Ocean City Council Seat Stays Vacant; Vote Falls Short

OCEAN CITY, NJ — City Council's Second Ward seat will remain vacant until July. Four candidates hoped to get appointed, but they fell short of the votes Thursday necessary to fill Antwan McClellan's former seat.

Two councilmen were absent, and Councilman Keith Hartzell abstained. Michael DeVlieger was out sick, and Tony Wilson was out of town.

That meant only four council members voted. A candidate would have needed all four votes to be appointed, according to City Solicitor Dotty McCrosson.

Gabe Staino, Tom Rotondi, Christopher Robertson and Kyle Gillen interviewed with council members in closed session for the position. Council members Peter Madden, Karen Bergman and Bobby Barr voted to appoint Staino. But Hartzell couldn't reach a decision on any particular candidate.

"I think we talked to four very good candidates," Hartzell said, "and I feel very strongly that I couldn’t make a decision tonight because I thought all four candidates performed well.

Council members praised all four candidates and encouraged them to run for office. All four ward positions will be up for election May 12, and candidates have until March 9 to file petitions to the city clerk and get on the ballot.

"We had four excellent candidates," Barr said. "Every one of them brought something unique to the table."

McClellan left City Council in January because he was elected to state assembly last November.

Watch the full City Council meeting below:

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