By Bob Ingram That sainted Massachusetts politician Tip O’Neill said that all politics are local.
Nowhere is that more true than in Wildwood, a demographic anomaly that is at once a resort town, a small town, and a small town with, ironically, urban challenges.
And the incumbent slate of Byron-Leonetti-Troiano – BLT, as they are becoming known – has its success rooted in the fact that these three men are rooted in the community that is Wildwood. Pete Byron is in real estate. Tony Leonetti has a hardware store. Ernie Troiano, Jr. runs a cement company that literally helped build Wildwood. These guys are out there daily among the people they serve.
And when they’re in City hall, the BLT team is accessible. Their doors are open. They listen and react. It ain’t easy. This team inherited a lot of problems – fiscal and physical – from past administrations, and they’re making headway: taxes are under control, Pacific Avenue is on the move, nuisance properties are being addressed, and there’s a can-do attitude in City Hall. The BLT guys are making headway, but are abiding by the wise old adage: make haste slowly. Give them a second administration. They’ve earned it.
