At the last council meeting, I reported on our ongoing efforts to address the issues that Sea Isle, along with many other shore towns, have had over the past couple summers with disorderly conduct – specifically as it pertains to juveniles and young adults.
I stated that we can’t leave this on the back burner – the issue is too important; and we recognize that this will require a coordinated effort with our neighboring municipalities, along with assistance from our state legislature.
I’m pleased to report that this past Monday, I co-hosted a round table discussion on this topic with 15 out of the 16 of the mayors of Cape May County, Senator Mike Testa and Assemblyman Antwan McClellan, the county prosecutor, and many members of law enforcement.
We talked about a number of solutions, and I’m confident that as a result of these efforts, we’ll see changes made to the current laws that overly restrict the ability of law enforcement to hold those who would do harm to people or property accountable for their actions.
Again, I am asking the public to get involved and contact our state legislators, as well as the governor’s office, to urge them to support the initiatives that will give law enforcement the ability to issue citations or detain those who violate the law regarding consumption of alcohol or drugs in public places; and give municipalities the authority to enact local legislation that will protect the public.
We can’t let up on this. We owe it to everyone in this city and it’s the right thing to do.
At our meeting this past Monday, we agreed that a unified effort was in all of our best interests; and we’ll follow this up in mid-January with another countywide meeting to ensure our legislators stay focused on getting this done.
On today’s council agenda is a resolution ratifying agreements with the City’s unions to amend the healthcare plan coverage of active employees.
The City is part of the State Health Benefits Plan, and as many are aware, we were notified earlier this year that we would be getting increases in premiums of over 20 percent.
Over the past couple months, we’ve been working with our healthcare consultant and with all of our unions to come up with an amended plan that would be fair to our employees and minimize the financial impact in 2023. The City and our employees share in the cost of coverage; and I want to thank all of our employees and our union leaders for working together with the administration to resolve this.
The state put us in a difficult position, as we had limited time to change healthcare plans, given that open enrollment ended in October, but everyone worked together to get this done.
I also want to mention that we took bids for demolition of the former school on Park Road, and expect to bring a resolution to council for award of that contract next month, which brings us one step closer to construction of our future community center.
This Friday is our annual Veteran’s Day Ceremony at Veterans Park; and I hope to see our usual good turnout in support of our veterans.
Once again, please remember that we are one Sea Isle City, and together we’ll be stronger than ever.
Mayor Leonard C. Desiderio
