When Jeffrey Pierson decided not to run for re-election to the Cape May County Board of County Commissioners, we were relieved that Upper Township Deputy Mayor Kimberly Hayes was stepping up to keep representation in the northern part of the county.
When Middle Township’s Melanie Collette took her place on the GOP ballot, we still had E. Marie Hayes of Ocean City on the commission, even though she was running for Cape May County surrogate … but then she got appointed to the position when the sitting surrogate became a Superior Court judge and resigned her seat.
All of a sudden there was a big north county void until the CapeGOP members voted for Ocean City Councilman Bobby Barr to take Marie Hayes’ place and then to have him run for re-election this fall.
(There are Democrats running for the county commission, but given the overwhelming GOP advantage in registered voters, they historically have had little chance, even though it would be great to have some contrasting voices in county government.)
Barr should make a good representative to the commission given his experience in city government. While Ocean City and the county government need to maintain their political indpendence, Barr will be able to bring his knowledge of the city’s needs and support those of neighboring Upper Township to ensure these communities get their due consideration.
