CAPE MAY – Michael Voll will retire as city manager effective Dec. 31. He announced his retirement on Sept. 5; at the City Council meeting Tuesday, Dec. 19, Cape May officials and employees from every department took time to wish him well and thank him for all he did for the city in his three years in the post.

Voll has had a long career of public service, including a stint as a Wildwood police officer. He was elected to the Middle Township governing body, where he spent 18 years, during 16 of which he was mayor. He also served as Lower Township administrator for four years before coming to Cape May, where he began his tenure as city manager in January 2020.

Voll came into that job following a contentious election that saw Clarence “Chuck” Lear lose the mayor’s office to Zack Mullock. One of the major issues in that election was the best way to meet the need for new facilities for the city’s fire and police departments.

Voll took to the task of ensuring that construction of the new firehouse stayed on target even with delays caused by supply-chain problems and high inflation. Earlier this month he was master of ceremonies at the ribbon cutting for the new facility.

He also inherited a major controversy surrounding last-minute bonus checks approved by his predecessor, Jerry Inderwies Jr. The checks to seven employees went without council approval and utilized restricted monies in the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

At the Dec. 19 council meeting where Voll’s tenure was celebrated, final agreements were announced closing the controversy with recovery schedules for the dollars needed to make the trust fund whole again.

Voll was treated to a video tribute in which staff from every office he oversaw as city manager wished him well and told stories of his relentless energy, long hours and seeming endless dedication to employees. The video can be seen as part of the video log of the council meeting, accessible from the city website.

The meeting was Voll’s last governing body gathering prior to retirement, but few doubted that he would be just as active and involved afterward.

Mullock said, “I cannot thank you enough for all the hard work that you have done that will have a lasting impact on the City of Cape May.”

City engineer Paul Dietrich will assume the city manager role beginning Monday, Jan. 1, 2024.

Contact the author, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.