Madden and Bergman to lead council
OCEAN CITY – After Mayor Jay Gillian and three Ocean City Council members were sworn in for their new terms of office Friday, July 1, all stressed teamwork in their speeches to a large crowd gathered at the Ocean City Music Pier.
That will be made easier as Pete Madden and Karen Bergman were unanimously elected as the new president and vice president, respectively, of City Council. They, along with newcomer John “Tony P” Polcini, won the three at-large seats up in the May 10 election, and ran as a team supporting the Gillian administration.
Gillian, who was elected to his fourth consecutive term as mayor, told the audience his philosophy has always been about teamwork and that was the basis of his campaign.
After thanking his supporters and those behind his campaign, Gillian noted that elections can be toughest on loved ones, but that he has a strong family. He thanked them and also singled out his father, former mayor Roy Gillian, who stood with him as he was sworn into office.
“There is no way I would be standing here if it wasn’t for him,” he said, also crediting his mother, extended family, children and his 10 grandchildren. “Thank God for those amusement rides,” he said, drawing laughs from the crowd, “because it gets expensive.”
Gillian also thanked his wife, Michele, “who’s going right to heaven.”
He noted he began going to daily Mass months before the election campaign started and credited that “with giving me a peace I’ve never felt before. I believe it has made me a better person. In this crazy time in our country, it is something I wish everyone could find that peace.
“We need to be nicer, we need to be kinder, we need to listen more and help each other. We need to stop judging people and accept them, not try to change them,” he said.
He said people need to educate themselves with information, not opinions.
“And we need to find that middle ground. It can’t be one side or another,” he said, adding that is what makes things work in Ocean City government, with the administration and City Council finding that middle ground to do what’s right for the taxpayers.
He thanked the taxpayers for their confidence in him and their support. He said he takes his job as mayor seriously.
Gillian ended with a note from Eleanor Roosevelt (noting his wife has been watching a TV show about first ladies). “To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.”
Bergman, who also is entering her fourth term in office, thanked her supporters and also thanked everyone for re-electing Gillian.
She said the team headed by Gillian and his administration takes citizens’ issues seriously. They understand the importance of communication with the community, listen to the concerns of the community and work tirelessly to correct them, she said.
She credited the members of the administration, police chief and fire chief, and the members of the city clerk’s office. She appreciates that they have an open door to answer her questions.
Bergman said she is blessed to keep serving with her fellow council persons.
She thanked the audience for electing her, Madden and Polcini.
Bergman noted they started their campaign around her kitchen table on a Tuesday night. “It always seems great things happen at an Italian’s kitchen table,” she said.
She said they are three independent individuals with different backgrounds who share a strong love for Ocean City “who decided to come together to seek your support to represent our great city.”
In their campaign they set out to show their strength as a team would be beneficial to taxpayers – “our passion for the Ocean City community,” the values and integrity drew them together, she said. “And a deep friendship developed.”
Along with thanking those who supported and worked for the campaign, and the voters who supported her, she also thanked her family, her longtime friends and her significant other, Bob Ward. “Mom, you’ve always believed in me. Your constant support, encouragement and love made me the woman I am today,” she said.
“I want you to know you can call me at any time,” she told the audience. “I promise to have an open ear and to help seek answers to your questions and concerns.”
“As most of you have noticed, I am the only woman at the council table,” she said. “I am blessed to serve with these great men. As challenging as that can be at times,” she added, she is able to provide a common-sense, female perspective to the issues at hand.”
Madden, thanking everyone who supported his campaign, said, “It is an honor and a privilege to serve on City Council.”
He said he is fortunate to have served for the past eight years and that he never takes an election for granted. “I’m always profoundly moved by those who dedicated their time, efforts and resources” to help get him and his fellow council members elected.
He thanked his family, saying they don’t always love his time spent away from them, but know he is out there doing his best for their betterment of their future.
Madden said there are many moving parts that keep Ocean City moving forward and running smoothly. Just like in a family, business and sports, teamwork and cohesiveness are crucial for progress.”
It doesn’t mean there won’t be disagreements or discussions about sensitive topics, he added, but serving the needs of the community will keep Ocean City ahead of the curve.
Polcini thanked his supporters for the “wonderful opportunity” to serve the community in which he was born and raised. “I am proud I get to use this platform of City Council to represent the wants and needs of this great town while staying committed to my faith in God, to my family and the traditions of Ocean City,” he said.
As a newcomer on the political scene, Polcini said it is important to stay true to who he is.
“I promised on the campaign trail I would look at all sides of an issue” to be informed about making decisions and recommendations based on what is best for the citizens he has been elected to represent.
“I am not a yes guy but one who prides himself on doing what’s right even if the task is difficult,” he said, and will always strive to do what is just and fair.
He thanked his supporters and, drawing laughs from the audience when he thanked his wife and two boys, saying, “although I’m not sure we know what we’ve gotten into.”
“I am ready to start the work of really listening, learning and observing,” he said, and working with the mayor, administration and fellow council members.
“I truly believe it is so important … we are so much stronger working together than we are apart. We need that and more importantly, the city of Ocean City and the citizens need that.”
After an at times acrimonious relationship between the administration and City Council over the past year, much of it because of the election that pitted Gillian against longtime City Council member Keith Hartzell, the nomination of Madden as president and Bergman as the new vice president of council went quickly with no objections. They received unanimous support.
Gillian topped Hartzell by about 400 voters in the mayoral election to win another term.
Bergman was the top vote-getter in the election for the three at-large seats, followed by Polcini and Madden. Second Ward Councilman Tom Rotondi was about 50 votes behind Madden, but he still has two years remaining in his term as ward councilman. Former First Ward councilman Michael DeVlieger came in fifth and local activist Donna Moore was sixth in the council race.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff