McGuigan, Ward 1: Analyze every aspect of gov’t to be lean as possible
Editor’s note: Profiles of the other Somers Point candidates will appear next week.
SOMERS POINT — Longtime Ward 1 Councilman Sean McGuigan is facing a challenge from Dan Myers, who has two previous campaigns under his belt.
McGuigan is seeking his sixth term after first being elected in 2007. The 59-year-old last ran for re-election, unopposed, in 2019.
The construction manager/estimator moved to Somers Point in 1989 from Upper Darby, Pa., after attending Penn State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He married his wife, Teresa, in 1990 and they have three children.
McGuigan said he enjoys serving and wants to continue doing so.
“I want to continue having an active role in keeping and enhancing Somers Point as a great place to live and raise a family,” he said. “This town has been very good to my family and I feel obligated to help, and I believe I have much more to contribute. I have proved over the years to be an effective public servant.”
He believes his work experience as a construction estimator lends itself to helping run the city.
“I have created and managed numerous multimillion-dollar budgets as well as negotiated and settled many contract agreements,” he said.
McGuigan also has been involved in many of the organizations in the city over the past 30 years, including as chairman of the Good Old Days Festival Committee.
“These experiences have proved effective in helping me serve the citizens on council for the last 15 years,” he said.
McGuigan said it is most definitely time to tighten the belt, while at the same time maintaining the “wonderful sense of community that the people of Somers Point enjoy.”
“Rising costs and runaway inflation have not only affected everyone’s household budgets but also the city government’s operating budget,” he said. “It is critical that City Hall and all of the city’s departments operate as efficient as possible while continuing to maintain the high level of services that are provided to the taxpayers.”
McGuigan said keeping costs to the minimum is necessary.
“City Council needs to continue to analyze every aspect of the government to ensure that we are operating as lean as possible,” he said. “Part of that analysis is looking for and creating shared service opportunities.”
Somers Point is a resort town with many more people visiting in the summer months, creating a demand for parking and disruption to people’s lives.
McGuigan said the balance between the needs of businesses and rights of citizens to the quiet enjoyment of their homes must be maintained.
“Businesses must be free to operate competitively within the commercial zones of the city while not encroaching upon our quiet residential neighborhoods,” he said.
The phrase “free to operate competitively” does not, however, apply to cannabis businesses.
“Somers Point currently has a robust business community which features a diverse selection of service, retail and entertainment establishments. These businesses employ many of our citizens,” he said. “I am concerned that adding cannabis sales into that mix will have a negative effect and disrupt the momentum of our community.”
He cited the lack of firm numbers of any financial benefits, saying proponents only have speculations.
McGuigan said he hopes to continue working on enhancing recreational facilities and programs that serve citizens of all ages.
“Strong recreational opportunities are critical in creating and keeping a strong sense of community, he said.
Myers, Ward 1: Council needs more accountability and transparency
SOMERS POINT — Retired health care worker and active photographer Dan Myers is seeking to unseat longtime Ward 1 representative Sean McGuigan.
Myers, 73, and his wife of 30 years, Alice Myers, have three grown children and seven grandchildren.
He moved to New Jersey from Pennsylvania in 1972 to take a position as a manager at Fischer Greenhouses in Linwood and has lived in Somers Point since 1974. While at Fischer’s, the company won awards at flower shows and he gave gardening talks.
Myers ran unsuccessfully for a Ward 1 seat in 2019 against current council president Janice Johnston, then again in 2020 against Stacy Ferreri, who no longer serves on council.
He is retired from a career as a respiratory therapist, spending more than three decades at Shore Medical Center, and is a professional photographer.
In 1982, he attended Atlantic Cape Community College for respiratory therapy and earned an AAS degree with honors. For three years, while attending ACCC, he ran his own landscaping business.
He was employed for 33 years as a registered respiratory therapist and registered pulmonary function technologist in southern New Jersey, mostly at Shore Medical Center. He was a clinical instructor for respiratory therapy students and conducted lectures to nurses and allied health care professionals. He served three years as a manager of cardiopulmonary services, where he developed many state-of-the-art diagnostic and therapeutic protocols to benefit patients. He has since retired from that career.
Myers started a successful wedding photography business in 1984. He currently does family portraits and events but concentrates on landscape photography and fine art printing with a retail gallery at Stainton’s in Ocean City.
He has lived since 1974 in Somers Point, where he purchased a home in 1992. Myers raised all his children in the city, with all three graduating from Mainland Regional High School.
Myers said he wants to “represent the residents that want more action concerning sustainability and transparency. To vote for measures that will decrease taxes, such as municipal court consolidation and retail cannabis sales.”
One of his main goals is to beautify the city to make it welcoming to residents and visitors.
“As a professional photographer and master gardener, I have an eye for beauty and want to make Somers Point a much more picturesque place and improve the recreational facilities,” he said. “I want to make Somers Point a place where active, healthy people want to live.”
Noting the city is bordered by Great Egg Harbor Bay, Myers said the top issues are sustainability, environmental issues and encouraging the use of alternative energy to help blunt the effects of climate change.
He said that could be accomplished through tax breaks, education and legislation to ensure compliance.
Myers thinks the city should take steps to make it friendlier to pedestrians and bicyclists through planting more trees and trying to decrease the necessity of automobiles.
Concerning cannabis sales, which City Council has debated several times but has yet to decide on whether to move forward, he said his is “totally for it within areas that don’t affect residential properties.”
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff