Wildwood Officials Head to Appeals Court Over Recall

WILDWOOD — Wildwood residents could go to the polls on Dec. 8, now that the petitioners behind the effort to oust two city officials from office have enough signatures to trigger a recall election.
However Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. and Commissioner Bill Davenport won’t resign from office and said they will file for an appeals court to cancel a recall vote scheduled for this December.
Troiano has maintained that he’s “done nothing wrong to be recalled” and expects to file for an appeal in the next few days.
The appeal is the latest chapter in the recall saga, which formed last year against Troiano and Davenport, largely a reaction to Wildwood’s high tax rate and budget issues.
The two petitions, one for each commissioner, were submitted in May but fell short of the necessary 697 signatures apiece, following a series of disqualifications of signatures.
A trial followed, with both sides challenging the validity of dozens of signatures, as well as how they were collected, counted and sometimes disqualified.
Superior Court Judge Raymond Batten ruled that two petitions had enough valid signatures, 729 signatures for Troiano’s recall and 713 signatures for Davenport’s recall, to prompt an election.