OC performers seek $1M from shop owners

The battle between Ocean City Boardwalk performers and the town continues, now with an amended complaint.

The complaint — in addition to the original requests asking for the ordinance to be dismissed, $1 million from the town and a suspension for City Solicitor Guy Ayres — is now seeking an additional $1 million from shop owners and names Ayres as a defendant in the case.

The suit claims "John Doe shop owners, to be determined on depositions, have acted illegally to deprive the boardwalk performers of their constitutional rights."

Despite a recent meeting with the Boardwalk Task Force which discussed possible changes to the ordinance, performers remain unhappy.

The ordinance, put into effect toward the end of July, required performers to sign up a week prior to performing. It also regulated where they could stand as far down to Ninth Street. No regulations are in effect past that point.

The task force discussed a possible lottery system for regulating spots last month, as opposed to what took place last summer. A common complaint among performers is that system caused many to camp out the night before to try to get a prime spot on the Boardwalk.

Tony Christ, while not a regular performer but still the first and only performer to get ticketed this summer, said they don’t need a lottery system. They don’t need any type of ordinance that regulates the performers, he argued.

Jim Starck, a 67-year-old performer, has been on the Boardwalk for a long time. He agrees that in previous years, performers were able to work things out among themselves.

“All of a sudden everything has changed,” Starck said. “They’re trying to kill us off the Boardwalk.”

In addition to anger over the Boardwalk ordinance, and much of the task force’s discussed changes, many performers are also frustrated by “costume characters.” These are the people who are typically dressed as movie and cartoon characters.

Christ said the performers’ lawsuit against Ocean City only includes performers, and not the “costume characters.”

The fight against town leaders continues, and Christ is hoping it goes to trial.

The first attempt came in a suit that looked to piggyback onto the previous case of performer Mark Chase, who successfully sued Ocean City over prior performer regulations.

When that didn’t go through, performers took to the amended complaint.

302-537-1881 ext. 210

On Twitter @EmilyChappell13