Ocean City councilman to consider seeking re-election

Will he or won’t he seek re-election?

At this point, Tony Polcini is unsure.

In October, the first-term Ocean City councilman made the surprising announcement that he would not run for re-election in 2026 because he wanted to do what was best for his family

But in another surprising turn of events, Council President Terry Crowley Jr. has publicly urged Polcini to reconsider his decision.

“I know, Tony, you said you weren’t going to run again, but I just want to say publicly that I’ve gotten to know you, I respect you, I think you’re a very empathetic and sincere individual. It’s just my personal belief that I would encourage you to reconsider that,” Crowley told Polcini at the Jan. 8 Council meeting.

Polcini thanked Crowley, but did not publicly say what he might do. In an interview after the meeting, Polcini told OCNJDaily.com that he would speak with his wife and family about the possibility of running for a second term.

“I would be more open toward looking into it. But I don’t want to say anything definitely,” he said in the interview.

During the meeting, Polcini said he holds his responsibilities as a councilman in the “highest regard.”

He also emphasized his deep religious beliefs, saying that he was offended by an incident at an earlier Council meeting when someone questioned Polcini’s right to pray to help guide his decisions as a councilman.

“I think we can speak freely. We live in America. We can pray to our Lord. I take it very seriously. Because I don’t agree with something or didn’t make a decision based on what you want, then I’m a hypocrite for praying?” Polcini said.

“I’m sorry, I take that very offensively. You know who you are, and I respect your opinion, but it just hurts because I really truly take my faith very, very seriously. And if you know Tony P, you know I’m serious,” he added.

He declined to speak about the incident further during the interview with OCNJDaily.com.

Ocean City’s municipal election in May will include the mayor’s race and the three at-large seats on Council. The four ward seats on Council are not up for election this year.

Mayor Jay Gillian has said he will seek re-election, but no mayoral opponents have announced their candidacy yet. Polcini, Pete Madden and Sean Barnes hold the three Council at-large seats.

    The three at-large seats on the seven-member City Council are up for election this year.
  

It first appeared that Polcini would definitely not seek re-election in 2026. Pausing at times to collect his emotions, he revealed during a Council meeting in October that he would not run for another four-year term because he wanted to do what would be best for his family.

Before making his surprise announcement, Polcini spent a few minutes defending the Council members from some of the personal attacks made against them stemming from the ongoing debate over the redevelopment of the former Wonderland Pier property on the Boardwalk.

He repeatedly said that Council has always been transparent with the pubic in its discussions about the project.

Polcini said he simply couldn’t understand the level of anger and disrespect directed at the Council members as they continue to discuss the best options to redevelop the Wonderland property – whether it would be a hotel or possibly something else.

The contentious issue has deeply divided the city among hotel supporters and local community groups that want to see Wonderland redeveloped into some type of family-friendly amusement attraction.

Developer Eustace Mita, who owns the Wonderland property, has proposed building a $150 million luxury resort hotel there. However, Mita suffered a major setback in those efforts when Ocean City’s planning board failed to declare the Wonderland site as an area "in need of rehabilitation.”

The rehabilitation designation would trigger a process that could possibly lead to a zoning change to permit Mita’s proposed hotel at the Wonderland site at Sixth Street. Currently, the city’s zoning laws do not allow hotel construction in that section of the Boardwalk.

Capping a meeting that stretched on for more than 3½ hours on Jan. 7, the planning board was deadlocked 4-4 in its vote on the rehabilitation designation.

John Loeper, the planning board chairman, was the last one to vote. He voted no to tie the vote at 4-4, which effectively killed a motion that would have recommended declaring the vacant Wonderland site in need of rehabilitation to speed its redevelopment.

Joining with the three other board members who voted no, Loeper said he felt that the Wonderland property did not meet the legal criteria needed for the rehabilitation designation.

    At right, hotel developer Eustace Mita, owner of the former Wonderland Pier property, speaks with his attorney, Keith Davis, before the Jan. 7 Ocean City planning board meeting.
  

Mita expressed shock after the planning board vote and was unsure of his next move in his attempts to redevelop the site for his proposed 252-room hotel. He mentioned the possibility of abandoning his proposed hotel and selling the property if there is no hope of City Council declaring the Wonderland site in need of rehabilitation.

In December, Council voted 4-3 to ask the planning board to consider recommending the rehabilitation designation. The planning board vote was considered a critical preliminary step in Mita’s redevelopment plans for the Wonderland property.

Now that the planning board has denied the rehabilitation status, the issue may come back to Council for its own vote. Council has the power to reverse the planning board’s decision or to chart its own path for Wonderland’s redevelopment.