WILDWOOD – Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. sees a rally by the Donald J. Trump campaign in Wildwood as shining a spotlight on the city and all it has to offer.
“It brings a lot of light and attention,” he said.
Troiano said that, after he returned to the office of mayor in January, he spoke to U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-2nd) about Trump’s coming back to Wildwood. His rally on the beach is Saturday, May 11; he previously visited in January 2020.
“It’s been a work in progress,” the mayor said. “I invited him when I got in and went through Jeff. I said I’d like to have the president come back again.”
Troiano said there are many pieces to the puzzle of bringing the Trump campaign to town, but he feels there are a lot of hands working on the project and it is going well.
“There have been no problems,” he said. “People are pretty excited about it, and it’s not all about party affiliations. It’s not often we get a former president and current presidential candidate to our community.”
“We’ve done this before. It’s just a new day, a new venue.” Trump’s last visit was at the Convention Center.
Bob Sahasaylo, executive director of the Greater Wildwoods Hotel Motel Association, echoed Troiano’s comments about the excitement around the rally, but said they are not doing anything more than normal at the Welcome Center call center except answering about twice as many calls.
“Mainly we are giving people the date and time of the event,” he said. “Hotel/motel owners are still taking reservations for rooms, they are not 100% sold out, but it’s getting close.”
Sahasaylo said he heard that a lot of the restaurants are going to be fully staffed, or double-staffed, for the weekend, which includes Mother’s Day, traditionally the busiest restaurant day of the year.
“I think there will be an overflow on Sunday from the (Saturday) visit. If the weather is nice, it could be the biggest Mother’s Day weekend ever,” he said.
The only change, he said, was that the extent of a car show running on the Boardwalk that day till 3 p.m. would be abbreviated and would stop at Oak Avenue rather than continuing down, to the Convention Center.
“Other than the time of the event, safety is the thing people are most concerned about,” he said.
Tracey DuFault, president of the Greater Wildwoods Chamber of Commerce, had expressed optimism about the event in a press release issued by the city, saying Trump’s visit would only add to the excitement of Mother’s Day weekend.
Commissioner Steve Mikulski, the city’s director of public safety, said he has been meeting with the public safety departments, and the city is coordinating with the U.S. Secret Service, which will take the lead on security measures for the event. The city is also looking for assistance from other law enforcement agencies.
“We have requested mutual aid from numerous departments, both local and state,” Mikulski said.
He said Trump’s visit is not the biggest event the city has had to deal with from a public safety aspect, and he doesn’t feel they have been in hurry-up mode.
“Our departments and mutual aid partners are trained to handle large-scale events,” he said. “The Trump campaign handles large-scale events throughout the country.”
Asked about what people might expect on May 11 in terms of beach access and restrictions, Mikulski said the city would be putting out more specific information as it gets closer to the event. He said the campaign would have food and beverage vendors selling bottled water.
Troiano, when asked about protesters, simply said it is their legal right to protest, but added that trouble could come from anywhere.
“There are thugs on both sides,” he said.
Troiano said there are obviously people with strong feelings about Trump on both sides. He said he has had calls asking, “How can you do this to our community?”
He said there are pros and cons to hosting an event like the rally, but he believes the merits far outweigh the negatives.
“It’s 1,000 to 1, pros to cons,” he said.
As to the costs associated with hosting such an event, the city has already received $54,000 from the Trump campaign, which Troiano said should cover expenses related to the visit. The mayor said they priced out the expenses, came up with the figure, and the campaign paid it. Eight days after receiving the big check, the city received another $200 from the Trump campaign to cover the permit for the rally. There were no payments/reimbursement received for the rump Campaign Rally in January 2020.
Troiano said he likes the beach venue, which provides a lot of space. He said he believes people won’t have to get there hours ahead of time. The space identified, the beach at 3601 Boardwalk, the location of the Wildwood Tourist Information Center, could handle 30,000 or 40,000 people, he said, and that there would be chairs, at least for some areas.
“We will have seating; for how many people, I do not know,” the mayor said.
Steering Committee, Help Line
CapeGOP Chairman Mike Donohue has announced the formation of a CapeGOP Trump Rally Steering Committee.
“We have put together a CapeGOP steering committee to help guide the Cape May County Regular Republican Organization’s efforts in making President Trump’s visit to our county a great experience, not only for the president, but for all of the incredibly enthusiastic Cape May County Republicans,” he said.
Donohue said he would chair the steering committee, which will also have Assemblymen Antwan McClellan and Erik Simonsen, Cape May County Commissioners Bobby Barr, Melanie Collette and Commissioner Director Len Desiderio, and Middle Township Mayor Chris Leusner, who will all head up an Elected Officials Subcommittee and serve as liaison between CapeGOP and the many Republican elected officials who will be attending the rally.
Donohue also announced that CapeGOP members would participate in a Pre-Rally Gathering Subcommittee, a Watch Party Subcommittee, helping to coordinate watch parties for those who wish to participate remotely, and a Trump Rally After-Party Subcommittee. He said more information about events would be available on the CapeGOP Facebook page.
When contacted, the Cape May County Democratic chair, Marie Blistan, declined to comment on the rally.
Donohue said gates for the rally will open at noon, and Trump is expected to speak around 5 p.m. He said the rally and all of the tickets and logistics are being handled by the Trump campaign.
Tickets to the rally may be obtained through the Trump campaign at two per registered cellphone number by going to https://event.donaldjtrump.com/events/president-donald-j-trump-to-hold-a-rally-in-wildwood-new-jersey
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
