VILLAS – Lower Township Deputy Mayor David Perry said his farewells to township officials and the voters in his final Township Council meeting Monday, Dec. 16.
Ed Donohue, coordinator of the Office of Emergency Management, will also be leaving, after serving in that post for six years.
Perry completed 10 years on council, coming in under the administration of Erik Simonsen, who is now a First District Assemblyman.
“Ten years went by really fast,” he said.
Perry said that after his first council meeting he started to second-guess himself for wanting to be a council member. He said he was not a politician, just an average citizen who didn’t like the way things were going in the township and decided to stand up and see if he could help get things done.
He commended Lower Township Republican Committee Chairman Jeff Lindsay, former Freeholder Director Gerald Thornton and CapeGOP Chairman Mike Donohue for encouraging him to step into elected office. He said he came onboard in 2014 with a lot of hope for improving township infrastructure and recreation facilities, and for taking on other projects. Then 2015 rolled around.
“2015 was a year of unrest,” he said.
Perry said earlier that there was a lot of opposition to a sidewalk on the bay side of Shore Drive in North Cape May, which was supposedly going to be tied to development of the beachfront, including restaurants, piers and amusements.
In presenting awards to community members who worked on a committee to ensure safety along Shore Drive, Perry said opponents were invited to a presentation on the project and then did not stay for the presentation.
In general, he said, the township meetings were “very heated, very unprofessional,” before changes were made.
He did not dwell on the negatives, however, but highlighted what he considered positive changes, including increasing the number of Lower Township police officers from 38 to the current level of 54. During his tenure, the township brought county 911 dispatch to the airport, with Lower Township being the first municipality to join.
He also mentioned the many shared services agreements that were made, such as with the county, the Lower Township Municipal Utilities Authority and the school districts. He spoke about efforts to keep cyclists and pedestrians safe in the township, as with the sidewalk along Shore Drive.
Over the last 10 years, the township also completed the Roseann Avenue stormwater trunkline to help alleviate a street flooding problem that had an issue for at least 20 years. A former fire safety official, Perry said the volunteer fire company used to have to come there and pump stormwater off the street.
He said that along with the sewer lines and reconstruction of Roseann Avenue, the township has reconstructed many streets over his 10 years. He also mentioned making Americans With Disabilities Act access improvements at various intersections in town.
Perry highlighted a number of park improvements, including at Clem Mulligan Field, Rotary Park, Diamond Beach Park and Jonathan Hoffman Park. He said he was proud of improving the beach access paths along the Delaware Bay, and particularly of helping to keep township taxes stable.
He thanked his colleagues on council, township employees and the voters for their support over the past decade.
Donohue, who will officially retire Dec. 31, began his career with the State Police Marine Unit before moving to Lower Township.
In 1982 he interviewed with then-Mayor Bob Fathergill and Police Chief Bob Denny for a position as a police officer. He said at the time he would like to retire as a sergeant, and he retired in 2011 after having served as police chief for six years. He said he held every rank in the department.
After retirement he served for about a year and a half in the code enforcement office and then worked as a security officer at the Coast Guard Training Center-Cape May. He said he enjoyed working with all the police, fire and EMS personnel in the township and with the county agencies.
Donohue said Public Works Superintendent Gary Douglass will take over as OEM coordinator, and Kathryn Crecca from the DPW would be named deputy OEM coordinator.
Donohue said his most memorable moments in OEM was during the Covid-19 pandemic, when at times he seemed to be the only one in Township Hall. He said it was also a sorrowful time, when a number of residents of the former Victoria Manor died of Covid.
He said he would likely do more traveling, and would probably spend more time with his brother in Florida and take some cruises. Otherwise, he would be spending more time with his seven grandchildren.
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or call 609-886-8600 x-128.
