Meet the Candidates

3 INCUMBENTS, 2 NEWCOMERS VIE FOR 3 SEATS IN CITY COUNCIL ELECTION

Mary Tighe

J.B. Feeley

Mike Jargowsky

Now there’s a horse race.

Sea Isle City voters have the luxury of choice in the May 13 City Council elections.

There are five candidates running for three positions.

Three of the five are newcomers.

Retired Sea Isle City police captain Mike Jargowsky throws his hat into the ring along with incumbents J.B. Feeley and Mary Tighe under the “Committed to Community, Dedicated to Progress” slogan.

Real estate veteran Ian Ciseck and retired teacher Steve Cossaboon campaign for the first time.

Each “team” has its own story here, although everyone is campaigning as an individual.

Top to bottom, it’s a strong field. What matters between now and May 13 is how the candidates get their message to the voters.

Here’s a look at the incumbent team.

What does government have to do with nurturing?

Perhaps everything. Mary Tighe, an original City Council member from 2007, has made an impact beyond the Sea Isle City realm. She has been the director of nursing for the Cape May County Health Department in 2007.

Tighe comes from a family of caregivers. Her mom is a nurse. Her sister is a nurse.

That quality has to spill over into any professional endeavor.

Tighe has worked with the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office as a sexual assault nurse examiner and been a past member of St. Joseph’s Parish Council. She has won numerous community awards.

“I wanted to do something for this town and be helpful, it’s my nature,” she says with a laugh. “Even now, on anything, if people within the town come up and ask for help with this or that, I am happy to do it.”

Tighe initially got involved in local politics to change the current form of government. Businesses had disappeared, she says. Tighe felt a sense of decline in the city and supported efforts to create a new form of government, in which City Council approves budgets and has a checks-and-balances relationship with the mayor’s office.

Tighe is one of the five original council members elected when Sea Isle changed from the commission form of government to mayor-council in 2007. Once the new format was established, “I kind of got pushed into running for council,” she recalls.

That push led her to now seeking a fifth consecutive term. She has been part of Sea Isle City’s transformative age over the past several years.

That includes helping to create the Band Shell at Excursion Park, the new city marina, the recreation center that will open in the fall, and many infrastructure developments and beach-replenishment projects.

Feeley can almost pinch himself over life in Sea Isle City.

The North Philadelphia native celebrates 54 years here as he seeks a third four-year term on the council.

“We were lucky enough to spend entire summers here when I was a kid,” he says. “We would get out on the final day of school and come right here. Then I met my wife [Eva] here and now we get to enjoy our two children and three grandchildren coming to visit.

“Life has been good to me. I have been able to be here.”

He’s been immersed in Sea Isle City’s growth for a long time. Feeley is a past president of the SIC planning board and past chair of the town’s recreation committee.

During his realm at council, Feeley has been part of efforts that produced the kayak launch at Dealy Field and beach replenishment.

He’s also been able to preside over a golden age for Sea Isle City. The council was instrumental in the formation of the new Community Center, scheduled for a fall opening.

“I thought the way we went about doing that was important,” he recalls. “Council had one meeting for the residents and another one for everybody, as there were people who came here for the summer and did not want to support paying for something they did not know if they would be able to use.

“Some groups wanted a pool, others did not. We gave them all a chance to weigh in. We did it without the pool, which is smart, because whenever you need a pool repair, it blows a hole in your budget.”

Feeley is a retired senior project manager for the Casino Redevelopment Authority. One of his team’s accomplishments was widening the roads around the new Ocean Casino to let traffic flow more freely.

Jargowsky’s political career began with a belly laugh.

A real big one.

“Lenny Desiderio suggested the council position would be open because Jack Gibson [approaching age 91] wasn’t going to run and that I should,” Jargowsky said of the campaign seed planted by Desiderio, the mayor of Sea Isle City.

“I not only said no, but that’s a hard no,” he recalls. “I didn’t consider myself a politician. I always thought, ‘Who would want to do that job?’ Half the people love you, half the people don’t love you. How do you make everyone happy?”

He’s already made many of them happy, in varied roles. Jargowsky engaged with the public as a 28-year-old police officer and captain, the rank from which he retired in 2011.

Jargowsky then served as the deputy coordinator for Sea Isle City’s Office of Emergency Management until last fall. That’s more than 40 service years right there.

Further community involvement includes being a member of Boy Scout Troop 76 since 1974 and later a Scoutmaster for 18 years.

There’s also the membership in the Knights of Columbus and the Italian American Club. Not to mention being the chairperson of the Sea Isle City Recreation Committee.

Heck, Jargowsky has spent his whole life here. Mike and his wife Lori have been married 40 years and have three sons.

He relishes the year-round restaurants, the town’s welcoming feel, the beaches, the bays, and the vibe of Sea Isle City.

Who better to know the community?

“People tell me Mike Jargowsky is a natural for this position and I say that’s why WE got him before anybody else,” Feeley laughs, referring to his running mate.

Reflecting upon it all, Jargowsky made the move into politics. One of the lessons he gleaned as a police officer will serve him well in this role.

“When you are coming in as a young police officer, you know the technical stuff,” he says. “As a law enforcement officer, you see how everything is around you. You have to deal with people, they have to deal with you.

“One of the things you come to understand is that a decision made on emotion is not a good decision.”