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Absecon council appoints Michael Sykes to Ward 1 seat and approves broad consent agenda
Summary
At its Jan. 2 reorganization meeting, the Absecon City Council appointed Michael Sykes to fill the vacant Ward 1 seat and approved a consent agenda (items 3–35) including professional services contracts, multiple board appointments and several police hires.
The Absecon City Council on Jan. 2 voted to fill the Ward 1 vacancy by appointing Michael Sykes and approved a lengthy consent agenda that included professional services contracts, board appointments and multiple police hires.
A municipal Republican committee submitted three recommended candidates to the council; following a nomination and a roll-call vote, council approved Resolution 01225 to appoint Michael Sykes to the Ward 1 seat. Mayor Thomas Maron administered the oath of office to Sykes after the vote. "I just want to say thank you to the rest of council for the vote of confidence," Michael Sykes said after being sworn in.
The council also moved and approved the consent agenda (items 3–35). The items listed on the consent agenda included adopting the 2025 schedule of regular meetings; awarding professional-services contracts for the city attorney, labor attorney, public defender, municipal prosecutor, city planner, bond counsel and city auditor; designating the tax assessor as the agent for adjustment appeals; setting interest and penalty rates on unpaid taxes; adopting a cash-management plan and establishing a 2025 temporary budget for the current fund and sewer utility fund. The agenda further included appointments and reappointments to the planning and zoning boards, designating official newspapers, appointing fund commissioners to the Atlantic County Joint Insurance Fund, authorizing the tax collector to participate in an electronic tax sale, and a set of personnel appointments that included multiple full-time police and patrol officers.
Council members recorded their votes by roll call; the transcript shows affirmative votes from members present at the time of each motion. Separately, the council approved a mayoral resolution (2025-02) reappointing an emergency management coordinator, James Eberwine.
The actions replenish council membership and put in place the professional, financial and personnel arrangements the city will rely on during 2025. The mayor then took the dais to deliver a State of the City address and the council proceeded with committee assignments and other ceremonial business before adjourning.
The council opened the floor to the public but closed public comment after a brief period with no substantive remarks recorded in the meeting transcript. The meeting adjourned following routine motions.
