WEST WILDWOOD — The city of Wildwood isn’t the only small town on the five-mile is-land dealing with political unrest and a recall effort to remove elected officials.
Not to be outdone by its neighboring municipality, the borough of West Wildwood, a bay-side community with a total area of 0.3 square miles and whose welcome sign totes “small town charm,” is involved in a recall.
On July 24, residents Robert Feltwell, Jacquelyn Ferentz and William Null filed notices of intent to recall Mayor Herbert Frederick and Commissioner Gerald McNamara with Borough Clerk Dorothy Tomlin.
Borough Solicitor Paul Baldini said Tomlin certified the notices before he had a chance to review them. He disagreed with Tomlin’s view of the documents and said he believed they contained discrepancies that should have prevented their certification. Baldini added that notice of intent failed to estimate the correct cost of a recall election.
Tomlin has since been asked to remove her self from her duties as clerk, pending a possible suspension. In the interim, Richard W. Deanery, temporary acting deputy clerk, is taking over her duties.
In a recent development, the residents that had filed their notice for the recall of the mayor and commission on July 24 opted to remove the notice of intent to recall McNamara. In their place a second group of residents, Debroah Fox, James Perloff and Lori Perloff, have filed a recall notice for McNamara. That notice of intent has been approved by Deaney on Aug. 24.
Baldini said that the notice of intent regarding Frederick is still deficient in his opinion, however he said the recall group does not agree and has opted to “proceed anyway.”
Both recall groups have 160 days to garner enough signatures needed to trigger the recall election.
