Todd Kieninger News Today

Wildwood has a new mayor, sort of, with the return of former Mayor Ernie Troiano to the top seat at the Wednesday reorganization of the Board of Commissioners.

With three facing state indictment, 14 candidates for three seats on the Wildwood Board of Commissioners made their pitch to voters Tuesday. Among the issues was whether a boom in development was out of control or a good sign for the city.

With Wildwood’s three-person governing body now down to two, local questions on elected officials under indictment resonate statewide and nationally.

The timing of Pete Byron’s resignation as mayor Thursday may have initially seemed random, but that was the deadline given him by the state Attorney General’s Office, according to Wildwood Administrator Steve O’Connor.

Old rivalries, new alliances and three candidates running under the cloud of a state indictment will roil the waters of a crowded race for three seats on the Wildwood Board of Commissioners.