AVALON – Avalon Councilman John McCorristin is set to become the borough’s first new mayor in 32 years in July. McCorristin will assume the mayor’s duties as longtime borough leader Martin Pagliughi steps down. For McCorristin, it will not be the first time that he steps into the shoes of a long-serving predecessor.
McCorristin came to the governing body, in 2013, following long-serving Joseph Tipping’s retirement from the council due to illness. He joined the council with Charles “Chuck” Covington, Richard Dean, and Nancy Hudanich, each of whom had already served over 20 years on the council when McCorristin arrived. David Ellenberg rounded out the five-member council with eight years of tenure in 2013.
McCorristin came to the council after 18 years on the school board, during 12 of which he served as the board’s president.
He has resided in the borough since 1968. He and his wife, Lisa, raised their family in Avalon, where McCorristin owned McCorristin Construction LLC. He is a graduate of Richard Stockton University.
In the municipal elections just over, McCorristin received 307 of the 317 votes cast. He was part of a ticket that also returned Barbara Juzaitis and Sam Wierman to the council. McCorristin’s seat on council will now have to be filled with an appointment until the next election.
Avalon residents can access governing body meetings, in large part, because remote access was a cause McCorristin championed on council. For a period, he was unable to get the needed votes, with Hudanich particularly opposed to video or Zoom access.
In 2021, McCorristin asked Business Administrator Scott Wahl to prepare a report on technology options for remote access to governing body meetings. A trial period was authorized, followed a year later by adoption of Zoom access.
In a community in which a large percentage of property owners and taxpayers are not year-round residents, McCorristin argued it made sense to provide remote access where meetings could also be viewed asynchronously for those who needed the flexibility of viewing the meeting at alternate times.
On the school board and later council, McCorristin was instrumental in establishing the five-star-rated borough library. Avalon is one of only two towns in the county to opt out of the county library system in favor of a library more amenable to a community with so large a percentage of second homes.
As a member of the Council Finance Committee, McCorristin has been a strong supporter of the Avalon strategy of avoiding long-term general obligation debt. The strategy has provided the borough with one of the strongest balance sheets in the county.
Pagliughi has frequently said the job of the mayor in Avalon is to maintain high property values and a low tax rate. It is a position McCorristin embraces, as well.
A supporter of continuous infrastructure maintenance and improvements, as well as recreational opportunities, McCorristin has also positioned himself as a promoter of environmental stewardship.
McCorristin takes office July 1. For many property owners who bought in the borough during Pagliughi’s long tenure, a new mayor will be a novel experience.
Contact the author, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
