By MADDY VITALE
The unofficial vote totals for the Ocean City Board of Education election Tuesday are in and it appears that at least two candidates running on the platform of “Traditional Family Values, won seats on the board.
The official vote totals will be in Nov. 22 after the provisional and mail-in votes are counted, officials said.
Michael Allegretto was the highest vote getter receiving 1,985 votes, followed by running mate Jocelyn Palaganas with 1,685 votes. Incumbent Robin Shaffer received 1,416 votes while Corey Niemiec who garnered 1,412 votes.
Shaffer and his running mates Kevin Schaffer, who received 1,243 votes and Steve Flogaus, 1,172 respectively, ran on the platform of “Conservative Family Values.”
Longtime Board of Education member Cecilia Gallelli-Keyes, who was a board member since 2014 and ran on the platform of “Leadership, Trust, Dependability,” received 1,005 votes.
Allegretto, who is aide to Mayor Jay Gillian, said he was pleased and humbled.
“First, I want to thank the citizens of Ocean City for their support. It humbles me to know that I have so much support in the city,” Allegretto said. “I feel the school board is such an important elected office because you are making decisions and overseeing the education of the children.”
Allegretto and his wife, Lisa, have two children, Gavin, an Ocean City High School graduate who is a college student and Alexis, a senior at Ocean City High School.
Niemiec, a realtor, said that as a newcomer to running for office, he was happy by the strong showing.
“A lot of people came out to support us. It is a good feeling,” he said.
The Ocean City school board includes nine members from Ocean City who are elected to three-year terms and three members from Upper Township, who are appointed to one-year terms by the Upper Township Board of Education.
