WILDWOOD – Camaraderie and communication exist between mayors of the three largest towns in the Wildwoods, and at least one mayor said that wasn’t something that was always the case.
At an event held by the Greater Wildwood Chamber of Commerce April 6, Wildwood Mayor Peter Byron said he is proud of the relationship he has built with North Wildwood Mayor Patrick Rosenello and Wildwood Crest Mayor Don Cabrera.
Byron said getting the three to sit together at the same table – this day, literally over lunch at MudHen Brewing Company – has been a mark of progress for his administration.
“To sit at the table with the other mayors in town, that was something that, perhaps in the past, didn’t happen very frequently, other than emergencies. We’re lucky to work together with Don and Patrick and Matt.”
Matthew Ksiazek, West Wildwood’s mayor, was not in attendance at the event, during which the other Wildwoods mayors took to the podium to make prepared remarks to a crowd mostly made up of local businesspeople. Ksiazek did not respond to a request for comment for this article.
Rosenello started his remarks off on a lighter note, referencing the now-infamous moment at the 2022 Oscars, when Will Smith took exception to a joke comedian and presenter Chris Rock made about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair and stormed on stage, slapping Rock. Jada Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia and did not laugh at the joke.
“I would normally start off this event with some good-natured jokes about my fellow mayors. However, in light of recent events, I’m afraid if I make a joke one of them doesn’t like, Don (Cabrera) or Pete (Byron) is going to come up here and smack me,” Rosenello joked.
“We always have fun and joke with each other,” Cabrera told the crowd. “I am probably the youngest looking mayor of the two… That’s a lie. My nose is growing like Pinocchio.”
Byron said the good-natured open communication leads to benefits like the potential to come together and make joint applications to the state for projects that are of similar interest.
“There are no bridges that separate us, so why not, if we all have the same needs, whether it’s streets, bulkheads, whatever, why not try to sit down together and work together?” Byron asked.
There are issues that are unique to each town, not the least amongst them is the large annual beach replenishment project North Wildwood undergoes, by digging up and hauling sand from Wildwood’s beaches, to be spread in North Wildwood, where erosion is severe. The Crest doesn’t have that problem. In fact, the sand keeps piling up there.
“I want to thank Mayor Rosenello because he did talk about the beach replenishment program in North Wildwood. Actually, that sand ends up on Wildwood Crest beaches. So, thank you for the donation of the sand that we get every year. Appreciate it, mayor,” Cabrera said.
Other topics of discussion at the luncheon included different parks and recreation projects, like the Crest’s former library, which Cabrera said will become ‘The Pavilion‘ after renovations are completed.
Byron said Wildwood is getting some long-overdue Open Space funding to help pay for a new track at Maxwell Field. Those who use the current one, which is 20 years past its life, are lucky they don’t have sprained ankles, said the mayor. He also said the Boardwalk repairs are on schedule after a last-minute change in wood type saved a major supply chain catastrophe.
Rosenello talked about some of the difficulties the towns are facing, including staffing trash operations, something the city had to renegotiate for in the middle of the contract, because the contractor could not honor the agreed-upon rate and still stay in business, considering the rise in fuel and labor costs.
They mentioned the ban on single-use plastics that is less than a month away and pledged to help business owners understand what the policy change means for them. They also each paid tribute to Bobby Rydell, the legendary ‘Wildwood Days’ singer, who died April 5.
Overall, the mayors talked fondly about their cities and confidently about the direction of the island and the status of their towns, laughing, smiling, and joking together naturally and frequently.
While the three mayors may never all agree on everything, there is more listening and communicating being done now than in recent history, something that could be the beginning of a thoughtful, new island-wide approach.
That is until you bring up beach tags.
To contact Shay Roddy, email sroddy@cmcherald.com.
