From left, City Council candidates Mike Jargowsky, Mary Tighe and J.B. Feeley are running on the “Committed to Community, Dedicated to Progress” ticket.
Sea Isle City residents will find something unusual when they cast their votes in Tuesday’s municipal election – a full slate of candidates to choose from.
For the first time since 2011, there will be a contested City Council election.
Normally, Sea Isle’s elections are devoid of any drama because the incumbents routinely run without opposition. But that’s not the case this year.
Newcomers Ian Ciseck and Steve Cossaboon are challenging Council incumbents Mary Tighe and J.B. Feeley and their running mate, Mike Jargowsky.
There are three Council seats up for grabs. Council terms are for four years. The governing body has five members, but William Kehner and Frank Edwardi Jr. are not up for re-election this year.
Following is a look at each candidate and what they see as the top issues facing Sea Isle heading into the election.
Mary Tighe:
Tighe, 55, is one of the five original Council members who were elected when Sea Isle switched from a Commission-style form of government to the Mayor-Council format in 2007. She is seeking her fifth consecutive term and formerly served a two-year term under the previous form of government.
In her full-time job, Tighe serves as director of nursing for Cape May County. She said her nursing position and Council seat are both strong ways for her to help people in the community.
“It just all ties into wanting to help people as much as I can. If someone has issues, if I can help them, I do,” she said.
On Council, Tighe has been a major proponent of maintaining Sea Isle’s popular beach mats to help senior citizens, disabled people and families with young children navigate their way over the deep sand.
Tighe pointed to Sea Isle’s stable tax rate and a series of civic attractions and infrastructure improvements as other examples of how she, the other Council members and Mayor Leonard Desiderio have helped to make Sea Isle an attractive place to live and visit.
She mentioned Sea Isle’s flood-mitigation projects, the city’s new $21 million community recreation center under construction, the public pickleball courts, a kayak launch facility and the summer lineup of free family-friendly entertainment as major accomplishments.
“I’ll stand on my record and the good things we’ve done over the years,” she said. “We’ve built up Sea Isle into a great resort destination. We’re crowded in the summertime. There’s a reason for that. Everybody wants to be here.”
The election will have a major impact on City Hall's politics.J.B. Feeley:
Feeley, 76, is seeking his third four-year term on Council. He formerly served in a number of appointed government positions over the years, including the Sea Isle Planning Board, the Cape May County Tax Board and as chairman of the Cape May County Board of Elections.
He retired in 2014 from his position as senior project development officer at the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, a state agency that uses Atlantic City casino revenue for housing and economic development projects.
Feeley said he believes the voters are “generally happy” with the progress that he and the other Council members have made in overseeing the city’s government, including Sea Isle’s new community center, its street paving program, the 24-hour staffing of the fire department and efforts to prevent rowdy teenagers from causing trouble on the Promenade in the summer.
“I have the experience and dedication to serve effectively,” Feeley said in a statement. “I’ve worked to ensure that our tax dollars are spent wisely. It would be an honor to keep working alongside the mayor and Council to continue building a better future for our town.”
“My running mates and I have spent the past weeks going through town, speaking with many residents, and there doesn’t seem to be any particular major issues of concern,” he added.
Mike Jargowsky:
Jargowsky was added as Tighe and Feeley’s running mate after incumbent Councilman Jack Gibson decided not to seek re-election. Tighe, Feeley and Jargowsky are running under the campaign slogan “Committed to Community, Dedicated to Progress.”
Jargowsky, 63, is a retired Sea Isle police captain who served on the department as a full-time officer for 25 years. He also served as the city’s deputy emergency management coordinator and the emergency management coordinator from 2008 to 2024.
His community involvement includes coaching youth baseball, being an active member at St. Joseph Catholic Church and formerly serving as scout master of Sea Isle’s Boy Scouts Troop 276 for 18 years.
Calling it “a lifetime of volunteer work,” he said he learned the importance of community service from his parents.
Jargowsky noted that he was encouraged to run for elected office before, but held off until now to make his first foray into politics.
“They’ve been asking me to run for a lot of years. Now, it is the right time,” he said. “I know what the city needs and what is important to the people. I never thought that I would be a politician. But it’s a great way to give back.”
Jargowsky said that he, Tighe and Feeley have talked with a lot of people about the major issues in Sea Isle.
“By and large, they are happy and think the city is run well and would like to continue with that,” he said.
Running mates Steve Cossaboon, left, and Ian Ciseck are using “Fresh Faces – Fresh Ideas” as their campaign slogan. (Photo courtesy of the Ciseck-Cossaboon campaign)Ian Ciseck:
Ciseck, 48, is running with Steve Cossaboon on the slogan, “Fresh Faces – Fresh Ideas.”
He is a real estate agent for Long & Foster who has lived in Sea Isle for more than 20 years with his family, including his wife, Lauren, a member of the city’s Board of Education. He said his children represent the fifth generation of his family with Sea Isle ties.
Ciseck noted he was always “irked” that Sea Isle’s elections were uncontested for so many years. He said he decided to run this year to finally give voters another choice.
If elected, Ciseck said the first thing he would do is to commit to serving no more than two terms. He believes there should be formal term limits placed on all members of City Council in Sea Isle, as well as the mayor.
“It shouldn’t be a career for someone,” he said. “There should be a two-term limit for everybody in Sea Isle – from the mayor to Council.”
Ciseck also believes that Sea Isle’s government should be more transparent and accessible to the public. He is in favor of having the Council meetings livestreamed on Zoom for people who cannot attend them in person.
“Having meetings every two weeks at 10 a.m. is not transparent enough,” he said of the twice-monthly Council meetings held on Tuesdays at 10 a.m.
Steve Cossaboon:
Cossaboon, 57, is a retired special education teacher and football, wrestling and girls softball coach at Haddon Township High School in Camden County.
His wife, Michelle, is a teacher. The couple spent their vacations in Sea Isle for 12 years before becoming full-time residents three years ago.
Like his running mate, Cossaboon believes that Sea Isle’s recent history of having uncontested elections simply did not give voters enough choices for their elected officials.
“It’s been 14 years since the last contested election. We want to be able to test the status quo,” he said of his and Ciseck’s candidacy.
“Sooner or later, change is going to occur in town,” Cossaboon added.
Cossaboon also believes it is important for the City Council meetings to be livestreamed on Zoom to make the local government more accessible to residents. He said the 10 a.m. meeting time on Tuesdays, during the workweek, makes it difficult for people to attend in person.
“I don’t see why we can’t do that and allow the people to see what’s going on at Council,” he said of having a Zoom component for meetings.
In another matter, Cossaboon is pushing for the city to settle on a new labor contract with employees in the Public Works Department. He said there has been no contract for two years.
Getting a contract settlement is something “near and dear to my heart” because his son formerly worked for the Public Works Department as a trash collector during the summer, he said.
“I think we need to solve that problem. We need to settle,” he said.
ELECTION INFORMATION:
POLL HOURS: Open 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 13
POLLING PLACES: If you need to find information for your polling place, visit https://voter.svrs.nj.gov/polling-place-search
FOLLOW LOCAL ELECTION RESULTS ON TUESDAY NIGHT: CapeMayCountyVotes.com
