Ocean City Council to Hold Special Meeting About Vacant Council Seat Tuesday Night [UPDATED]

Anyone hoping to fill the Ocean City Council seat left vacant when Michael Allegretto resigned after he was appointed by Mayor Jay Gillian as the new Director of Community Services needs to file paper work by 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.

City Council will hold a special meeting Tuesday night, 6 p.m., at City Hall, the city announced Thursday morning. At that point, it will hold an executive session and conduct interviews for the vacant seat. Council will also vote on filling the seat that night.

Anyone interested in filling the seat should send a letter of interest and resume to Linda P. MacIntyre, City Clerk, 861 Asbury Avenue, Ocean City, NJ.

The announcement came two days after the city canceled its workshop that had been scheduled for Thursday night.

At that time, Council President Keith Hartzell, who is away this week on business, said council wouldn’t fill the vacancy because three council members had not expressed a desire to fill the seat at last week’s agenda meeting.

During the Sept. 24 council meeting, Councilmen Antwan McClellan and Michael DeVlieger were unsure about moving forward with just six council members. Hartzell, Council Vice President Pete Madden and Councilman Pete Guinosso said they didn’t see a need to fill the seat.

Councilman Anthony Wilson was absent from that meeting. He said he initially wasn’t in favor of council filling the seat, but thought about the issue while he was on vacation.

“There’s a reason we have seven council members,” Wilson said. “We have the budget and a lot of other things coming up, and we need to get everything properly vetted.”

He said had he been at the Sept. 24 council meeting, he would’ve voiced his concerns at that time. He said he initiated the conversation on Tuesday afternoon, after the workshop was canceled.

Madden said that because Hartzell has been out of town, he wasn’t aware of the discussion right away, but the two have discussed the issue a lot since.

Hartzell said he wouldn’t be able to attend Tuesday night’s meeting because he will still be out of town. He is not permitted to participate in an executive session meeting via telephone, as he normally does with council meetings he is unable to attend.

During the Sept. 24 meeting, Mayor Jay Gillian reminded council that there had never been an instance in which a council or school board seat was vacated and not been filled.

A special election will be held in May, but that would leave council with one less member for seven months.

On Thursday, Gillian said numerous people from the public have called and said they would like to see the seat filled by council.

“I think council’s doing the right thing,” Gillian said.

The new council member will assume their seat upon being appointed. A special election will then be held in May, with the winner holding the seat until the next regularly scheduled election in 2018.