Thousands flocking to Ocean City for the annual MACo confab

Ocean City’s swelling vacation population will grow by about 3,000 this week, as the annual Maryland Association of Counties summer conference, the largest gathering of the state’s political clan, kicks off Wednesday. As usual, the four-day ritual is essentially split into separate exercises: the official gathering, inside the bone-chilling Roland E. Powell Convention Center, where dozens of sessions are designed to illuminate the latest challenges facing local government leaders, and the almost two dozen receptions and political fundraisers that take place throughout the sprawling resort town.