Mayors of Wildwood, New Jersey

Wildwood, New Jersey, was incorporated on May 1, 1895, as a borough. and was reincorporated on January 1, 1912, as a city and merged with Holly Beach, New Jersey. It is governed by a three-member commission under the Walsh Act Commission form of municipal government. All three commissioners are elected at-large on a nonpartisan basis to serve concurrent four-year terms of office, with the vote taking place as part of the November general election. At a reorganization conducted after each election, the commission selects one of its members to serve as mayor and gives each commissioner an assigned department to oversee and operate.[1] The mayors were:[2]

Mayors

Mayor Term Notes
Ernest Troiano, Jr. 2011 This was his second term. He was voted out of office in a recall election.[3][4]
Gary S. DeMarzo 2009 to 2011 [5]
Ernest Troiano, Jr. 2003 to 2009 This was his first term.
Duane Sloan 1999 to 2003
Fred Wager 1995 to 1999 [6]
Edmund J. Grant Jr. 1991 to 1995
Ralph Sheets 1987 to 1991
Victor Di Sylvester 1984 to 1987
Earl B. Ostrander 1983 to 1984 He was voted out of office in a recall election.[7]
Guy F. Muziani 1972 to 1983 [8]
Charles Masciarella 1968 to 1972
Ralph G. James 1956 to 1968 He served the longest term, 12 years, as Mayor of Wildwood, New Jersey.[9][2]
W. Harry Steele Jr. 1948 to 1956 [10]
George Wagner Krogman Sr. 1945 to 1948 This was his second term.
Benjamin Charles Ingersoll 1944 to 1945 He was born in Ocean City, New Jersey, and moved to Wildwood with his family when he was three years old. He worked as an undertaker and served as the Coroner of Cape May County, New Jersey. He died in office as mayor on December 6, 1945.[11]
George Wagner Krogman Sr. 1938 to 1944 This was his first term. He was born on June 7, 1896, in Pennsylvania.[12]
Doris W. Bradway 1933 to 1938 Doris W. Bradway was the first female mayor for the state of New Jersey.[13] She was a Republican. She was voted out of office in a recall election.[14]
William H. Bright 1933
Robert G. Pierpont 1927 to 1933
Edward Culver 1924 to 1927
W. Courtwright Smith 1921 to 1924
Frank E. Smith 1912 to 1920
Jacob Thompson Baker 1911 to 1912 This was his second term.[15] Latimer R. Baker, 1895 to 1911.[16]
W. Courtwright Smith 1921 to 1924
W. C. Hendee 1920 to 1921
Frank E. Smith 1912 to 1920
Jacob Thompson Baker 1912 This was his first term. Jacob Thompson Baker was the first mayor of Wildwood, New Jersey under the 1912 consolidation. The consolidation merged Wildwood Borough with Holly Beach City, New Jersey to form Wildwood, New Jersey. He served the shortest term as Mayor of Wildwood, New Jersey, at 11 months, because he was elected to the United States Congress.[2][17]
Latimer R. Baker 1895 to 1911 He served during the pre-consolidation as the Mayor of Wildwood Borough, New Jersey which merged with Holly Beach City, New Jersey to form Wildwood, New Jersey.

Mayors of Holly Beach City, New Jersey

Holly Beach, New Jersey, was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 14, 1885, from portions of Lower Township, based on the results of a referendum held on March 31, 1885. The borough was reincorporated on April 1, 1890, based on a referendum held the previous day.[18] The borough was reincorporated as Holly Beach City on May 4, 1897.[18] On January 1, 1912, the area was included as part of the newly created Wildwood, New Jersey, and the borough was dissolved.[18] The mayors were:[19]

Mayor Term Notes
Frank E. Smith 1892 to 1911 Frank E. Smith was the last Mayor of Holly Beach City, New Jersey. In 1911 the town was merged with Wildwood Borough, New Jersey to form Wildwood, New Jersey.
William E. Forcum 1891 This was his second term.
J.B. Osborn 1890
William E. Forcum 1886 to 1889 This was his first term.[20]
Franklin J. Van Valin 1885 He was killed when he was struck by a train at a railroad crossing. Franklin J. Van Valin was the first Mayor of Holly Beach City, New Jersey.[19]

References

  1. ^ 2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book, Rutgers University Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, March 2013, p. 8.
  2. ^ a b c "Mayors of Wildwood, New Jersey" (PDF). Wildwood, New Jersey. Retrieved 2017-12-18.
  3. ^ "New Jersey Mayors Directory" (PDF). 2017. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
  4. ^ Gilfillian, Trudi. "Wildwood votes out mayor, commissioner in recall election", The Press of Atlantic City, December 9, 2009. Accessed May 17, 2011. "City voters ousted Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. and Commissioner Bill Davenport from City Commission in Tuesday's tax rate-driven recall election, selecting two newcomers to city government to replace them."
  5. ^ "Ex-Wildwood mayor's lawsuit against prosecutor moves forward, claims revenge". Press of Atlantic City. October 19, 2016.
  6. ^ "Whitman Hits Beaches". Bergen Record. May 23, 1997.
  7. ^ via Associated Press. "Wildwood Mayor Recalled", The New York Times, December 12, 1984. Accessed May 17, 2011. "Residents of this resort in Cape May County voted tonight to recall Mayor Earl B. Ostrander and replace him with City Council President Victor DiSylvester."
  8. ^ "Outer Continental Shelf Sale". 1976. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
  9. ^ "Mutual Fund Legislation of 1967". 1967. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
  10. ^ "Wildwood Toppers". Billboard. 26 January 1952. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
  11. ^ "Benjamin C. Ingersoll. Mayor of Wildwood, 48, Had Served in County Offices". New York Times. December 7, 1945.
  12. ^ "Looking back 70 years after date which will live in infamy". The Leader. December 1, 2011.
  13. ^ Jeffery M. Dorwart (1992). Cape May County, New Jersey: The Making of an American Resort Community. ISBN 9780813517841.
  14. ^ "Wildwood Ousts Its Woman Mayor; Mrs. Bradway, First of Sex to Hold Post in Jersey, Loses in Recall Election". New York Times. February 19, 1938.
  15. ^ "Jacob Thompson Baker". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
  16. ^ "Annual Report of the Comptroller of the Treasury of the State of New Jersey". 1903. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
  17. ^ "J. Thompson Baker". Retrieved 2017-12-17.
  18. ^ a b c "The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968", John P. Snyder, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 114.
  19. ^ a b "In Another Time Police have faced sand rustlers, rum runners and a lion". The Leader. October 12, 2011.
  20. ^ "William E. Forcum". Biographical, Genealogical and Descriptive History of the First Congressional District of New Jersey. 1900. p. 319.