Boro mayor will face challenge

SEA BRIGHT - Mayoral and Borough Council elections will take place in the borough in November, with three incumbent office holders facing challenges.

Incumbent Mayor Jo-Ann Kalaka- Adams, a Republican, will be challenged in the race for mayor by Councilwoman Maria Fernandes, a Democrat.

This will be the second time Kalaka- Adams is being challenged by a member of the council.

In the 2003 election, Kalaka-Adams was a first-time mayoral candidate and won the seat over Independent candidate and former Councilman Andrew Mencinsky.

Fernandes was first elected to the council in 1997, and this election will be her first run for mayor. If elected, she will serve a four-year term.

Republican incumbents Councilman Brian Kelly and Councilwoman Peggy Bills are both seeking re-election to threeyear terms.

Bills, who ran unsuccessfully for council in 2004, was appointed on Dec. 5, 2004, to fill the remainder of former Councilman Clark W. Craig's term, which would have expired in December of this year. Craig resigned because he was moving out of town.

Running again for a seat on the council is Democrat Susana Markson, who took almost 24 percent of the total vote in the 2004 election.

According to county Clerk of Elections Bertha Sumick, Democrat Charlie Rooney III has withdrawn as a council candidate.