Respect Brigantine is part of the mission behind a new organization called ‘Respectable Government for Brigantine’. This recently announced, grass roots effort wants the island’s government to go back to a ‘Commission’ form of government. The group is lead by Frank Koch, president, and Vince Sera, vice president, who both noted that Margate and Ventnor used a Commission form of government.
Vince Sera said: “We see the form of government currently in use to be ineffective. The current government structure is set up to serve the needs of a large city, not a small community such as ours. That needs to change. With a year round population of approximately 9,000, smaller government is appropriate.”
Koch & Sera also want to see department chiefs brought back, replacing the public safety director position.
As reported in the Beachcomber News, City Clerk Lynn Sweeney said she thought 20 percent of the voters who voted in the last general election (1,389 voters) would have to sign the petition in order for a referendum to take place. Sweeney reached out to Atlantic County officials for clarification, but did not have a definite answer by press time.
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This group is attacking our Mayor, Philip Guenther, who has been in office for over 20 years as Mayor, ever since the Council-Manager form of government was voted on in 1989. If the four people behind this group think that he is doing such a horrible job then they should do a Recall Petition to remove him. Changing the whole form of government for the sins of one person is going to cost lots of money. I have not always agreed with Mayor Guenther but it is true that his appointed school board members have a lot to answer for from the Department of Education rankings where Brigantine Schools came in under 30% in 5 of 6 categories and under 70% in the other – failing grades across the board. We all thought the Schools were better than that.