farrell and Steve Fenichel are current members.

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