Perry to Step Down as Deputy Mayor
Yard signs are showing up with the call to “Reelect Sippel and Coombs” with one little asterisk – Ward 2 Councilman Kevin Coombs is seeking to be deputy mayor alongside Mayor Frank Sippel, who is seeking his second full term as mayor.
Deputy Mayor Dave Perry is stepping down, allowing Coombs to take the seat, if elected.
Both Sippel and Coombs were endorsed by the Lower Township Republican Party in mid-February, according to a press release issued by Lower Township Regular Republican Organization leader Jeff Lindsay.
Sippel is in the final year of his first full term as mayor. He was elected deputy mayor in November 2016 and served in that office until January 2020, when Eric Simonsen gave up his seat to serve in the state Assembly. He was elected in November 2020 to serve as mayor.
He served as a full-time member of the New Jersey Army National Guard for 32 years, earning various commendations. He said it wasn’t until after he retired from military service that he was eligible to run for political office.
“I came off active duty and I wanted to be involved. When on active we weren’t allowed to be involved in anything political,” he said.
Since taking office, Sippel believes he has developed a good rapport with the public. Part of it is the time he spends doing the job, describing it as putting in full-time hours for a part-time job. He also said he goes out of his way to take care of soldiers and soldiers’ families in the township, as well as of all members of the public.
“I think that makes them feel comfortable,” he said.
Sippel said one of his first tasks as mayor was to improve the appearance of the township by getting rid of eyesores. He said the old former gym on Bayshore Road near the VFW was torn down during his first term. He said the township eliminated other eyesores in his first three years.
He said the township also invested in improving parks and recreation facilities, including improvements to Douglass Park, the park on Jonathan Hoffman Road and the Clem Mulligan Sports Complex. Along with that, he said, there were numerous street and drainage improvements.
“I think on the first term I was able to make the township a nice place to live,” he said.
Sippel also feels township government was able to keep spending manageable.
“A lot of people are living on fixed incomes,” he said. “And we finished the budget with the highest surplus ever, kept the tax rate down and accomplished a lot.”
Sippel said earlier in a prepared statement, “I love Lower Township and, if reelected, I plan to continue our track record of being fiscally responsible, expanding programs that will keep our next generation engaged and off the streets, and work to make sure Lower Township has suitable housing that is available and affordable for our working-class residents.”
He said he was recently named to the county’s new ad hoc committee on mixed-income housing.
Asked about the cannabis license renewal at the Monday, March 18, meeting, Sippel said township government responded to what the people wanted. He said the majority of voters in the state and the township approved the sale of recreational marijuana, and although two licenses were authorized, only one has been awarded.
Coombs was born and raised in Lower Township and taught in the Lower Township school district for 25 years before retiring earlier this year. He said he is grateful for the opportunity to continue serving as a member of council.
“I am focused on continuing to improve township infrastructure while maintaining fiscal restraint, which we’ve been able to accomplish since I’ve been on council,” he said in the statement released by the party leadership.
Coombs highlighted the improvements to roads and drainage in the township, as well as to parks and sports fields. He said he is looking forward to continuing to serve residents.
If he is elected as deputy mayor, the Lower Township Republican Party will have to submit three names to the council for consideration to fill Coombs’ seat until the next general election.
Meanwhile, Perry, speaking after the March 18 meeting, said he too was proud of the road and drainage improvements the township was able to accomplish while he was in office. Perry, who was elected in November 2014, will have completed 10 years on council.
He said he is particularly proud of getting the Roseann Avenue stormwater trunk line replacement project completed after residents had to deal with flooding problems for over 20 years. He highlighted beach access improvements made during his term.
Perry said he has been a part of Lower Township for a long time. His family moved there in 1960, when he was 5 years old. He graduated from Lower Cape May Regional High School in 1974, and the year before that he joined the Town Bank Volunteer Fire Company.
He became an electrician by trade, obtaining a state electrical contractor’s license in 1989. He also got a state fire inspector license and in 2015 became a township fire official.
As he finishes out his final year on the council he said is looking forward to having time so he and his wife can spend more time with their four children and eight grandchildren.
