Three Candidates File for First Ward Race

By DONALD WITTKOWSKI It will be a three-person race in the Nov. 2 election for the First Ward seat on City Council. Terrence Crowley Jr., who was unanimously appointed by Council last week to fill a vacancy in the First Ward until the election, will be challenged by longtime residents Donna Swan DeRocher and Donna Moore. Monday at 4 p.m. was the deadline for candidates seeking the First Ward seat to file their nominating petitions with the City Clerk’s Office to be placed on the November ballot. Gloria Votta, an Ocean City real estate agent, had submitted her nominating petition earlier, but withdrew it Monday morning without explanation, City Clerk Melissa Rasner said. The First Ward encompasses the area from the Ocean City-Longport Bridge to the north side of 4th Street. Crowley, DeRocher and Moore will be vying to fill the unexpired term of former First Ward Councilman Michael DeVlieger through June 30, 2024. Citing his multitude of responsibilities as an elected official, business executive and family man, DeVlieger said he decided to step down from Council to avoid being overwhelmed by his workload. He stressed that his family and health are paramount. He formally resigned at the Aug. 12 Council meeting and immediately threw his support behind Crowley. Council voted 6-0 at its Aug. 26 meeting to appoint Crowley to temporarily represent the First Ward until the general election. First Ward Council candidate Terrence Crowley Jr., joined by his wife, Jennifer, and 15-year-old son, Ian, turns in his nominating petition to City Clerk Melissa Rasner. Not pictured is Crowley's other son, Tripp, 18, who is a freshman at Penn State University. (Photo courtesy of Terrence Crowley Jr.) Four other candidates had also sought the appointment, including DeRocher and Moore. All of the candidates were interviewed by Council in closed session before the governing body reconvened in public and voted to appoint Crowley. Crowley, 50, is a newcomer to elected politics. He said he had no political aspirations before he began talking to DeVlieger about the possibility of running in the First Ward. “I took in the fact that he had been elected three times in the First Ward,” Crowley said of DeVlieger’s popularity with voters. “When I look at his voting record and the way he conducted himself on Council, I thought that was the direction I wanted to go.” Crowley lives on Bay Avenue and is an executive sales representative for the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical company. He has lived in Ocean City full time for six years and has served on the city’s Planning Board for five years, an appointed position. Alluding to the city’s economic growth, Crowley said in an interview Monday that he is running for Council to help keep Ocean City on a “positive trajectory.” First Ward Council candidate Donna Swan DeRocher. (Photo courtesy of Donna Swan DeRocher) DeRocher is the third generation of her family to live in Ocean City and has been a full-time resident since 1993. She lives on Wesley Avenue. “I’ve seen what Ocean City was from the time I was a girl to what it is now,” she said Monday of her longtime ties to the city. She has a degree in elementary education and another degree in interior design. She formerly ran the afterschool program at the Ocean City Tabernacle and currently has her own business called Interior by Coastline. “I feel I can offer Ocean City some positive ideas and to hold onto our past as far as maintaining our history,” DeRocher said of her decision to run for office. Moore, 68, lives on Ocean Avenue and has been an Ocean City resident since 1978. She is a retired art teacher and circulation assistant at the Ocean City Free Public Library. She formerly served on the Ocean City Environmental Commission and Ocean City Shade Tree Commission. She is also a local environmental advocate who was instrumental in Ocean City’s decision to switch to chemical-free, organic landscaping on public grounds. “I am ready to advocate for the residents of the First Ward and for our environment,” Moore said Monday. “I will do my best to serve my constituents in the First Ward.” For years, Moore has regularly attended City Council meetings as a member of the public and often speaks to the governing body about a variety of issues, particularly her concerns about the environment. Often, she carries handwritten signs warning about the potential dangers of landscaping chemicals to humans, marine life and the bay waters. “I feel that I am ready, after years of watching and learning, to participate,” Moore said of her decision to run for Council. First Ward Council candidate Donna Moore signs her nominating petition before handing it to City Clerk Melissa Rasner.