Gillian announces re-election bid for Ocean City mayor

Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian formally announced Sunday that he will seek re-election, setting up a rematch with his opponent in the 2022 mayoral race, City Councilman Keith Hartzell.

“Today, I’m proud to announce that I’m running for re-election as mayor of Ocean City,” Gillian said in a video message. “I’m running for one simple reason. I believe deeply in this community and I know there is important work still to do. When I first ran for mayor, my message was ‘Unity in the Community.’ That wasn’t a slogan, it was a promise.”

Gillian defeated Hartzell in the 2022 election by 395 votes following a high-profile campaign pitting the mayor against Ocean City’s longest-serving councilman.

Gillian, who has been mayor since 2010, is running for his fifth, four-year term amid personal financial struggles, including filing for bankruptcy in December and the closing of his family business, the iconic Wonderland Pier amusement Park, in 2024.

Hartzell has served on City Council since 2006. He formerly was an at-large councilman, but stepped down after running for mayor in 2022. He returned to Council in 2024 by winning election as the councilman representing the city’s Second Ward.

Hartzell has not made a formal announcement of his candidacy for mayor, but confirmed in an interview with OCNJDaily.com that he will be running against Gillian in the May 12 municipal election.

“I am not officially announcing yet. I am going to run, but there is a huge difference between the official announcement, when the campaign actually starts, and now,” Hartzell said.

Hartzell called this stage of his campaign “the honeymoon period, the sweet period where I’m out doing my research.”

“I’m helping to line up and fine-tune my vision of the things I want to do by talking to hundreds upon hundreds of people. You can poll or you can sit in the living room and on the front porch. I sit in the living room and the front porch. It’s the sweet time. It’s the sweet spot. The campaign hasn’t really started. You haven’t had the kickoff, but you are talking to people,” Hartzell said.

In his video message announcing his re-election campaign, Gillian addressed what he described as public accusations that he somehow benefited from Wonderland Pier’s closing in October 2024. The Gillian family-owned amusement park had been in business for nearly 60 years on the Ocean City Boardwalk.

“As I begin this campaign, there is something personal I want to address because it’s been talked about publicly and it deserves honestly. Over the past year, my family and I have heard claims about the closing of Wonderland, including accusations that I somehow benefited from it. That’s simply isn’t true,” he said.

“Nobody loved Wonderland more than I did. It was my life, my family business and my legacy. I lost everything trying to keep it alive.  Long after I knew it was time, my heart wouldn’t let it go. There were many factors that led to its closing, including my own decisions. But no one can say I benefited from going out of business. No one can say I’m beholden to anyone but myself,” he continued.

Gillian sold Wonderland to developer Eustace Mita in 2021 for a reported $14 million after Gillian defaulted on an $8 million mortgage. Mita allowed Gillian to continue operating Wonderland, but the park finally closed down in October 2024 after years of financial difficulty.

Mita hopes to build a $150 million luxury resort hotel in place of Wonderland, but has not yet been able to line up the support of city officials for the project.

The proposed hotel has deeply divided the city among supporters who believe that it will be a catalyst for more tourism and business and opponents who maintain that it would not fit in with Ocean City’s family-friendly image.

    Wonderland Pier's iconic Ferris wheel remains idle following the amusement park's closing in October 2024.
  

Wonderland’s closing led to Gillian filing for personal bankruptcy in December. He and his wife, Michele, the executive director of the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce, sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to reorganize what are about $5.8 million in personal debts. The mayor is also being sued for about $600,000 in unpaid debt tied to Wonderland Pier.

Gillian maintained in his video message that his personal bankruptcy “has nothing to do with my public service.”

“Using a personal loss to question the integrity of this administration or the work we’ve done for Ocean City is unfair to the outstanding professionals and dedicated volunteers who serve this city with integrity every day,” he said.

He highlighted what he said was the city’s progress under his leadership, including responsible infrastructure investments, stronger public safety, flood mitigation efforts and careful financial management designed to protect taxpayers, while preserving Ocean City’s family-friendly character.

“Together we’ve governed that way, making tough decisions when necessary, always guided by what’s best for Ocean City. Not politics, not pressure and never personal interests,” he said.

“My vision remains clear: a safe, family-friendly community, a responsible transparent city government and a shore town that protects its character while planning wisely for the future,” he said.

Gillian pledged that his campaign will focus on what he described as the values and traditions that have always been a part of Ocean City – “family, safety, faith and community.”

“While we face real challenges ahead – rising costs, infrastructure demands and flooding – leadership means respecting tradition while planning responsibly for the future. I want to continue the work we started, I want to protect the taxpayers, I want to keep Ocean City strong for the next generation,” he said.

    Councilman Keith Hartzell currently represents the Second Ward.
  

Hartzell, meanwhile, said he will develop the finer points of his campaign after he spends more time speaking with his constituents. He said it is premature at this time to publicly elaborate on why he wants to run against Gillian again.

“I have my reasons. But again, I am out talking to people and letting them know what my reasons are and getting their response back. I’m in a fine-tuning process. I have what I think is important, but that doesn’t mean that the public thinks it is important,” he said.

“I try to get out in town to cross sections of different types of people and then find out where I’m at. And then really fine-tune it. I think at this time, it’s not a campaign mode, it is more of a learning mode and then when your kickoff comes, that’s when you say, “This is why I’m running and this is what I’m trying to do,’” he continued.

Hartzell has often spoken about his love for the Second Ward and about how much he enjoys being its councilman. But at the same time, he said he believes it is time for him to become mayor.

“I’ve always been active in the Second Ward because I live there, my businesses are there, my church is there. Most of what I do is there, so I’ve always been active there anyways,” he said.

“So, yeah, was it my dream job? Sure, absolutely. But at the same time, there’s things that I see that I want changed, and if I’m right about those, the way to get that done expediently is to be mayor,” he added.

    Keith Hartzell, left, and Mayor Jay Gillian shake hands after the candidates' forum during the 2022 election.