Somers Point Council seeks proposals for popular series; critics cry foul
SOMERS POINT — City Council is putting not only its popular beach concerts in jeopardy but also Somers Point’s history and legacy of supporting live music at the shore.
That’s what detractors said Jan. 9 when the governing body, in a split vote, approved seeking bids for its beach concerts instead of sticking with the nonprofit vendor that made the series No. 1 in the country in 2023.
“Please don’t put this legacy, the support of our wonderful musical artists and the promotion of Somers Point’s fabulous reputation as a great community for the performing arts in jeopardy,” Beach Concert Committee member John Loreaux pleaded with City Council. “Please do not take this tremendously important part of our lives in the community and region and put it out to auction.”
City Council adopted a resolution authorizing an advertisement for requests for proposals for the 2025 Summer Beach Concert Series, set to kick off in June.
Council President Charlie Haberkorn said the move is intended to protect the city from a financial liability standpoint after the promoter went over budget last season to the tune of about $20,000.
“One of the things we have to be cognizant of is having financial controls in place,” he said.
The resolution passed 5-1, with Councilwoman Janice Johnston casting the sole no vote. Councilman Rick DePamphilis was absent but did contact the Sentinel with comments, noting he would have voted against the ordinance had he been present.
Both, along with Haberkorn, were members of City Council’s Beach Concert Committee, not to be confused with the Somers Point Beach Concert Committee that operates the concerts. The council committee was formed last fall to address the financial situation.
Johnston said there has been no formal arrangement with organizer Tony Mart Presents for the past 30 years.
“The volunteers of the Beach Concert Committee have always done all of the fundraising and organizing,” she said.
Johnston said a contract would ensure all of the funds would go through the vendor.
“This would make for less work for the city finance department,” she said, noting there have been years when there was a shortfall in funds that was paid for out of the Recreation Trust Fund.
Solicitor Tom Smith said advertising for an RFP does not necessarily mean council is seeking any changes.
“What it means is that looking at this, we decided that we should set certain parameters in case we are going to enter into a contract for this,” he said.
Smith said the best way to set parameters is to send out an RFP and “let them establish what they can do and can’t do, how they plan on doing it. From that we can then choose from among qualified bidders.”
Mayor Dennis Tapp said anyone is welcome to submit an RFP.
Beach concerts,
music history
In the 1990s, city resident Nick Regine founded the concert series that now draws 700 to 800 people weekly to the William Morrow Beach along Bay Avenue for live concerts Friday nights in June, July and August.
Top musicians from near and far come to the city to perform the free shows, and the series was recognized as the best outdoor concert series in America via a USA Today reader poll in 2023 and No. 2 in 2024.
But the city’s influence on rock ’n’ roll dates back much further.
Somers Point was a music mecca in the 1940s through the 1970s and even into the early ’80s, supporting such storied locations as the Tony Mart Cafe, better known as Tony Mart’s.
Popular nightclubs such as Jiminy Cricket’s, DiOrio’s Circle Cafe, the Mediterranean Lounge and Jolly Roger lined MacArthur Boulevard, while Tony Mart’s and Bayshores were on Bay Avenue.
Steve Rogers, executive producer of “Here’s the Story” on PBS, produced a documentary last year that celebrated the city’s rock ’n’ roll history and its part in the cult classic “Eddie and the Cruisers,” which was shot partially at Tony Mart’s as well as in other parts of Somers Point.
According to tonymart.com, the venue “was a window into the evolutionary popular music from late swing through the golden years of rock ’n’ roll in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, and on to the new wave sounds of the early 1980s.”
Anthony “Tony Mart” Marotta owned the club and his son Carmen Marotta now operates Tony Mart Presents, a music promoter and concert organizer that has been operating the Summer Beach Concert Series for more than 30 years.
Impassioned
opposition
Johnston said she was “a little perplexed” why the resolution was on the agenda, noting City Council formed the Beach Concert Committee at the end of the season with the intention of meeting with Marotta to discuss last year’s financial shortfall and the best way to move forward.
She said last year was an anomaly, with high inflation but also a serious illness that affected operations.
“The solution for the city is to enter into a contract with Tony Mart Presents, their nonprofit entity. They would handle all aspects of the concert,” Johnston said.
She said they discussed limiting the city’s responsibility to public works and police.
“The nonprofit would handle all of the financials, raise all the money, pay all the bills. No money, no dollars would any longer go through the city and we wouldn’t be responsible for any shortfall.”
She also said organizing such a production that lasts about 10 weeks is complex and takes a lot of time, skill and effort.
“I hope that council realizes what it takes to organize this type of annual event,” she said, noting she has been involved in many and as soon as one is finished planning begins for the next one.
Johnston said contracting with someone on short notice would be “setting them up for failure because they are not starting until three or four months before the first concert is supposed to start.”
She also said the committee has begun work and secured a grant to fund part of this year’s series.
Loreaux, a volunteer photographer for the concerts who also oversees the group’s Facebook page with 11,000 members, said they were caught off guard by the resolution.
“Recently we were preparing to discuss the terms of a lease between the city and Beach Concert Committee, on the basis of reassurances and information we had been given. We were proceeding with all of the extensive work required to obtain grants, contact potential sponsors and arrange for the schedule of entertainment. We were very surprised when we were just days ago advised that the council was considering some type of bidding process for the concerts, which have been part of the city for 32 years,” he said at the meeting.
Loreaux said the committee grew the concerts into the nationally awarded series that it has become, but noted “more important is the history and legacy of the musical culture of Somers Point dating back to the ’40s on which Nick Regine built the first concert series in the early ’90s.”
DePamphilis provided an email he had sent to the other members of City Council.
“It is difficult for me to understand why council is considering taking the concert series away from Carmen and the concert committee,” he wrote. “As recently as 2023, we did a resolution commending them for the job they have done in providing the residents of Somers Point wonderful and free entertainment and congratulating them for making Somers Point the #1 outdoor concert series in America.”
He stated Marotta and his wife, Nancy, “work diligently all year long to produce the best lineup of entertainment for our residents and guests.”
DePamphilis stated the committee is addressing last year’s budget shortfall by increasing fundraising efforts “that have already resulted in many new sponsors and increased revenue.”
“I am of the opinion that the concert series process has worked well for many years and will continue to do so. Our residents love the concerts. They are, quite frankly, a good thing that continues to get better. Let’s not mess with a good thing,” he wrote.
Kathleen Lloyd, owner of Josie Kelly’s Public House a couple of blocks away from the concert venue, is entertainment director for the Irish pub where live music is performed seven days a week.
She said “booking music on a small scale in a little tiny pub is very complicated” and that having an experienced promoter is important.
“I think it’s very foolish to think that you can shop around and have someone give you a bid and promise you the moon and the stars where you don’t know what they’re capable of. We all know that Nancy and Carmen have executed these concerts flawlessly as long as I can remember. To go away from the Tony Mart family and to hire someone we don’t know what they are capable of could possibly jeopardize all the sponsorship money that goes along with these concerts.”
City resident Pat Pierson said she agreed having a contract to protect the city’s interests “sounds logical” but asked why now after 30 years.
“You make this sound good but it’s smoke and mirrors and it’s going to hurt the people of Somers Point. It is going to mess up our beach concerts. I personally think it’s hurtful and a disgrace. This is a hard, hard day for the city,” she said.
Councilman Kirk Gerety, who voted in favor of the resolution, acknowledged the short turnaround time.
“It’s a little late in the game. What I would ask council, this has to be expedited in the fastest manner,” he said.
The resolution states the city anticipates awarding a contract on or before Feb. 13.
– By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff