He and Madden both far ahead of Hartzell; Kelly leads fundraising in council race
Editor’s note: This story version has corrections from the Ocean City Sentinel May 6 print edition and the version published online earlier today at ocnjsentinel.com.
OCEAN CITY – Mayor Jay Gillian has taken a slight lead in fundraising for the May 12 election. In the 11-day pre-election filing he reported a few thousand dollars more than fellow candidate Pete Madden. Gillian and Madden both reported double that of candidate Keith Hartzell.
Jim Kelly leads fundraising in the City Council race.
This story corrects an earlier version that used summary data from the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (NJELEC) that showed incorrect totals for the candidate’s fundraising.
While the state website’s summary data indicated $99,434 in total receipts, it wrongly calculated the donations given to the campaign.
According to the filing May 4, required by candidates 11 days prior to the election, Gillian’s campaign has actually raised $67,891 to date.
The summary report also incorrectly showed that Keith Leonard, of Halliday Leonard General Contractors, had donated $10,000. In fact, Leonard donated $5,000 in total to the mayor’s campaign. The summary report also incorrectly reported that the Committee to Elect Paul Stryker donated $10,835, when the R-1 reports show the committee gave $5,417. The $5,417 is the correct amount.
For City Council Vice President Pete Madden, his total receipts in the 11-day report amounted to $57,952.
For Second Ward City Councilman Keith Hartzell, monetary contributions amount to $27,535.
The summary date for Hartzell and Madden both reflect the R-1 11-day reports and the 29-day pre-election reports. It is not clear why the NJELEC site had incorrect totals under the summary information for Gillian.
Giving $5,000 each to Madden are Thomas Heist, Anthony and Giuseppina Hipple, Timothy Tower and Vincent Viney. Madden donated $4,500, and four people gave $2,500 each – John J. Dougherty & Son Inc., Remington & Vernick Engineers, Connie Ryan and Timothy Ryan. Marc Cerceo of Icona Resorts donated $2,000, as did Dairy Maid Confectionery Inc. Contributors who gave $1,000 each were Joseph Hand, Robert Hill, Scott Johnson, Tom & Nancy Londres, Tim Muller, the Realtors Political Action Committee, Shriver’s Salt Water Taffy & Fudge; Burton Wilkins and Emily Wilkins.
Hartzell contributed $20,435 to his own campaign. Helen Hamilton, Albert Kendro and William Merritt gave $1,000 each.
His report was filed May 3. The other donations to Hartzell were much smaller.
Gillian received $5,000 donations each from Brian Broadley, Scott Halliday, Margaret McDonald, TTFL Holding Corp. of Bellmawr and Patricia Whitcraft Hughes; $4,000 each from Albert G. Juliano Builders LLC and Patrick Halliday; and $3,000 each from BH OC Holdings LLC., Scott Georgetti and the Halliday Real Estate Group.
David R. Hughes donated $2,500 twice; Lawrence Paul gave $2,500; and giving $2,000 each were David Beyel, Cheryl Huber, Ocean City Builders/Developers LLC and Joseph Ranieri.
The mayoral election is May 12. Voters will choose from among Gillian, Hartzell and Madden and pick three at-large City Council candidates from a field of four – incumbents Sean Barnes and Tony Polcini and newcomers Jim Kelly and Jocelyn Palaganas.
Palaganas reported $1,000 in donations, $500 each from Scott Halliday and the Realtors Political Action Committee.
Barnes reported $3,500 in donations, $1,000 each from Ralph Clayton, Dave Liess and Elaine Morris-Goralski; and $500 from William Merritt.
Polcini had contributions of $15,561. His largest donors were Patrick & Cynthia O’Hara, $5,000; Edward & Barbara Arena, $2,000; Linda Iorio, $1,000; Pete Madden, $1,000; and Mark Benevento, $980.
Kelly has raised $46,326 with $15,00 coming from the candidate himself, including a $10,000 loan and contributions of $4,000 and $1,000.
William Merritt, who worked with Kelly on the Ocean City 2050 group, donated $5,500, as did Karen D. Mileti. Other sizable donors included CGI Communication, $4,238; Elizabeth Treffeisen, $3,060; John Parsons, $1,030; and Dave Liess, $1,000.
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
