Via the live ZOOM feed, Brigantine City Council voted YES and raised the salary of their new City Manager from $100k to $150K per year. And let’s not forget that really sweet benefit package that includes health care, pension, longevity pay and other perks.
Watch video: AUG 2, 2023 Brigantine City Council meeting.
Tiger Platt is the new City Manager of Brigantine. He’s the former Brigantine Fire Chief who’s a resident of Absecon.
To date, Platt has been supportive of the 2,000 STRs operating HOSPITALITY BUSINESSES within the residential neighborhoods of Brigantine.
Critics of Platt question his lack of city management experience. Why such a rich salary for a rookie? The previous better-qualified city manager (Jim Bennett) was only paid $100k.
That extra $50K could be better spent in hiring a code enforcement officer or Brigantine rental inspector.
Why are Sera & Platt changing fabric of our Brigantine Beach community?
45 yr Brigantine resident.
Platt being criticized for lack of action on worsening, short-term rental problems in Brigantine.
Over-crowding of vacation homes. Occupancy maximums being ignored. Safety hazards. Parking and noise violations. Zoning violations.
Brigantine has an overworked inspection and code enforcement team of 2 or 3 employees.
Weak enforcement of weak ordinance passed in 2017.
As predicted, Sera pushing issue back thru September or longer, when most residents are gone for the off-season.
If Mayor Sera can maintain this slow-walk of STR reform, most 2024 Brigantine summer rental contracts will be valid and ‘grandfathered’ in.
Sera admits he ‘takes his time to get it right’. Sounds admirable, but his slow-walk is already affecting the 2024 summer rental season.
Neighboring towns like Ventnor and Margate have already enacted common sense STR rules. Yet Sera and Platt claim ignorance. Bothstonewalling residents with flimsy fearful, legal voodoo. ‘We’ll have our attorney look at it.’
Sera can’t understand why Councilman / real estate agent Mike Riordan wouldn’t recuse himself in regards to STR votes. Riordan should ignore Sera and recuse himself. It’s the honorable thing to do.
Short-term rentals, STR’s, are of no benefit to the Brigantine community.
There’s too much delay in reforming problematic, toothless STR laws.
That 2,000 STR number came from the Brigantine Rental Inspection office. Does that dept head have 2,000 rental permits he can show us?
Real Deal Brigantiner
City of Brigantine needs a deep-dive audit of municipal operations.
- Construction official is Rich Stevens
- The Fire office handles inspections.
On Aug 16, recommendations will be made public, claims Sera. Then, a potential Sept. agenda item announced. Note: That item could also be easily delayed and amended.
Public comment will only be available after Labor Day inside City Hall. No remote online commenting. Sera and Platt still prohibit remote public comment via ZOOM.
Will Real Estate agent Riordan and the home inspector on Brigantine City Council recuse themselves? Sera plays coy and punts to city attorney.
Watch full Brigantine City Council meeting here.
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You were right on the money re the Mayor and his slow walk. He proclaims his knowledge of ordinances and how he is unable to enforce. This city deserves better and someone with the capability to enforce the laws on the books.
Members of my family have been seasonal and full-time residents since 1971. Four members own homes in Brigantine.
I have watched Brigantine evolve form a sleepy bedroom community with motels, family-oriented entertainment to the land of raised houses and monster houses. I can remember individual cabins on the beach at 4th Street North and an Ice cream stand across form Rosevelt Blvd.
Unfortunately, this has all been lost to excessive development.
Since hurricane Sandy I have watched the island become the land of raised houses and what appears to be monster houses. They cannot be called McMansions because they appear to be rental units. From what I have read the previous statement is correct.
It has caused quite a political turmoil in the city.
I own a state licensed inspection agency in Pennsylvania and have administered and enforced the Building Codes, Zoning regulations and Code Enforcement in over 10 municipalities in PA. My signature is on the Certificate of Occupancy for Terminal; A West at Philadelphia Internationa Airport.
I have authored or worked on committees for rental, zoning and building regulations. I initiated rental registration and rental inspection programs down to the inspection check-list for the rentals. in numerous municipalities.
This year I have spoken with the City Clerk, Fire Marshall, a Captain in the Fire Department to provide them with draft ordinances and my knowledge to assist the city in regulating what appears to be commercial Uses in residential areas. One fellow I met casually here in PA said they built and 18-bedroom house across the street from his relatives!
