A day after the Day-After-Mother's Day nor'easter, voters in Ventnor did something as rare as that mid-May winter storm: they threw out the entire incumbent slate of Mayor and Commissioners. In an election literally watched from both sides of the Atlantic _ shout out Sal of Ventnor, Isle of Wight, UK _ not to mention boths sides of the Delaware River, longtime local figure Mayor Tim Kreischer, son of longtime local stalwart Pete Kreischer, and his team were overwhelmingly voted out of office after 16 years. The challengers rode a wave of discontent over high taxes and big projects, including the aforementioned dunes that took a beating in this week's storm, the not-quite-yet finished rebuilding of the iconic Ventnor Pier, the pretty and grand new library on Atlantic Avenue, which managed to find a design that while pleasing, doesn't really fit many more books than the old building, but has nice dance studios and an underused second floor. The failed redevelopment by eminent domain of the north end of town didn't help either. And don't get me started about the Peebles that finally took over the Bradley's empty box. Theresa Kelly, Steve Weintrob and John Piatt were the favorites of the second-home crowd (every Philly person on my block had their sign on their lawns), but by the end, they had won over enough locals as well. They cleverly took over the marquee of the old Ventnor movie theater _ a symbol of the failed redevelopment _ with their slogan: Enough is Enough. They have promised to make the fishing pier accessible to more than just the fisherman, and the government more efficient and open. Ok, now can someone please revive the movie theater?
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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on May 14, 2008 8:25 AM.
The previous post in this blog was Day after dune, missing its duneness.
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July 2008
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Comments (5)
Thanks for the update on results (and the shout out). Will be interesting to see how much things change now.
Sal, VentnorBlog, Isle of Wight, UK
Posted by Sal | May 14, 2008 9:22 AM
Posted on May 14, 2008 09:22
I'm upset about the Peebles as well...Not to mention the Super-sized Dollar Tree right next to it
Posted by Chris | May 14, 2008 9:25 AM
Posted on May 14, 2008 09:25
An added issue that surfaced in the campaign's final weeks might have been the plans for the dredge spoils facility on 12 acres of Ventnor West.
It was covered as a "hot issue" on our website the past month. The blueprints were rather eye-opening, once we got them.
As far as the Peebles and Dollar Tree, it's too bad that the originally announced plans by Bellevue (the owner) never materialized. Their makeover of the entire shopping center with a promenade and upscale stores relied heavily on a housing village going up next to it. Downdraft in the housing market ended those dreams.
I still think Ventnor demographics could have supported at least a Target store going up at that location.
Posted by JB & Gil & Paula | May 14, 2008 5:01 PM
Posted on May 14, 2008 17:01
An added issue that surfaced in the campaign's final weeks might have been the plans for the dredge spoils facility on 12 acres of Ventnor West.
It was covered as a "hot issue" on our website the past month. The blueprints were rather eye-opening, once we got them.
As far as the Peebles and Dollar Tree, it's too bad that the originally announced plans by Bellevue (the owner) never materialized. Their makeover of the entire shopping center with a promenade and upscale stores relied heavily on a housing village going up next to it. Downdraft in the housing market ended those dreams.
We still think Ventnor demographics could have supported at least a Target store going up at that location.
Posted by JB & Gil & Paula | May 14, 2008 5:02 PM
Posted on May 14, 2008 17:02
Right, we went from upscale lifestyle shopping complex to Peebles. Ventnor demographics could have totally supported a Target, a Home Depot, a Kohl's, a Trader Joe's, even. (Ok, maybe Trader Joe's would be a stretch, but that place would be packed all summer long.) This is a town with an affluent summer population and a year round crowd that supports a half dozen upscale first-rate restaurants. I walked through that Peebles, and demographics was what I thought about also. Did someone at Peebles really look at Ventnor and conclude that it was their kind of town? Depressing.
And good point about the dredge project.
Posted by Amy | May 14, 2008 5:11 PM
Posted on May 14, 2008 17:11