By Donald Wittkowski
In a dramatic contrast with rancorous Washington-style partisan politics, Sea Isle City’s municipal election is unfolding in an atmosphere that seems downright chummy between Republicans and Democrats.
The three candidates for City Council are running unopposed in Tuesday’s election on a unified ticket that includes the longtime leader of Sea Isle’s Democratic Party paired with two Republican incumbents.
Mary Tighe and Jack Gibson, the Republicans, are teamed up with J.B. Feeley, who has headed the local Democratic Party for 40 years and is making his first foray into elected politics.
Their bipartisanship was on display Friday evening during a cordial political rally at Kix McNutley’s that featured prominent local and Cape May County Republicans and Democrats socializing together.
“It’s all about Sea Isle. It’s all about what’s best for Sea Isle. It’s not about Republicans or Democrats,” Tighe said.
James Iannone, a Democrat who was in office for 22 years during Sea Isle’s former Commission-style government, said people in town “simply don’t care whether it’s a Democrat or Republican.”
“I’m happy with how things are going on here,” Iannone said, alluding to the way the Republican-dominated City Council has been running the local government.
Council members serve four-year terms and are chosen at-large in Sea Isle’s nonpartisan election. Sea Isle’s last Council election in 2015 was another uncontested race for the incumbents that year, Frank Edwardi and William Kehner. Desiderio also ran unopposed in 2015’s mayoral election.
Jeffrey Sutherland, chairman of the Cape May County Democratic Party, said Sea Isle residents are focused on voting for who they view as the most qualified candidates and seem unconcerned about party affiliation.
“Voters are picking the three best people without them looking at the letter following their names,” Sutherland said of the candidates in Tuesday’s election.
Sutherland was among the Democrats mingling with Republicans during the political rally at Kix McNutley’s, the bar and entertainment complex owned by Desiderio, a Republican.
Feeley, 68, a Sea Isle resident for more than 40 years, is stepping in to replace Councilman John Divney, who is not seeking re-election. Divney, 76, a Council member since 2007, said he felt it was time to give someone else an opportunity to run for city government.
“I would not have run if John had sought re-election,” Feeley said. “When I heard that he was thinking of not running again, I called him up and told him I was considering running for office. He said, ‘Great, go for it.’”
Feeley retired three years ago 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.
Although Feeley is a novice in elected politics, he has held some appointed positions in the government world. Most notably, he formerly served for 17 years as a commissioner and chairman with the Cape May County Board of Elections.
Feeley said he hopes there will be a strong turnout at the polls on Election Day – despite the fact that the Council race is uncontested – to give him, Tighe and Gibson a “mandate.”
“We don’t want to take it for granted. We don’t want the people to take it for granted, either,” Feeley said. “We care about Sea Isle. The people care about Sea Isle. We want to see the people turn out to show us that they support us.”
Tighe, 48, 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 a nurse with the Cape May County Health Department.
Gibson, 83, who served in the state Assembly for 12 years but lost his seat when seeking re-election 2005, won his first term on Sea Isle Council in 2013. He is semi-retired, but works part-time as an engineer for Dennis Township.
Tighe, Gibson and Feeley announced in February that they had filed petitions to run for election on a unified ticket featuring the slogan “Committed to Community, Dedicated to Progress.”
Tighe and Gibson said they hope that the lack of opposition in the election is a sign that voters are satisfied with their work on Council.
“There’s always room for improvement. But the town is moving in the right direction,” Tighe said, citing Sea Isle’s strong financial footing and its emphasis on family-friendly attractions in recent years.
When it reorganizes after the election, the five-member Council is expected to deal with a busy agenda for the rest of the year.
Tighe, Gibson and Feeley all agreed that coastal flooding is the most pressing issue confronting Sea Isle in years to come. Sea Isle is in the midst of a flood-control study to find ways to protect the barrier island from coastal storms, including the construction of road, drainage and pumping projects.
“I accept the fact that the ocean is rising, and we have to find ways to meet that challenge,” Gibson said.
Gibson, who plans to use his experience as a civil engineer to help the city with its flooding problems, noted that Sea Isle must take both a short- and long-term approach toward the issue.
“The ultimate goal is to pump out water at a rate that is faster than it comes in,” he said. “We’re going to have to do that.”
Over the long term, Gibson, Tighe and Feeley envision the city eventually having an integrated system of dikes, pumping stations and higher bulkheads to alleviate flooding, particularly on the bay side. Sea Isle’s oceanfront is protected by its dunes and a $40 million beach-replenishment project completed in the last two years by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
City Council members and other Sea Isle officials have stressed the need to develop partnerships with the county, state and federal governments for the money to pay for what is expected to be a hugely expensive, comprehensive flood-control plan.
