Cape May Removes Bezaire from Committee Assignments

CAPE MAY – Cape May City Council Sept. 21 voted to remove Councilman Christopher Bezaire from hiscommittee and commission assignments.
The motion by Deputy Mayor Stacy Sheehan was a response to Bezaire’s recent guilty plea on charges of stalking an ex-girlfriend and contempt of a court order. Bezaire’s plea came as part of a plea agreement allowing him to avoid trial on five other charges, including invasion of privacy and cyber harassment involving two women.
Sheehan’s motion was seconded by Councilwoman Lorraine Baldwin. The motion carried with three votes when Mayor Zack Mullock also supported it. Bezaire abstained, as did Councilman Shaine Meier, who expressed concern about taking any action that interferes with the work of an elected official.  
According to a statement from Prosecutor Jeffrey Sutherland, “The plea agreement also calls for long-term probation, with a period of incarceration in the Cape May County Correctional Facility.” 
Bezaire is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 21.  
No prosecutor from the office was available for an interview, so questions about why the plea agreement included only two fourth-degree crimes went unanswered. 
Among the charges brought against Bezaire following his June arrest was invasion of privacy, a third-degree crime. Conviction of a third-degree crime could have led to forfeiture of office. 
In comments responding to Sheehan’s motion, Bezaire called taking action to limit an elected official in the discharge of his duties a “slippery slope.” 
He pointed to a “mechanism” the public can use to remove any public official, referring to the recall process; however, a recall has not yet been available to the city voters since it requires that the elected official is in office for a full year, a threshold Bezaire will not meet until January 2022. 
In his comments before a vote on the motion, Bezaire said he accepts the fact that actions have consequences.