Four New Mayors Begin to Serve: Cape May – Lear

CAPE MAY – What a difference a year makes. Clarence F. “Chuck” Lear III started 2016 with the first day of a forced retirement, part of a settlement with city officials who had pursued disciplinary action against him for what they termed a misuse of paid leave.  
One year later, New Year’s Day, saw Lear sworn as Cape May’s mayor. Lear not only won the election against Mayor Edward Mahaney; he did so with 64 percent of the vote.
In what amounted to a public referendum on his character, Lear came through with an overwhelming victory.
Lear, a life-long resident of the city, served 37 years on the Police Department, rising from a position as a “summer cop” in 1977, to full-time patrol officer in 1981, to lieutenant in 2005.
Lear served under four chiefs of police, the last being Robert Sheehan. Sheehan’s lawsuit against the city is an issue Lear has said he would leave to the courts.
Before his unlikely entry into municipal politics, Lear had been a police officer his entire working life.
A graduate of Lower Cape May Regional High School in 1976, Lear immediately “tried out” the job as a seasonal officer. “It was an attractive job for a young person seeking employment that could support a family,” he said.
Lear married his wife Karen 35 years ago and raised three sons in the city. One should also not forget the two English bulldogs, aptly named Winston and Maggie.
One suspects strongly that another reason Lear looked to the police department was that it provided an opportunity to serve. Giving back to his community has been a characteristic of Lear’s career.
Lear is active in many ways including as a deacon in the Cape May Community Church.
In his speech to supporters as the votes came in on election night, Lear said, “This community is ready for a fresh start.”
Concern for that community and the impact of the divisiveness that had come to characterize so much of the community’s politics was one of the factors that compelled Lear to consider running in 2016.
Almost immediately following his forced retirement, Lear and his family left for a stay in Florida where he has a second home.
Lear recounts how he and Karen spent some of the time discussing possibilities for a small business they might start in the city. Upon his return, Lear found himself in the midst of a draft.
Approached by a group of citizens who wanted a new option for mayor, Lear’s initial reaction was no. He did not see himself in politics, especially in the role of mayor.
As he listened to those who had sought him out, he bent to the needs of the community they expressed.
Supported by a broad swath of community leaders including three ex-mayors, Robert Elwell, Jerry Inderwies Sr., and Jerry Gaffney, Lear saw an opportunity not just for a change in leadership, but also a change in the style of government in the county’s namesake resort.
For Lear, community government needed more community involvement.
The job of the mayor was less to run the city and more to involve citizens in the running of the municipality. In that same speech to supporters, Lear urged, “I need your support and your ideas.”
Lear ran on a platform to return the city government to the manager-council structure approved by the voters.
In the perception of many who urged Lear to run, Mahaney had taken on too many actions that were not part of the mayor’s role in the city’s governance structure.
The city operations are the responsibility of a city manager and selecting the right person for that job will be among the most critical of the early decisions the new mayor and council have to make.
Lear’s emphasis on getting greater community involvement is already on display as the council, at the new mayor’s urging, made the Beach Safety Committee a formal on-going body aimed at focusing on a critical issue of concern to many city residents. 
It involves representation from the public and all the appropriate city departments in a common dialog on a common problem. From the way Lear spoke of the establishment of the group, one could see the emphasis on citizen involvement he hopes to foster.
Lear stayed on the police department longer than necessary if his thoughts were only on his own pension. He had passed the point where his service would get him an additional retirement pay.
He is on record as saying that he “stayed around so many extra years” because we, referring to Diane Sorantino and Robert Sheehan, “worked so well as a team.”  That is what leadership is to Lear, it’s building teamwork.
Lear is still feeling out the proper role for the mayor in city governance. He also knows there are some issues that need to be dealt with by what will largely be a new team in city hall.
Lear is concerned about the management of city finances noting the high level of legal fees in the budget due to active litigation and the less-than-obvious, after-the-fact costs of park maintenance after a round of park renovations.
He knows the importance of beach replenishment to the local economy and yet he also recognizes the need for the city to balance that with a proper concern for beach safety.
This issue may involve some careful negotiations with federal and state officials for whom a link between replenishment and safety issues would not be welcome news.
Lear wants greater outreach to the local Chamber of Commerce where his first overture may be the combination of the chamber and city guidebooks, a move long resisted by the previous administration.
Issues surrounding Convention Hall loom with the recent filing of a lawsuit.  How to properly deal with the issues of the height of the building, its proper use as a community center, the higher insurance premiums that are part of the construction controversy, and the point of appropriate transitioning of the debt service to the tourism utility.
Part of the way Lear will respond to the issues confronting the city will be through community input. “I love great ideas,” is a comment he has made more than once.
Lear is a quiet man. His voice can trail off in a way uncharacteristic of a politician. In just a few meetings since assuming office, one can see willingness on his part to play a supporting role.
Getting the job done appears more important than getting the credit for it.
As we talked one recent day, Lear nodded or waved to everyone who crossed by. His life in the city means he knows everyone and they know him.
Perhaps the most revealing of the visual clues to a change in leadership is the small room at the end of the second-floor hallway that serves as the Office of the Mayor.
Under its previous occupant, the room had been floor to ceiling paper, a room that signified the fact that its occupant was a veracious consumer of the reports, letters, and memoranda that entered city hall.
The room now is a simple workplace with all the papers cleared away or filed, the desk displaying no more than what is being worked on, the visitor’s chair clear and ready, and the door open.
Ideas welcome.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.