OCEAN CITY — At-large Ocean City Councilman Sean Barnes feels like he’s just getting started.
Barnes is running for re-election, but if he wins it would be his first full term on council.
In the 2024 election, which is usually reserved for the four ward seats on the seven-member council, he handily defeated former councilman Michael DeVlieger for the remaining two years of Karen Bergman’s at-large term. Bergman resigned from council to take a position with the city’s Senior Center.
In this election, he will face fellow incumbent Tony Polcini and newcomers Jim Kelly and Jocelyn Palaganas. They are the four candidates for the three at-large positions open in the May 12 election.
“I love Ocean City. I’m really proud of serving the citizens of Ocean City and I really feel like I’m just getting started,” he said.
“I think I bring a lot to the table. I’ve been a voice of reason and common sense during my tenure. I enjoy doing the work at hand, the issues at hand, listening to all the stakeholders and working hard to make the decisions with the best interest of the residents of Ocean City in mind,” Barnes said.
“I respect and honor open and honest government and I want to preserve our shore way of life,” he said. “We have a great community down here and I want to preserve that for future generations and for the people who are here now. I think I can best get that accomplished by being on council.”
A native of Ocean City, an Ocean City High School graduate and the brother of Kevin Barnes, who is president of the Ocean City Board of Education, Sean has an undergraduate degree from Stockton University in business management and a graduate degree in real estate finance and investment from New York University.
He works full time as a director at Enterprise Community Asset Management Inc., a company that creates affordable housing industry opportunities nationwide.
Single, with a black lab named Harbor, he has a 43-foot sailboat that he charters for sunset cruises in the summer for a company he created, Sail Atlantic LLC. Barnes noted this past summer he took two military families — the resort hosts two military families each year — out on free cruises, something he really enjoyed because of how much the families enjoyed being on the water in a sailboat. He plans to do that again this coming summer.
Barnes said he would like to see more opportunities for businesses to stay open all year as he is concerned with the economy of the entire island. He knows 600 Boardwalk, former home to Gillian’s Wonderland Pier amusement park, is a hot-button issue, and that it ties into the health of the boardwalk and community at large.
He said council has been looking at beach tag revenue and parking lot revenue as indicators of the economic health of the community and how to improve it moving forward.
The councilman has been steadfast in his opposition to the 600 Boardwalk property being designated an area in need of rehabilitation, something the current owner, hotelier and developer Eustace Mita, seeks in his desire to build a 252-room, eight-story hotel on the site. On City Council, he has voted consistently against referring the issue to the Planning Board.
On the Planning Board, he also voted against the designation recommendation, believing the state law allowing that was designed for communities in need and not for such valuable properties. The recommendation failed because planners tied 4-4 in their vote.
He is a member of the Boardwalk Subcommittee that is studying zoning on the entire boardwalk, including the former Wonderland property.
Barnes said he is especially concerned about preserving the environment on the barrier island, including the habitat and the turtle populations in the Southend, the marshland and the beaches. He does not want to see things that are detrimental to the environment and is paying close attention to how state legislation, including the NJ REAL Act, will have an impact on development.
Barnes is council’s liaison to the Planning Board and they are looking at the city’s construction code and how it can be used to help mitigate flooding.
“There are provisions in there that maybe can preserve our natural environment,” he said.
Barnes said he originally decided to run for City Council because it had been in the back of his mind for a while, but career and other aspects had him put it on hold. When Bergman announced she was stepping down, he was approached about running. After thinking about it and talking to family about it, he decided “it was time for me, not to be cliche, but for me to give back.”
“I haven’t let politics change me. I still address things in a modest and open way.”
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
