The Mayor of the City of Ocean City is the head of the

executive branch The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a State (polity), state. In poli ...

of government of Ocean City, New Jersey, United States. Since Ocean City was chartered as a borough in 1884, 22 individuals have held the office of mayor. Four mayors served two or more non-consecutive terms. Gainer P. Moore was the inaugural mayor of the city, who served on three separate occasions for a total of ten years. The current mayor is Jay Gillian, who was first elected in May 2010, and re-elected in 2014, 2018, and 2022.

History

Beginning in 1879, when the Lake Brothers founded a Christian retreat on the island, the Ocean City Association handled official business, which continued in this capacity until 1884. Based on a referendum on April 30, 1884, the borough of Ocean City was formed from portions of Upper Township, following an act of the

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...

on May 3, 1884. At this time, the town was governed by a mayor and four members of a City Council. On March 31, 1890, the borough of Ocean City was reincorporated. On March 25, 1897, Ocean City was again reincorporated, this time as a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

. At this time, the City Council expanded to six members. In 1911, Ocean City switched to a

city commission government City commission government is a form of local government in the United States. In a city commission government, voters elect a small commission, typically of five to seven members, typically on a plurality-at-large voting basis. These commissione ...

, in which voters picked three commissioners, with one designated as mayor. On July 1, 1978, Ocean City switched to a mayor–council form of government, in which there are seven council members, and a directly-elected mayor.

Mayors

Higher offices held

The following is a list of higher public offices held by mayors, before or after their mayoral term(s).

References

{{Ocean City, New Jersey Ocean City, New Jersey O