Aftermath of Trump’s Rally

WILDWOOD – As the dust settled after President Donald Trump’s rally in Wildwood Jan. 28, the city and its residents were left to account for the impact the large winter crowd had on the community.
Trish Asselta started working in her family’s Wildwood business over 65 years ago, when she was 6 years old, stocking glasses.
Asselta, 72, who owns Duffinetti’s Restaurant and Lounge, located two blocks from the Wildwoods Convention Center, said it was a day unlike any other.
“I would say it was two Fourth of Julys in one day,” Asselta said. “The dining room, the bar, everyone was singing, everyone was so happy.”
Trump’s rally, held at the Convention Center, drew crowds to the winterized shore town, many of whom said they had never been to Wildwood before.
“You couldn’t buy that kind of exposure,” said Ben Rose, director of marketing and public relations, Greater Wildwoods Tourism Improvement and Development Authority (GWTIDA). “I would say it was a tremendous economic impact and a tremendous value for the Wildwoods, such as branding, name recognition and people finding out more information on the Wildwoods by going to our website.”
Rose said website traffic was up 283% over last January.
One patron ate dinner at Duffinetti’s Jan. 26 and Jan. 27. Asselta struck up a conversation with him. He told her it was his 63rd time seeing Trump at a rally, and that he had the second spot in line.
The man invited Asselta to come with him. She told him that she couldn’t do that because she would be too busy, and it was unfair to cut ahead of those who waited in line, but her staff urged her to accept the offer.
She ended up in the front row inside the Convention Center.
“It was unbelievable. I am still on cloud nine,” Asselta said.
“It was not just busy for a Tuesday in January, but busy by Wildwood standards. It was like a summer weekend. It was truly amazing,” said Tracey Dufault, executive director, Greater Wildwood Chamber of Commerce.
Reports of local bars running out of beer and breakfast spots running out of bagels were as common as Trump flags and hats.
“It was monumental. It was epic, the amount of business we did. I said if we could, 360 days out of the year, get this type of business, we could retire in three years,” said Asselta.
Help from Neighboring Police Departments
Many municipalities were involved in security for the presidential visit. Several law enforcement officials called it a career highlight.
Sea Isle City Police Chief Thomas McQuillan said he sent seven officers to work the event.
“It’s once in your lifetime and your career where you’d be asked to provide any kind of security on a presidential visit. Some guys could go 25-30 years in their career and never experience this,” McQuillan said. “The officers who went down there were honored and very happy to take part in this exclusive detail.”
After getting briefed by U.S. Secret Service on the visit during a meeting with the county’s police chiefs, the local departments relied on Wildwood Police Chief Robert Regalbuto to coordinate their role in the event.
“While it was, in fact, a long, cold day, all of our officers were extremely proud to be part of the historic day,” said Stone Harbor Police Chief Thomas Schutta. “It was an absolute honor for us to be able to help with an important event such as this.”
The entire Wildwood Crest Police Department worked the event, according to Capt. Robert Lloyd, officer-in-charge, who said it ran “very smoothly,” and called it “fantastic from start to finish.”
Capt. William Adams, from Middle Township Police Department, said that a few members from his department, who are on the county SWAT team, were in Wildwood, but that others assisted in closing roads in Middle Township, while Trump’s motorcade sped through. He said some officers were in overtime.
Other departments reported having officers in overtime as well. Wildwood police did not immediately return phone calls requesting information on how many municipalities were involved.
Some officers on the street at the rally joked with attendees who took time to thank them for their service. “Don’t worry, I’m getting overtime for this,” one officer said.
Wildwood Mayor Peter Byron plans to collect spending reports from all towns involved that day, and submit them to the county GOP for reimbursement.
“We’ll submit a report to them on what it cost for the event and all the resources that we used, and what they do with that is up to them,” Lloyd said.
