OC Council Bids Farewell to McClellan

OCEAN CITY – City Council members bid an emotional farewell to Antwan McClellan at his last meeting before taking the oath of office as a New Jersey assemblyman.
Several of the council members fought tears – often unsuccessfully – as they heaped praise on the 2nd Ward councilman for his involvement in the community, his dedication and his service.
“I was not going to cry,” McClellan said at one point at the Jan. 9 meeting. “I blew it.”
In November 2019, McClellan and Lower Township Mayor Erik Simonsen unseated Democratic incumbents R. Bruce Land and Matthew Milam in a close race, one in which the Republicans accused Democrats of playing on racist tropes to smear McClellan, the first African American elected to state office from the district, and the only Republican Assemblyman in New Jersey.
Fellow council members cited those attack ads, but spent much more of the meeting praising McClellan, with 4th Ward Councilman Robert Barr saying, “There’s nobody better than you.”
The meeting included votes on several resolutions, including the introduction of a $328,698 budget for the city’s special improvement district, but as McClellan’s final meeting before taking the oath of office in Trenton Jan. 14, the farewells took center stage at the meeting.
Officials can’t hold municipal and state office at the same time, so both new assemblymen will resign their local seats. Lower Township plans to appoint a new mayor to replace Simonsen, but Ocean City officials have decided to leave McClellan’s seat open until the non-partisan May election, when the position would have been up for a vote anyway.
The meeting began, as is typical in Ocean City, with the Pledge of Allegiance, and a prayer led by Councilman Keith Hartzell. In this instance, he bowed his head and placed his right hand over the back of McLellan’s neck, praying for his protection and guidance.
“It’s bittersweet today, because we’re going to say goodbye to a brother, a friend and our favorite person,” Hartzell said. “We’re going to miss him, but we have joy. Now, we have so much joy and pride in the plan that you have for him, and I know that, Lord, because Antwan’s prayer to you was not to win or lose, but that your will be done in his life.”
He described McClellan as an advocate for children and seniors in the community, and said God’s light would shine through him as he takes up his new duties.
“None of us think that this is an accident that you picked him to go to Trenton,” Hartzell continued to pray. “We say goodbye, but we don’t have to say good luck, because we know that he is in your hands.”
Council members presented McClellan, 45, with a resolution in his honor. McClellan was joined at the meeting by his fiancée, Angela Mason, and his mother, Cola Mae McClellan.
There were a few light moments.
Barr said he should correct the resolution, saying it overstated McClellan’s athleticism. He suggested McClellan spent more time on the bench than on the court while playing basketball.
Mayor Jay Gillian said after all the expansive praise he was waiting for McClellan to part the sea.
“Everyone’s talking about how great you are, man,” he said. “Moses is going to walk up here.”
Fairness In Taxes President David Breeden, who comments at most council meetings, said Hartzell should also pray for McClellan making the drive from Ocean City to Trenton on Route 206, a more rural option that cuts through the Pinelands. Breeden suggested a large cup of coffee for the drive.
Mike Allegretto, former city councilman, said he knew McClellan for years, including on council and the Planning Board. He said his father coached McClellan, and McClellan coaches his daughter, Alexis.
“Good luck, coach,” Alexis said.
Each member of council lavished McClellan with praise.
“Trenton needs you. We need you in Trenton,” said Councilman Michael DeVlieger. “I have never met a person that had a more pure heart and a clear mind as you.”
Councilwoman Karen Bergen described McClellan as a role model, serving with grace, and Councilman Anthony Wilson described their relationship as a family.
“I’m a better man for having you in my life,” he said.
Council President Peter Madden said he would not say much because he would start crying, too.
Gillian said McClellan has a talent for getting to know people.
“I know I’m difficult and it’s tough for people to get close to me,” Gillian said. “People think they know me, but they don’t get me.”
McClellan gets him, he said, saying his skill with people will help him.
Gillian spoke about his father, former mayor Roy Gillian, and the late Bill Hughes, who served in Congress and as the U.S. ambassador to Panama. Hughes was a Democrat, his father a Republican, he said, but both were statesmen.
“To get things done is to be that statesman and listen to both sides,” Gillian said.
McClellan has served on council since 2012. Before that, he served three years on the Board of Education, and throughout that time has been active in youth sports in the city. He is a 1993 graduate of Ocean City High School.
The resolution states that he has dedicated himself to his church, community and country.
McClellan said he will represent Ocean City as an assemblyman and promised to remain involved in the community.
“The people I love and trust are here,” he said.
According to Hartzell, McClellan would be among the people to be honored at Ocean City’s celebration of Martin Luther King Jr., along with local activist Georgina Shanley, with others also planned for the city’s annual observance of the event.
To contact Bill Barlow, email bbarlow@cmcherald.com.