Mayors of Sea Bright (1889-present)
Mayors of the Borough of Sea Bright, NJ:
1896 Sea Bright logo
Mayor Term of Office
• Peter L Cruser 1889 – 1890
• Robert P. Blair 1890 – 1891
• Charles L. Walters 1892 – 1893
• Dr. James J. Reed 1894 – 1895
• P. Hall Packer 1895 – 3/1901
• George W. Elliott 3/1901 – 1905
• John W. Eyles 1906 – 1907
• P. Hall Packer 1908 – 4/1909
• James H. Johnson 5/1909 – 1909
• Charles V. Shropshire 1910 – 1911
• George W. Elliot 1912 – 1916
• John W. Eyles 1916 – 11/1917
• John Storer 11/1917 – 1917
• P. Hall Packer 1918 – 1922
• Thomas J. Sweeney 1922 – 1922
• William R. Fowler 1922 – 1923
• P. Hall Packer 1924 – 2/1924
• Sharon D. Barber 1924 – 1925
• William R. Fowler 1925 – 1926
• Philip Walton 1927 – 1931
• William R. Fowler 1932 – 1935
• Walter J. Sweeney 1936 – 1943
• Thomas J. Farrell 1944 – 1951
• George H. Krauss 1952 – 1954
• Thomas J. Farrell 1954 – 1964
• Frank Van Duzer 1964 – 1968
• Cecile F. Norton 1968 – 1987
• Andrew B. Manning 1988 – 12/1988
• Charles R. Rooney, Jr. 1989 – 1999
• Gregory Harquail 1999 – 2004
• JoAnn Kalaka Adams 2004 – 2008
• Maria D. Fernandes 2008 – 2012
• Dina Long 2012 – 2020
• Brian P. Kelly 2020 – Present
(Note: Sea Bright mayors were elected to 2-year terms of office from 1897 to 1971; state law changed it to 4-years as it stands today).
SB Mayor Notes:
• Peter Cruser was Sea Bright’s first “Mayor” — appointed to the position in May 1889. Selected from among the borough’s new 7-member commission, the term was for one-year. Peter Hall Packer was the first popularly elected mayor — in March 1897. Given the job by the voters, it was for a two-year term. The mayor’s term of office was changed to four years in 1971.
• One of Sea Bright’s most colorful and pivotal leaders was Peter Hall Packer (in fact, he lived in Rumson on Packer Avenue). Born July 1853 in Neshanic, NJ on his father’s farm, he moved to Sea Bright in 1876 and started in the lumber business. From there he became a “prime-mover” in local real estate. Over 20+ years, he helped Sea Bright grow from a tiny fishing village to one of the shore’s finest summer resorts. Borough mayor for several terms, when he died in February 1924 he was still leading the borough. His motto: “Sea Bright must be kept on the map at any cost.”
• Several people have won multiple elections for Sea Bright mayor. The borough’s longest serving leaders were all Democrats: Charles Rooney and Cecile Norton both did 20 years as mayor and Thomas Farrell held the post for 18 years. P. Hall Packer did four separate stints as mayor and William Fowler did three.
• A father-son duo were elected Sea Bright mayors. Both were Democrats — Thomas Sweeney (was elected in 1922 and died in office that year) and his son, Walter Sweeney (was elected to three terms during WWII times before dying in 1949).
• After a recount of 244 ballots in the March 1889 race for mayor, incumbent P. Hall Packer beat future mayor Charles W. Elliott by one vote. In the May 2008 Sea Bright mayor’s race, incumbent Republican Mayor JoAnn Kalaka Adams was unseated by Democrat Maria Fernandes by 3 votes out of nearly 550 cast.
• Regrettably, most borough residents don’t know the Fowler name. They should — the family gave to Sea Bright more than most. William R. Fowler, Sr. began his public service as a Sea Bright councilman in January 1909. He actually won his seat on a coin-toss, after a 148-148 vote tie with an incumbent. Fowler remained on council until becoming mayor in 1922. Elected to three mayoral terms, he was in and out of office until 1936 (borough mayors served 2-year terms then). He was also a school board member for over 25 years and a charter borough fireman and a chief. The father of 14 children, he died in October 1941 but set a good example. His son, William R. Fowler, Jr. was a pioneer businessman and active civic leader — serving as three-term borough councilman, fire chief, school board president, bank director, and church trustee. In October 1944, he acquired an Ocean Avenue building and small business (between River Street and South Street) and made “Fowler’s of Sea Bright” into one of the state’s “biggest independent stores of its kind” upon his January 1968 death. Louis Tocci, Sr. acquired the property and business in 1969 and the family retains ownership.
• A true force in Sea Bright politics for a quarter-century was Mayor Thomas Farrell. First winning a council seat as a Democrat in 1938, he was elected mayor of Sea Bright in 1943 and held that top office all the way through 1963 (excepting 1951-53). A Jersey City native, proud and hardworking, Farrell was a cargo longshoreman and racetrack mutual clerk. He died in December 1984 (his grandson is John Farrell, who managed the Boston Red Sox to a World Series championship in 2013).
• The first woman mayor of Sea Bright (serving from 1968 to 1988), Cecile F. Norton was also a board of education and borough council member. On winning a council seat in 1960 she credited soon-to-be president, JFK. “Impeccably groomed, cordial, pleasantly feminine, politically shrewd and well-versed,” was how the November 1967 Long Branch Daily Record described the new mayor after she knocked-off two-term incumbent Frank Van Duzer (by a 339-308 vote). Born in New Orleans, she moved to town in 1939. A former state Democratic committee member and Monmouth County Freeeholder, Norton died in July 1988. Her brother Gus Levy was a former CEO of Goldman Sachs. “Develop an alligator hide against criticism and be a good listener,” was Mayor Norton’s advice to women who want to serve in public life, according to a June 1974 profile in the Newark Star-Ledger.
