CAPE MAY – Four candidates for one seat on the City Council addressed subjects ranging from current and future projects in the city to parking and traffic to city financial management at a candidates night at the elementary school Oct. 10.
Two of the four presented themselves as new blood that city government needs. The four, Joell Perez, Lori Schwartz, Stephen Bodna, and Mark DiSanto, are competing for the seat being vacated by Michael Yeager, who is not seeking reelection.
The event, held by the Taxpayers Association of Cape May, also included Mayor Zachary Mullock, who is running unopposed for reelection. The council and mayoral posts have four-year terms; there are five members of the council, including the mayor.
The format was one in which the candidates were subjected to questioning by Taxpayers Association officers, with each council candidate having the opportunity to respond to each question. Mullock sat silent for most of the hour-and-a-half program. The moderators went to him for opening and closing statements, but he was not questioned.
Joell Perez
Perez describes himself as the son of a Coast Guard father who fell in love with Cape May amid all of his father’s exotic and not-so-exotic postings. He returned to make his home in the city.
He says he would like to see residents get more for their tax dollars, including free trash pickup. In Cape May, the city assumes responsibility for recycling curb pickup, but residents must make their own arrangements with private firms for trash collection.
Perez said he favored the city’s form of government, in which the mayor has no veto and all council members, including the mayor, get one vote on resolutions and ordinances. He promised to be a good steward of the city’s financial resources.
He spoke of being drawn to running for council by many discussions he had with city residents. “They love living in Cape May,” he said, “but they have concerns.”
Among the challenges he mentioned were the cost of living in a city where tourism, the basis of the city’s economy, drives up costs for permanent residents. He spoke of parking and large-scale infrastructure projects facing the city, and on his webpage he focused on the state of the city’s sidewalks as an issue the public has brought to him.
Lori Schwartz
Schwartz is a real estate sales associate in the city. She describes herself as a businesswoman who successfully served as president of a transportation company. She said, “It is time for some new blood.”
Schwartz said she has been a permanent resident of the city for only two years, but had a vacation home here prior to moving to Cape May full time.
She describes herself as a fiscal conservative who is committed to preserving the city’s quality of life and protecting its vulnerable environment. She said that even with major infrastructure projects facing the city, the judicious use of bond debt should allow the city to tackle the projects without tax increases.
Schwartz said her transportation background has helped her develop a strong expertise in traffic and parking issues. She looks forward to bringing that expertise to the problems of Cape May’s congested streets.
Asked about important issues confronting the council, she pointed to completion of the dog park and the Lafayette Street Park. She also cited the need to move forward with a new police station.
Mark DiSanto
DiSanto self-describes as someone who makes his living “on the ocean.”
A sports fishing boat captain, DiSanto has unsuccessfully run for council three times in the past. An issue near and dear to him, and one that he finds a way to return to frequently in any discussion of Cape May’s future, is the opportunity to develop a city-owned marina district on five acres of municipal land.
He claims he has plans prepared for the marina that his analysis says would earn the city between $50 million and $100 million per year.
DiSanto said he represents the boating, sailing and yachting public in the city. His vision is one in which Cape May becomes the site for World Cup sailing events. “If we build it, they will come,” he said, borrowing from the movie “Field of Dreams.”
DiSanto was the only candidate who was not supportive of the proposed site for the new police station. He exhibited little confidence the JCP&L cleanup of the old gas manufacturing site that is now home to the developing Lafayette Street Park, with land for the police station at its edge.
He spoke of the site as toxic, with the potential for causing brain cancer. He said police officers have told him in confidence that they do not like the “brownfield” site.
Stephen Bodnar
Bodnar is a member of the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment. He speaks of himself as the only candidate in the race who is experienced in Cape May government and who is ready to “hit the ground running.”
Bodnar is also a member of the influential Municipal Taxation and Revenue Advisory Committee, which has been extensively involved with city finances and taxpayer issues.
He is a former prosecutor and attorney who believes his background as a prosecutor and his exposure to city finances and land use policies provide him with a solid foundation to sit as a council member.
“I love Cape May,” he said, echoing other candidates, “but it takes more to be a successful councilman. It requires experience and a special skill set which I have and will bring to the task.”
Bodnar said the challenges facing the city include infrastructure projects like the sea wall and Promenade expansion, the police station and the new desalination plant.
He said he was sure he could work well with the mayor and other council members. While Schwartz and Perez sold themselves as new blood seeking to shake things up a bit, Bodnar was selling his experience and knowledge with roles that tie to the current council.
Zachary Mullock
Mullock gave opening remarks and then sat without speaking for most of the 90-minute event. In Cape May the mayor is a member of the council but is elected in a separate ballot position. Mullock, then a member of the council, unseated sitting Mayor Chris Lear in 2020.
Mullock is a lifelong resident of Cape May, having attended Cape May Elementary School. He worked in a number of roles in his family’s businesses, including restoration and management of the Chalfonte Hotel and vice president of the Cape May National Golf Club. He was also involved in the restoration and management of the Harriet Tubman Museum.
He speaks of that history with the city when he discusses the need to protect the asset that is Cape May. He sees the task as one of maintaining a balance between the city history and its environment on the one hand and its commercial interests and strong tourism industry on the other.
He cited some of the accomplishments that he feels distinguish his first term in office, including the new firehouse, the preservation and repurposing of the historic Franklin Street School, the preservation of the Sewell Tract and the expansion of staffing in public safety departments.
Mullock points to five years without a tax increase, with four of those years being his term as mayor. He said the city is strong financially, with a record surplus and a strong tradition of balancing taxpayer levies with tourism-driven user fees. Cape May has the lowest ratio of tax levy income to total general fund budget in the county.
As priorities in a new term, Mullock cited the need for a new, expanded desalination plant, the completion of a new facility for the Police Department and the sea wall project, among others.
Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
