Although it is hard to fathom there will be wholesale change in the way the city operates following the May 12 municipal election in Ocean City, it is good that residents will have choices to make when they cast their ballots.
Mayor Jay Gillian announced the earliest that he would be seeking a fifth consecutive term in office.
Second Ward Councilman Keith Hartzell made his run for mayor official last week, but it didn’t come as a surprise because he has been out campaigning for quite some time and hasn’t hidden his plans for another matchup with Gillian.
Hartzell lost to Gillian by just shy of 400 votes in the 2022 election.
What did come as a surprise to most Ocean City voters is At-large Councilman Pete Madden throwing his hat into the ring. He had taken out nomination papers, but many expected he would turn them in to seek a fourth term on council, where he is now the vice president and also spent seven years as president.
Madden’s surprise decision to run for mayor instead turned a replay of the 2022 election into a three-way battle.
The reason why we don’t expect wholesale change is that all three mayoral candidates have been serving in Ocean City’s government for more than a decade. Although there have been times of disagreement on council and between the mayor and council, the majority of the time all three have been metaphorically rowing in pretty much the same direction when it comes to how government works in this resort.
That doesn’t mean Gillian, Hartzell and Madden won’t have different priorities and offer different styles for the next four-year mayoral term.
In fact, we hope and expect them to differentiate themselves over the next two months, explaining why their leadership would be best for the city so voters can understand what their choice on the ballot can predict.
Voters are fortunate to have choices, not just on the national and state stages, but also for their local government. That’s also where their individual votes count the most.
All three of these mayoral candidates are competent and well versed in city government.
Voters also are fortunate to have choices for City Council, where four candidates are running for the three at-large seats.
Two are incumbents – Sean Barnes and Tony Polcini – and two are newcomers – Jim Kelly and Jocelyn Palaganas. All four should be known to voters given Kelly’s very public role at the advocacy group he co-founded (but has stepped down from for his run) Ocean City 2050, and Palaganas for her involvement in so many local organizations over the years, many focused on education, and for her serving on the Ocean City school board.
At least one newcomer will be elected, possibly two, so it will be incumbent upon incumbents and newcomers alike to differentiate themselves about what they would do if (re)elected.
The Sentinel has stories about all four council candidates in this week’s edition, along with stories about Hartzell and Madden. Gillian was featured a few weeks ago.
Expect more coverage of all the candidates over the next two months because there are many issues facing Ocean City from taxes to infrastructure to boardwalk zoning and the looming decision on what will happen at the former Wonderland Pier property.
