Ocean City Council Approves Appointment of Allegretto as Director of Community Services

Pending a mayoral appointment, Michael Allegretto has a new job in Ocean City.

City Council approved a resolution consenting to the mayor’s appointment of Council Vice President Michael Allegretto as the Director of Community Services Thursday night.

The resolution was approved with a 6-0 vote.

Mayor Jay Gillian must still appoint Allegretto to the position, so Allegretto has not yet resigned his seat on council. However, to avoid any potential appearance of a conflict, Allegretto recused himself from participating in the rest of Thursday night’s meeting.

“This is an honor,” an emotional Allegretto said as he thanked his family and the residents of Ocean City. “I appreciate my time working with the city and staff. Council past and present has been great.”

“I would certainly hire him for my company,” Council President Keith Hartzell said. “I appreciate working with Michael. He’s done a lot behind the scenes that people don’t know about, but if they did, they would appreciate him even more. He was always instrumental in helping to control the budgets. He’s a fantastic choice.”

Councilman Michael DeVlieger said he couldn’t think of a better person to hire than Allegretto, and Councilman Peter Guinosso called him the “right man for the right place.”

Councilmen Antwan McClellan and Pete Madden also expressed their appreciation for Allegretto’s service to the city as a councilman.

Allegretto has been elected to council three times, most recently during the spring elections in 2014. He was a member of the Ocean City Board of Education for seven years, and served as both president and vice president. He is currently the chairman of the Tourism Development Commission.

If Allegretto is appointed, he would have to resign his seat on council. Council then has two options, according to City Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson.

It can choose to appoint a successor, within 30 days of the seat being vacated. That person would serve in that seat until May, when a special election would be held to fill that seat. The winner of that election would hold onto the seat until the next regular at-large election in 2018.

Council can also choose to leave the seat vacant until May’s special election, with the winner occupying the seat until the spring elections in 2018.

The previous Director of Community Services resigned over the summer, presenting the need for the mayor to appoint a replacement.