“We’re aware of his request. He’s aware that it takes a little while to do this, and we can’t have these numbers that quickly,” said David Thompson, the commissioner in charge of public safety in Wildwood Crest. “It’s not a major concern of mine right now. I believe that the press that Wildwood got over this – this went across the country, it was all over the internet – it was well worth anything that Wildwood Crest had to put up.”
It is unclear if Republicans will pay the bill.
Byron said that once he received costs incurred from his and other municipalities, which would take about a month, he’d submit them to the local GOP first.
There was one arrest surrounding the event. A man was taken in the night of the event for behaving in a disorderly manner, according to Wildwood police. 
While he was being taken into custody, he was found to be in possession of a large knife, police said. He was issued multiple summonses and released in accordance with the New Jersey Bail Reform Act, according to a department press release.
Wildwood Mayor Not Invited Inside 
According to Byron, due to his comments in the Herald and other media about his request for reimbursement, he was not invited to the rally.
“I was told why I wasn’t invited. First, I was told because I was a Democratic mayor,” Byron said. “Then he (Van Drew) mentioned that the president was upset because I had said the city should be reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses. He said they were upset about that, so I guess that was two strikes.”
Asked if he thought the president was the one who made the decision to shut him out, Byron wasn’t sure.
“This was Van Drew’s coming-out party. I believe if Van Drew wanted me there, I would have been there. I believe the town was slighted by that,” Byron said. “I would prefer to dwell on all of the positives. This isn’t about one person. This is about the whole town and the benefits that it brought the whole town. I’m real pleased about that.”
Van Drew’s campaign manager, Ron Filan, offered the following: 
“Congressman Van Drew was proud to welcome President Trump to Wildwood and wishes that partisan politics wouldn’t ever get in the way of an opportunity to showcase the great people of South Jersey.”
Filan referred all further questions to the Trump campaign, which did not immediately respond to an email request for comment.
“I was disappointed because, as I said, for the mere fact I had been going out of my way to make this – even though this was a political rally, make no mistake about that – but I was trying to make everyone aware that, forget your party affiliation, just enjoy this. Let’s just all have a good time together,” Byron said. “I was disappointed that they didn’t extend the same courtesy to me as the mayor of the town.”
Trash Left Behind 
Piles of trash remained the night of the rally into the next morning in the Convention Center parking lot, where the line was positioned ahead of the event.
Photos posted on social media received a lot of feedback from those disgusted by the way the grounds were left and those angry that there were not enough trash cans available, which some said made Trump supporters look bad for leaving the area a mess.
“I think it was definitely blown out of proportion,” Byron, who is the commissioner in charge of public works, said.
“I’m not going to blame the folks that attended. I’m not going to blame them 100%, and here is the reason why,” Byron said. “It was put out there by the president’s press people that chairs, blankets, any types of carrying things weren’t going to be allowed in the event, so that stuff that you saw there was stuff these participants knew they weren’t going to be able to bring in. Once those doors opened, they had to walk away and leave it.”
Byron said the city was not responsible for providing trash cans or port-a-potties, the amount of which many said was insufficient.
“That was the promoter’s obligation. I can tell you that Secret Service had a big hand in that because every trash can, every port-a-potty had to be checked by Secret Service,” Byron said. “You couldn’t just have people in some kind of uniform arbitrarily going up there to clean these things because they would have had to have been cleared by Secret Service to do that.”
Wildwood Public Works led the effort to clean up the following day, and all of the trash was removed by noon Jan. 29, Byron said.
“If you visited the beach the day after Memorial Day Weekend, you’re going to see a big part of the beach with trash all around,” said the mayor. “Usually by the next day, our public works has done a great job cleaning it up, so it isn’t something we haven’t incurred before.”
Asked if he was frustrated that the city had to use its personnel and equipment to clean up the mess, Byron remained optimistic.
“It won’t be frustrating if we get reimbursed,” he said. “It was taken care of, but my position is they came, they partied, and they left. We certainly shouldn’t be on the hook for the cleanup.”
To contact Shay Roddy, email sroddy@cmcherald.com.