A new day has dawned on the political scene with the new Sea Isle City Council. Shown are: (back, l. to r.) Councilman John Divney, Councilwoman Mary Tighe and Council President Mike McHale; (front, l. to r.) Councilman Frank Edwardi, Municipal Clerk Ther

It’s now been one year since the voters of Sea Isle City passed a referendum to change from a commissioner to mayor-council form of government. After a spirited election in May, the new government took office on July 1. How are things going?

According to the State Commission on County and Municipal Government, the mayor-council form of government places the administration of Sea Isle City in the hands of the mayor who, by virtue of his election, is independent of the council. He runs the administration (with the help of a professional administrator) and is accountable to the people of Sea Isle for his stewardship. He appoints department heads and supervises, directs and controls all the departments. He submits the budget and reports annually to the council on the status of the municipality. He may veto ordinances passed by the council.

The City Council passes ordinances and resolutions. It also adopts the administrative code, passes the budget, and consents to the mayor’s appointments of administrator, department heads and members of boards, commissions and authorities. It can also override a veto.

To hit the ground running, the new city council invited the public to a general meeting in late June and formed 16 citizen committees. Over 100 volunteers signed up for these committees, which covered a range of topics of interest to both the council and the public. These included beautification, communication, parking, business development, and a new library. The committees each had a council representative, met through the summer and presented recommendations to the council in September.

Mayor Leonard Desiderio organized the city into seven departments: Administration, Finance, Law, Police, Public Works, Community Services, and Community Development. The council confirmed the new department heads on July 10.

A major accomplishment has been the completion and approval of a new Administrative Code for the City of Sea Isle City for the mayor-council form of government as required by law within 100 days of taking office. The new Administrative Code will be available on the city’s website in the near future.

On October 6 the council confirmed the mayor’s appointment of George J. Savastano as Business Administrator for the City of Sea Isle City. Savastano has worked in the Ocean City government for 13 years, most currently as director of planning and engineering. He will start on Nov. 26.

The council has taken action on many of the citizen committee recommendations, either in the form of new ordinances or by referring the recommendations to the Business Administrator for consideration.

One of the more controversial issues in town is the site of a new library. On October 23 the council approved the 48th Street lot as the new location. This followed a two month long discussion when the public was first presented with the county plan, supported by the mayor, for a two-story library at the current location on Kennedy Boulevard. Additional public input was gathered at the Town Meeting on October 6 including a poll of the attendees that showed the overwhelming majority not in favor of the current location due to lack of parking.

The council has held first reading of two new ordinances. One will increase beach tag fees to $15, pre-season, and $20, in-season. Public hearing and final passage are scheduled for Thursday, November 8, in the Public Safety Building at 10:00 a.m. A second ordinance implements a recommendation from the business development committee to require commercial zoned property to maintain first floor storefronts while allowing second floor residential units. Public hearing on this zoning amendment is scheduled for November 27.

Council President Mike McHale reports that several recommendations from the beautification committee have already been incorporated. These include more street sweeping, purchase of trees through the environmental commission, and a reconfiguration of our Christmas decorations.

I’ll be addressing some of the other citizen committee recommendations in subsequent columns. Meanwhile, it appears that the new council is trying hard to be responsive to community concerns and ideas.