OC Commends Councilman on Election Win

OCEAN CITY – City Council members offered emotional praise of fellow Councilman Antwan McClellan, at the first meeting since his successful run for the state Assembly.
McClellan and Lower Township Mayor Erik Simonsen must resign from their municipal seats before taking their oaths of office in Trenton in January. McClellan said he plans to serve at least until the end of the year.
Members of the public, particularly those who often address council, along with elected officials, congratulated McClellan on the election, in which the Republican ticket swept Democratic incumbents Sen. Robert Andrzejczak and Assemblymen R. Bruce Land and Matthew Milam from office, despite the backing of U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (D-2nd), who put the ticket together and won election after election as a centrist Democrat in a Republican stronghold.
The two men who sit on either side of McClellan at most council meetings offered the most praise.
Councilman Keith Hartzell spoke at length. Councilman Robert Barr also spoke about his fellow representative at the Nov. 14 meeting.
“I just want to congratulate the man next to me,” Hartzell said. He described the campaign as a life-changing experience.
“I couldn’t love a human being more than I love Antwan McClellan. I’ll say that publicly,” he continued.
Hartzell said it was difficult to watch the accusations made during the campaign, in which advertising flyers described McClellan as a deadbeat. Some Republican officials accused the Democratic campaign of trading in racist tropes in the election.
Hartzell said McClellan handled the issue with grace.
While other council members also congratulated McClellan, the comments from Barr and Hartzell were the most emotional.
“As I did some small, little things for his campaign, I realized that God’s hand was in this,” Hartzell said. “When I say it was a life-changing experience, it was. It brought me closer to God. I saw the grace of God in Antwan McClellan.”
Although Ocean City’s elections are non-partisan, the political affiliation of each member is typically common knowledge. Hartzell described himself as a Republican, and Barr as a Democrat, and said they prayed together with McClellan over the phone the night before the election.
“I’m going to try and do this without getting emotional, but I don’t know if I can, so I’m just going to say it,” Barr said. “When you (McClellan) were first thinking about doing this, I was the first person you called. At least, I think so. I told you to run because you’d be good at the job. You’d be the best candidate we had and you could do it.
“I also told you it would be really hard and get really ugly, and boy, I was wrong. Ugly wasn’t the word. What happened to you was wrong,” Barr said.
He, too, praised McClellan’s grace in handling the campaign.
According to Ocean City Attorney Dorothy McCrosson, council could decide to appoint someone to fill McClellan’s third ward council seat until the May election, or decide to leave it open until the vote.
In recent instances in which a council member stepped down, council has made an appointment. Council has wide latitude in choosing a candidate, McCrosson said, and may interview applicants, seek recommendations, or decide by other means.
Lower Township Administrator James Ridgway said no decision has been made on filling the mayor’s seat. While Ocean City can do without one of seven council members, Lower Township can’t wait until voters choose a new mayor in November.
Simonsen did not respond to a request for comment.
In Lower Township, the mayor is directly elected, but has similar powers as other members of the council. He presides over council meetings. Under its form of government, the chief executive of the township is the manager, chosen by the council.
To contact Bill Barlow, email bbarlow@cmcherald.com.