Harbora Takes Oath as City Clerk, Burke Chosen as Deputy Clerk

CAPE MAY – Last year’s election, plus decisions by key city officials to retire, meant a significant change in the administration in Cape May. The elections added Mayor Clarence Lear who replaced Edward Mahaney and Patricia Hendricks, who took the council seat formerly occupied by Terri Swain. 
Shane Meier, who often found himself in the minority on controversial votes, was selected as deputy mayor.
Long-time solicitor Anthony Monzo was replaced by Frank Corrado.
At the March 7 City Council meeting, the municipality filled another of the key positions vacated in 2016. Patricia Harbora, a deputy in the Clerk’s Office under previous clerk Louise Cummiskey, was elevated to the position of City Clerk. 
Harbora was praised for her work ethic, knowledge, and integrity.
Council also approved the appointment of Erin Burke as deputy city clerk. Burke, previously an assistant who worked with the zoning board, brings the Clerk’s Office back to full staffing.
Harbora thanked the council for appointing Burke whom she said will be a “terrific addition to the office.”
The key spot that remains to be filled in the city administration is that of city manager.
Bruce MacLeod retired at the end of 2016. Currently Chief Financial Officer Neil Young is filling the position as interim city manager.
Trolleys
The Great American Trolley Company runs the paid trolley and free park-and-ride shuttles in Cape May. Annually the city supplies financial support to keep the trolley running at a minimal expense to visitors.
Currently, the trolley charges $1 for a one-way ride from the motels to areas like the Washington Street Mall. Few pay that fee, however, since the motels partner with the Trolley Company offering free tickets to their guests.
The mall merchants also participate in the partnership and rides back to the motels are free with any receipt of purchase from a mall store.
The agenda for the council meeting included a discussion of the coming season’s plans for the trolley service. Council members informally voiced continued support for the trolley program with the full expectation that the adopted budget, scheduled for a vote March 21, will continue the same financial support as in the past.
Beach Safety
Earlier this year, the city formalized what had been an ad hoc committee on beach safety. It became a permanent standing advisory committee to the council. The issue of reducing the risk of injuries on Cape May beaches has been a prominent and somewhat controversial issue for a long time.
Dennis DeSatnick, a passionate beach safety advocate and a member of the committee, told the council that the group would be concentrating on an education program for 2017.
This program includes general distribution of safety brochures, better signage, video messages prepared by the Beach Patrol displayed on a local TV channel, and presentations in area schools. 
Included in this year’s education efforts will be a brochure informing visitors of the dangers of skin cancer and providing information on best steps to avoid harmful overexposure to the sun.
DeSatnick also expressed hope that the city would continue a focus on safety in the surf zone where the beach slope is thought to be linked to some serious spinal injuries over the years.
He warned that there “appears to be” some evidence that injuries “spike” the season after a beach fill.
Cape May is undergoing federally-managed beach replenishment this year.
World War I
Kate Wyatt, speaking for the Greater Cape May Historical Society, asked council for support in helping the society celebrate the centennial of America’s entry into World War I.
It was in 1917, after a Presidential election in which Woodrow Wilson ran as the candidate that had kept America out of the war, that Wilson responded to continued German attacks on American merchant vessels by taking the country into the stalemated European conflict.
Wyatt said that the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial is “the only memorial” in Cape May County erected to commemorate the American servicemen lost in that war, as part of its “all wars” theme.  It was dedicated July 4, 1923. 
On behalf of the Historical Society, Wyatt requested city help in the efforts to mark this important anniversary.
She requested that the city polish the large base plaques at the memorial making it easier for visitors to read the history they convey, that the city plant and maintain a red, white and blue garden theme at the base of the monument, and lastly that the city help to ensure the presence of a speaker at the monument on Veterans Day.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.