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Margate Legend - Dave McLean
• City Commissioner loves Margate, Elvis and the bar business
Friday,
August 7, 2009
He flew into Margate’s National Night in a BSO helicopter. Rushed to the stage in a flurry of excitement where he performed hits like Jailhouse Rock and Can’t Help Falling in Love. It was like a scene out of Woodstock – but here in Margate – and instead of Canned Heat riding in the bird – it was Elvis; impersonated by none other than Margate City Commissioner Dave McLean.
Margate’s National Night Out was a huge success. Police estimate in excess of 5,000 people were in attendance at the Sports Complex Tuesday where McLean took the stage dressed in an electric blue, Elvis-style jumpsuit replete with rhinestones and a cape.
McLean’s been a City Commissioner in Margate since 2004. A small business owner himself, he tends to vote on the side of small businesses when it comes to matters of zoning, signage and other ways a city can either make or break the purse of a small business man or woman.
Growing up in Margate in the '70s, McLean is the son of father who was commissioner in the city from 1959 to 1963. He produced the city’s parade when he was a teenager and has plenty of stories to tell about roaming the Margate countryside during the disco decade -- the era that brought us Watergate, Vietnam, Attica, Ali and Star Wars.
After drawing no challengers as an incumbent in January 2008, McLean’s seat is up again in 2012, along with Commissioners Arthur Bross and Frank Talerico. He’ll run again, he says, because he wants to finish what he’s started; a Margate redevelopment project that when complete will put Margate back on the map and hopefully be part of his legacy in the city. The Elvis Impersonator also sits on the Margate Community Redevelopment Board, the body charged with finding a developer to take the 44-acre mixed-use “City Center” project to the next level.
“We’re in the best position when the economy turns around,” McLean said. “A last hurrah to make this city everything it can be.”
McLean, who just opened McLean’s Bar and Grill on 19th Street, says he loves Margate, so much so that he’s tattooed the city seal on his arm. He may love the bar business as much as he loves the city…and maybe as much as he loves Elvis. McLean was the 801st person to visit Graceland when it opened and, for a 46-year-old Margate City Commissioner, has a damn good voice and some solid moves on stage.
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