An Open Letter to Ocean City’s George Bendler
By Adam Reuter Editor, The Baltimore Informer
On June 8, 2026, Ocean City zoning administrator George Bendler hand-delivered daily $1,000 citations to St. Paul’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church. The offense? Operating an indoor shelter to keep vulnerable human beings from facing arrest under the town’s aggressive anti-homeless ordinances. This administrative overreach ignores basic human decency and walks the municipality straight into a federal buzzsaw. By targeting a religious shelter ministry, local bureaucrats are violating the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act–a reality they will soon face in federal court.
This dirty bureaucratic playbook is not new. A decade ago, code inspectors tried the exact same stunt against Patapsco United Methodist Church at the corner of Wise Avenue and Church Road in Baltimore County. The government slapped that congregation with a massive $12,000 zoning fine for simply letting unhoused people sleep on outdoor benches and camp on the grounds. But once the local community fought back and the media exposed the cruelty, the politicians folded and dropped the fines right before Christmas. George Bendler is running the same failed script, and he is going to get the same public humiliation.
If Ocean City tries to defend themselves in federal court, they will be flushing taxpayer funds down the Bendler which is fiscal malpractice. My advice to the zoning admin? Stop being a Grinch and let it be.
The following is an open letter sent directly to George Bendler.
Dear Mr. Bendler,
As a concerned citizen and editor of The Baltimore Informer, I am issuing you a symbolic personal fine of $1,000 per day. This mirrors the exact citations you hand-delivered to St. Paul’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church over the last forty-eight hours.
“Ocean City” does not issue fines–bureaucrats like you do. Prioritizing zoning codes over keeping vulnerable people off the streets is pure cowardice. The church opened this indoor shelter because your local ordinances threaten unhoused people with jail time for simply trying to survive. Enforcing shutdowns against a ministry serving hundreds exposes a total absence of basic humanity.
Your office needs to halt enforcement, support actual shelter alternatives and stop wasting public resources on a losing battle against federal protections. Ever heard of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act? You will learn all about it soon. This fine is non-binding satire, but the public blowback heading your way is entirely real. You are lucky I lack the legal authority to freeze your enforcement budget permanently.
I urge you and the council to reconsider enforcement, support alternatives or work with the church instead of against it. Obey federal law as mandated by the Maryland Constitution.
Sincerely,
Adam Reuter
Editor-in-Chief
The Baltimore Informer