I have spoken with the Fire MArshall, City Clerk and a Captain In the fire department and I offered to be on the committee and, although I reside half of the week in PA, I would manage to attend any meetings necessary (I do have a progressive decease which is the only reason I am not a full-time resident).
I am not a political animal and have no interest in fame and glory. I simply want to assist the City that is and always be my happy place.
The sad part is I offered my services at NO COST to the taxpayers!
The offer still stands!
Whoever makes the final decision realize that the beauty of Brigantine must be preserved.
Mayor Sera and Council, Please read this man’s statement. He’s fallen in your lap! It’s time for some positive action.
New city manager Platt is unqualified. Mayor Sera is protecting absentee landlords. Both are forever harming Brigantine.
Describe absentee Landlord?
Old boys network hiring someone without experience as a City Manager and then upping salary. The politics in Brigantine is a disgrace.
Won’t let second home owners vote or give input. STRs need to have sensible rules that maintain a good quality of life for residents while allowing income streams for owners.
I recently purchased an older townhome in Brig. My family has been there since 1980 but Im now my own homeowner. My townhome in Brig is NOT my primary residence. Are you saying “ second home owners” who dont get to input free speech, are those who’s Brigantine property is NOT their primary residence?? Unclear what “ second home” means
Hello fellow Brigantine Lovers
I have now have one large STR in Brigantine. I have had multiple homes that were STRs for the last 15 years. My homes (and guests) are great places/people of integrity.
The bashing of all STRs because of some Bad Apples is disheartening. We Owners are interested in maintaining a beautiful experience for our guests and are not absent, greedy people as we are being depicted.
We all need to work together to create a wonderful place for all of us…including the local (now flourishing) businesses.
Let’s work together without attacking STRs as Animal Houses.
Thank you
RE: TOM. More than likely, no one in/from City Hall will ever take you up on your experience, generosity, and willingness to protect the ‘good-of-the-order’ in maintaining the integrity of the island.
No, not that the City would not benefit from your knowledge; conversely, they do not want you to exposed their “grifter-network”.
Those days when Brigantine was a sleepy bedroom community are long gone (so are the days when Brigantine was extremely difficult to get to, even find) — evidently, Brigantine has grown 10-fold, out of town people have invested real money to build second homes (rent or occupy).
Subsequently, ratables have grown by 10-fold. Consequently, those same people/investors do not benefit from the ratables in view of the fact they occupied, at best, their home 3 months out of a given year. Therefore, the City should be working overtime, at least in parallel, to the growing ratables, to accommodate all the residents of Brigantine — both residential and retail.
Same issue in most Jersey shore islands. All residential towns down the coast from Delaware, Md, Va, SC and especially Florida.
Imagine you want to spend a weekend in Florida, next February in an Airbnb. I see it here and our snowbird home in Florida.
Double sh** for us in two seasonal towns 😃
Brigantine residents might want to read Greenhead Politics by Costello. Seems as though things may not have changed much over time
Read ‘Greenhead Politics’: https://brigantinenow.com/brigantine-greenhead-politics-screw-the-taxpayers/
When John Costello was hired as the new Director of Public Works for Brigantine, he was expected to maintain the status quo and enjoy the ride at taxpayers’ expense.
Costello instead began an earnest effort to clean up the city, which resulted in an immaculate town filled with delighted residents.
Corruption, theft and misconduct were only the tip of the iceberg. Costello also uncovered problems that endangered the health and safety of the island’s residents, only to be ignored by city officials.
Not content to turn a blind eye, Costello set about putting a stop to the rampant municipal malfeasance on his own. But by refusing to play ball, Costello had threatened the power of the ruling elite and suddenly found himself the target of a political lynching.
Longtime friends and allies turned their backs as his enemies swarmed.
Politicians, city employees and union officials conspired not only to remove the popular Director of Public Works, but also to ruin his credibility in case his allegations became public knowledge.
Sensationally accused in the news media of a horrible and bloody crime, Costello was publicly vilified and forced from his position. In his subsequent whistleblower suit against the city, Costello listed in detail the abuses and corruption he had discovered.
When his enemies realized that they could not intimidate him with the loss of his position and reputation, they paid John Costello over a million dollars to withdraw his complaint and go away.
I hope something can be done for the responsible homeowners who paid a premium for their properties with aspirations and promises of weekly rental income. The promise of str potential certainly drove up the cost of my unit and I’m sure I am not alone. I can’t imagine any homeowners who have str properties that want their homes destroyed by partygoers. So, before we knee jerk this issue as we seem to be doing across the country on everything, let’s think this through from all angles.