By Donald Wittkowski
Voters will go to the polls Tuesday to elect five members to City Council in Ocean City's nonpartisan municipal election.
Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Two well-known figures in local politics, Karen Bergman and H. Lloyd Hayes III, will square off in the race for an at-large seat on the governing body.
The race for Council's Fourth Ward seat will feature three candidates vying to succeed incumbent Peter Guinosso, who has decided not to seek re-election.
Robert Barr, Brenda Moiso and Bart Russell are running in the Fourth Ward.
Although there will be competition in the Fourth Ward, the incumbents in the First, Second and Third wards are all running unopposed, ensuring them of re-election.
Michael DeVlieger of the First Ward, Antwan McClellan of the Second Ward and Tony Wilson of the Third Ward all were elected in 2012 and are in line for their second four-year term.
The winner of the Bergman-Hayes matchup will fill the unexpired term of former At-Large Councilman Michael Allegretto through June 2018. Allegretto left Council last fall to become the city's director of community services.
Bergman was appointed by Council last fall to temporarily fill Allegretto's seat until the election. Bergman, who works as director of catering for the Flanders Hotel, formerly served on Council from 2008 to 2012, but decided not to seek re-election in 2012.
Hayes also has some prior experience on Council. In 2006, he was appointed to a six-month stint on Council, but lost his seat in the following election.
Hayes' experience in elected politics also included six years as a former member of the Ocean City Board of Education. He is a retired Ocean City teacher and swimming coach and is married to Cape May County Freeholder E. Marie Hayes.
In the Fourth Ward, Guinosso decided not to seek re-election to spend more time with his family.
The Fourth Ward race between Barr, Moiso and Russell includes three candidates who all have experience in elected or appointed office.
Barr, who has served as a legislative aide to state Sen. Jeff Van Drew, was appointed to the New Jersey Pinelands Commission last year.
Moiso, a local business owner, was a member of the Ocean City Board of Education for nine years, serving as its president in her last two years.
Russell, a former teacher and Vietnam veteran, ran unsuccessfully for the Fourth Ward seat in 2012. He formerly served on the Ocean City Board of Education for 10 years and was vice president of the Cape May County School Board.
