A newcomer to politics on Tuesday apparently ousted a two-term City Council incumbent in the first contested municipal election in Sea Isle City in more than a decade.
Real estate professional Ian Ciseck has a 30-vote lead over incumbent J.B. Feeley, according to the unofficial vote tally.
Ciseck was one of three candidates elected Tuesday, May 13, to three council seats. Former police Capt. Michael Jargowsky, another political newcomer, and incumbent Mary Tighe also won.
Jargowsky, Tighe and Feeley were running as a team with the support of Mayor Leonard Desiderio. Ciseck and Steven Cossaboom were paired in a challenge to them.
Ciseck told the Herald just days before the election that he was “committed to fostering transparency and accessibility in our government.”
Saying he and Cossaboom wanted to make governance “more inclusive and responsive,” he advocated that council meetings be held after the workday for those who have jobs and that they be livestreamed to extend participation to those who cannot physically be at meetings. Cossaboom, a teacher and coach, also finished ahead of Feeley, in fourth place.
Sea Isle City was among the Cape May County municipalities that ranked lowest on transparency in government in a Herald survey last year.
The posted results of the election will not be official for several days. Votes that could still affect the outcome include 114 mail-in ballots that were requested but have not yet been received and nine provisional ballots. Mail-in ballots postmarked by election day and received on or before May 19 will be counted.
The unofficial results had Jargowsky with 613 votes, Tighe with 488, Ciseck with 438, Cossaboom with 413 and Feeley with 408.
In 2021, the last time Tighe and Feeley ran for reelection, only 14% of the registered voters cast ballots. In this week’s election 47% of the city’s voters turned out.
Jargowsky said that his candidacy was motivated by a goal “to continue to support programs and institutions that bring a strong sense of community, safety and efficient reliable services to all our homeowners and visitors.” He ran for the seat being vacated by Jack Gipson, who did not seek reelection.
Jargowsky was the top vote-winner in Sea Isle districts two, three and four. Ciseck won district one handily, followed by Cossabaum and then Jargowsky. District one, which runs from 42nd Street to Sea Isle’s northern border, was unfriendly territory for the two incumbents.
Tighe won her fifth consecutive four-year term on the council. Feeley was seeking his third term.
In the city’s mayor-council form of government, the mayor is the chief executive and the council serves as the legislative body. Sea Isle has a permanent population of just over 2,000 but has as many as 40,000 visitors in the summer.
Avalon
In Avalon, three incumbents, Mari Coskey, Greg Johnson and Jamie McDermott, ran for reelection to the Borough Council unopposed, and all were successful on May 13.
Coskey, currently council president, received 182 votes. She has been a member of the governing body since 2021. Outside of her role as an elected official, she serves as a coordinator for special education services in the borough school district and as the district’s speech language pathologist.
Johnson came to the council from the Planning and Zoning Board in 2023. He was appointed to fill the vacancy created when John McCorristin stepped down to successfully run for mayor. Johnson garnered 186 votes.
McDermott, like Coskey, came to the council in 2021. He holds a law degree from Widener University and served as an assistant district attorney for the City of Philadelphia. Like Johnson, McDermott began his public service in Avalon on the Planning and Zoning Board. His vote total was almost identical to the others’ at 187.
Unlike the 47% turnout in Sea Isle City, the uncontested election in Avalon generated a low turnout of 17%.
