Steve Ensley, Council Position 5
MBA and BBA University of Michigan; Five years as city of Ocean Shores Finance Director and Director of Convention Center. During my tenure, the city: Improved its financial position by reducing debt and managing expenses; Improved its credit rating; Returned to timely reporting and clean audits; Restructured the Convention Center debt to provide long-term viability; Initiated the repayment of all interfund loans. Forth years of private industry experience in finance and marketing; Permanent resident since 2004, part-time resident since 1988. Married to Carol for more than 50 years.
Do you favor the Point Brown Avenue redesign project moving forward, and if so, which of the alternatives do you favor and what suggestions do you have for funding?
I am in favor of moving forward with the design phase. Creating a pedestrian friendly and cohesive business area is in the best interests of everyone. I thought the parallel parking alternative was the most attractive, but it would require creating alternative parking capacity, which is also a good idea. Having a design in place will allow us to take advantage of future construction funding opportunities.
The city faces a dilemma with funding set to expire for seven firefighters. Do you favor retaining these positions, why or why not, and if so, how would suggest they be paid for?
I am in favor of retaining the positions. We have been understaffed to meet the medical emergency service needs of the City. The ambulance utility rate study will provide the cost of funding the service levels that we require. Ambulance utility rates should be set to provide long-term funding. Additional grant funding could be used to reduce the utility rate over time.
What three items of public interest and benefit would you propose as a council member and what three items would you like to see changed in the city of Ocean Shores?
1. The City has had the advantage of having a Mayor with the skills and available time needed to “manage” ongoing operations and provide political outreach to the citizens and other governmental entities. It would be in the public interest to add a City Administrator to our staff, in order to provide management continuity and expertise. This would then allow the Mayor to
devote more time for interaction with the local, regional and state communities.
2. As the City’s economics slowly improve the council needs to keep focused on the reduction of debt so that future citizens will have the capacity to fund improvements on a longer term basis. The desire to spend on current “wants” must continually be balanced against providing for long term sustainability.
3. It is important for the Council and the citizens to appreciate that Ocean Shores is both a retirement community and a tourism destination. We are dependent on both constituencies to provide the businesses and services that we enjoy and to sustain all of our property values.
Would you continue the city’s contract with the Pinnacle Group to help manage and market the Ocean Shores Convention Center, and what suggestions do you have for the facility in the long term?
The City has no management contract in place with the Pinnacle Group. The facility review they provided highlighted the opportunities for improving marketing and operations. Most of them require a long term commitment of additional resources. LTAC and Public Facility District funding levels barely meet our current lean operations and minimal marketing efforts. When the City can provide and commit adequate funds under the rationale of “economic development” the optimal solution will be to hire a third party manager like Pinnacle or Columbia Hospitality.
