Hartzell, Madden and Allegretto Win City Council Seats

Left to right, Jay Gillian (mayor), Keith Hartzell, Mike Allegretto and Pete Madden (City Council members) were winners in Tuesday's municipal election in Ocean City. They celebrate at the Flanders Hotel.

Incumbents Keith Hartzell and Mike Allegretto, and first-time candidate Pete Madden captured the three open seats on City Council in a five-way race that included Mike Hyson and Eric Sauder.

Unofficial results with 100 percent of districts reporting are as follows.

• Keith Hartzell: 2,402
• Pete Madden: 2,199
• Michael Allegretto: 2,178
• Mike Hyson: 1,214
• Eric Sauder: 1,091

The results include vote-by-mail ballots but will not be official until they are certified by the Clerk's Office — likely by later this week. The winners will serve four-year terms on the seven-member City Council. Incumbents Hartzell and Allegretto were first elected in 2006 and won their third terms. Madden won his first term and will resign his Board of Education position when he takes office on July 1. Ocean City's government is nonpartisan and candidates do not declare party affiliations on the ballot. The three winners fill "at-large" seats (elected by all Ocean City voters). The other four council members represent each of Ocean City's four geographic wards. An ordinance sets annual salaries for part-time City Council members at $10,300 (the City Council president gets a $1,000 stipend and the vice president gets an extra $500). New council members are not eligible to receive health benefits.

Hartzell and Allegretto ran on platforms of continuing major investments in roads, drainage and other infrastructure projects. They also pointed to Ocean City's fast and efficient relief effort and recovery from Superstorm Sandy.

Allegretto, 42, is a lifelong Ocean City resident and office manager at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach. He is a former Board of Education president. He has said he's proud of responsible budgets with none of the mass layoffs that other municipalities have experienced. And he points to the start of an aggressive capital plan to fix roads, bulkheads, beaches and the boardwalk.

Hartzell, 58, is a regional sales manager for von Drehle Corporation (paper products) and a downtown property owner. He attributed his victory to old-fashioned knocking on doors and to a new social media effort. In his campaign, Hartzell pointed to reduced cost of services (including the reduction of the overall labor force by 10 percent during his two terms without layoffs) and the increased investment in roads, drainage and infrastructure.

Madden, 36, is broker manager at Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Fox & Roach’s Battersea Road office, a father of four and a former Board of Education president. He ran on a platform of sound financial planning and realistic solutions. See complete vote tally by ward.