Ocean City voters reelect Jay Gillian to fifth term as mayor
Gillian won despite closing Wonderland Pier in 2024 and declaring personal bankruptcy.
OCEAN CITY, N.J. — Mayor Jay Gillian was handed a fifth term as mayor of this Shore town Tuesday, according to unofficial results.
“It’s been a rough few years, and one thing we’ve always said about this community is they take care of people,” a visibly relieved Gillian told supporters who filled a ballroom at the Flanders Hotel Tuesday night.
The election was fought against the backdrop of a town divided over the future of the former Gillian’s Wonderland Pier, which was shut down in 2024 by the mayor, whose family owned the amusement park for 62 years.
Soon after, Gillian filed for personal bankruptcy, with $6 million in debts.
The lively election season featured a political action committee, Our Ocean City, that sought to highlight Gillian’s finances and various entanglements with developer Eustace Mita, the current owner of the pier site who wants to built a luxury hotel.
But Gillian and his two competitors, Council members Keith Hartzell and Pete Madden, all said that Gillian’s personal finances should not be a campaign topic.
And voters apparently agreed. The unofficial results showed Gillian with 1,981 votes, Hartzell with 1,642 votes, and Council vice president Madden with 939.
“Today is so humbling,” Gillian said, standing with his wife, Michele Gillian, who is head of the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce. “If anything, what this election tells us is Ocean City does not like hate. They don’t like the ugliness. I think they could care less about our finances.”
The office pays $40,000 annually, raised in 2024 from $20,600.
Mita, the owner of the Icona chain of hotels, is the current owner of the property at 600 Boardwalk and has proposed a luxury seven-story hotel. The city has yet to move forward with his request to declare the site in need of rehabilitation.
Gillian said Tuesday night that the future of the site should be “whatever the community wants.” He said with the election behind it, the city should move quickly.
“I want something spectacular there,” he said in an earlier interview. “I don’t want a blighted property there. That property has been in my family for 62 years.”
At Prep’s Pizza on the Boardwalk, supporters of Hartzell awaited results, a full bar incongruously laid out on a table by the back wall (alcohol is allowed in this dry town for private parties).
Sam Lavner said he was torn between Gillian and Hartzell as, like many in this small town, he had personal connections to both.
“Jay’s done a very good job,” Lavner said. “He was kind to me when my wife died, so I’m forever grateful. But Keith’s been a close friend for a long time, and I also support his positions.”
Asked if the town was ready for change, he said, “Ocean City doesn’t like change.”
Hartzell contemplated his second straight loss to Gillian from a booth at Preps. “I thought I had a great campaign,” he said. “I wouldn’t change anything. I thought compromise with Wonderland is the way to go and creating more parking going forward, it’s the right thing to do.”
Nearby, Gillian’s supporters were upstairs at the Flanders Hotel, also with an open bar, as results were projected on screens at the front of the room. Gillian milled around nervously as results came in.
For his part, Madden picked up 10 pizzas from Prep’s for what he said would be an informal gathering at his house. “I’m applying for a job, not a title,” Madden said last week.
Gillian’s bankruptcy and various financial entanglements with Mita were highlighted by the Our Ocean City PAC, set up by residents opposed to the plan for the large luxury hotel on the site.
In particular, the group tried to call attention to a consulting agreement between Mita and Gillian that called for Gillian to receive $200,000 a year for 10 years once the Pier had closed. Mita also holds a $1 million mortgage for Gillian, and bought the property in 2021 for $14 million.
Mita says no money was ever paid under that consulting agreement because Gillian still owes him money on the leases to run the pier before it closed. The agreement had come to light as part of Gillian’s federal bankruptcy court case.
Gillian, 61, has denied that he stood to benefit from closing Wonderland.
In a debate earlier this month, sponsored by the Fideri News Network, Gillian said his personal finances were not relevant to his job performance as mayor, citing the city’s positive bond rating and reliable services.
If anything, he said at the debate, declaring bankruptcy has given him a perspective that many others are sharing in difficult economic times.
“It’s a process,” he said. “It’s a pause. It gets me and my family back on our feet again. It’s a shame that it gets vilified so much because so many people are having tough times right now, especially with small businesses.”
