The municipal election on May 8 will decide the four ward seats on the seven-member City Council. The winners will serve four-year terms.

Ocean City Patch asked each candidate to complete a questionnaire outlining biographical information, their platform and their stands on a handful of issues.

The questionnaire is presented here in the same format it was given to the candidates. There were no further instructions, and none of the responses has been edited (beyond basic proofreading and formatting). Readers can make their own judgments on how the candidates did or didn't answer the questions.

The candidates are as follows:

FIRST WARD (all addresses north of the north side of Fourth Street): Mike DeVlieger, Fred Hoffman

SECOND WARD (south side of Fourth Street to north side of 12th Street): Antwan McClellan (see below), John Quinn 

THIRD WARD (south side of 12th Street to north side of 26th Street): Steve Fenichel, Tony Wilson

FOURTH WARD (all addresses south of the south side of 26th Street and the Ocean Reef community off Tennessee Avenue): Peter Guinosso, Ed Price, Bart Russell 

ANTWAN MCCLELLAN

BIO INFORMATION:

Name: Antwan McClellan                     

Age: 37           

Address: Fourth Street and West Avenue

Education: Ocean City High School Class of 1993; Attended Virginia State University and Old Dominion University

No. of years lived in Ocean City: 37

Family:

• Parents: Lawrence and Cola Mae McClellan
• Youngest of six siblings — five attended and graduated from Ocean City High School

Occupation: Paralegal with the law firm Slater, Tenaglia, Fritz and Hunt P.A. in Ocean City

Public service:

• Current member of the Ocean City Board of Education
• Trustee with the Ocean City Historical Museum
• Volunteer with South Jersey Field of Dreams
• Founder and chairman of the Lawrence McClellan Scholarship Fund 

PLATFORM: 

What issues do you see as critical for the next four years?

Roads and drainage. Downtown.

What do you see as the biggest accomplishments and shortcomings of the existing City Council and city administration in the past four years?

The biggest accomplishment is maintaining services for our citizens.

What do you want voters to know about you and what you’ll bring to the table?

I'm committed to this community and dedicated to its progress.

ISSUES: 

YES-OR-NO QUESTIONS (one-word answers only, please):

I support allowing BYOB restaurants in Ocean City: No response

I support 2 percent annual salary increases for police, firefighters and public employees: No response

I support continued borrowing (bond ordinances) to pave more streets, improve drainage, dredge more channels and improve more parts of the city's infrastructure — even if it means the city and taxpayers will pay more in debt service: No response

I support the continuation of a local volunteer Ethics Board with broad powers to conduct investigations and pass judgment on city employees: No response

YES-OR-NO QUESTIONS (explanations … go ahead and provide rationale here, if you wish):

BYOB: This is presently up for the citizens to vote on. I personally think that is an issue that all citizens should review and voice their concerns.

Salary increases: Salary is part of the present union's bargaining agreement, and without all of the contract details, I can't answer that.

Borrowing for capital improvements: In order to continue paving or looking at a dredging program, I would have to consider the rates of the bond and how much present debt we are in before I can say what we should do.

Ethics Board: They are always good. It adds balance to any organization and government.