County relies on Gerald Mason
By Don Klein

“If you think the Ocean Pines library looks good, wait until you see this one,” Gerald Mason was talking about the proposed new library in Ocean City. “It will be a stunner. It will have the ‘wow’ factor,” he added with a confident smile.
 
Mr. Mason knows what he is talking about. When it comes to Worcester County business it usually falls into his domain as the county’s  chief administrative officer. He is the day-to-day manager of the county, the “go to” guy if you want anything done.
 
Mr. Mason is the right hand man of the seven-member county board of commissioners. He keeps the commissioners’ meeting agenda up-to-date, he provides the necessary information needed to make decisions, and then implements board decisions in the fashion of a chief executive.
 
He will be the man who will have to find the extra million dollars it probably will cost to finally build the much needed, long-awaited, 14,000 square foot library at 100th Street and the bay when it comes before the board in May. Once approved, construction will start immediately and the library should be ready for the public in 15 months time. The Ocean City Town Council recently provided the land for the construction.
 
The extra cost will probably be worth it given the description of the facility by Mark Thomas, director of the Worcester County Library. “It will be extremely inviting from both the inside and the outside,” he said. “It will be welcoming, exciting and inviting,” was his enthusiastic way of putting it.
 
The new two-story library is just one of many aspects of the $140 million plus budget Mr. Mason keeps under his wing. All county department heads report to him. “It’s my job to handle all the issues that come up,” he said, adding “the biggest job is the budget” as he pointed to a jammed 106-page looseleaf folder, about a foot thick with documents, occupying a chair in the corner of his office.
 
The commissioners will start deliberating over the new budget in May so that it will be ready for implementation on July 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year. The commissioners meet regularly the first and third Tuesdays of every month.
 
“One of the big things we will be working on this year is the Worcester Career and Technology Center in Newark adjacent to the board of education headquarters. The project is seen costing the county about $20 million with additional funds coming from the state.
 
The career and tech center will train students in much needed specialties as carpentry, heating and air conditioning, automobile mechanics, computer services and even correctional officers.
 
Mr. Mason and his staff of seven setup the board’s order of business when they meet twice a month.  They schedule witnesses who need to address the board and in general keep the session moving smoothly. The commissioners usually start the session at 9 a.m. and work through to about 4 p.m.
 
Mr. Mason, of course, has to follow through with the various county departments who may be assigned duties as a result of the action of the board. His department prepares the minutes for the following meeting then arranges the sequence of the 15 to 35 issues which are usually found on the agenda.
 
Born in Snow Hill 58 years ago, Gerald Mason is a local boy who made good. A graduate of Snow Hill High School he earned an accounting degree from Goldey Beacom College outside Wilmington, DE. After serving in the Army during the Vietnam period he worked in banking for several years.
 
The county hired him as finance director in 1986 and after eight years he became the county administrative officer. He has held the job for the last dozen years.
 
He lives in Snow Hill with his wife Mary Jane and their son Brooks who is in high school. Their grown children, Brandon and Meredith, reside in the state of Washington.
 
“I have to handle almost any public issue,” he confessed. He mentioned such seemingly prosaic constituent complaints about pot holes and stop signs, which he passes on to the responsible agencies of the county for their action. He added with despair,  “Sometimes you can resolve a problem, sometimes you cannot.”