Team Avalon 2025: Three Borough Council Members Are Back On The Ballot

The Team Avalon 2025 theme is simple:

Keep the ball rolling.

Avalon rides a wave of administrative success as Council President Mari Coskey, Councilman Jamie McDermott and Councilman Greg “Chet” Johnson prepare to assume new four-year posts. They run unopposed in the May 13 election. Council Vice President Barbara Juzaitis and Councilman Sam Wierman round out the five-member group.

The council played a major role ensuring Avalon’s proposed 2025 budget featured no tax-rate increase for the second straight year and for 11 of the last 12.

Within that framework, Avalon still finances capital improvement projects. That includes one for beach sand backpassing and a living shoreline pilot project at the new Bay Park Marina. The living shoreline is secured by a $1 million federal grant. The borough website reports that the project will result in 750 feet of vegetated shoreline that includes native and pollinator plantings to stabilize the shoreline and a barrier to protect nesting terrapin turtles. The Bay Park Marina project will be significantly completed in May, just in time for the summer season.

Here’s a closer look at the candidates looking to continue Avalon’s winning formula in their next four-year terms.

Mari Coskey

Coskey, who won her first Council post in 2021, hails the leadership of those who forged Avalon’s business template through the years.

One of its principles is to budget for projects ahead of time, reducing the chance that a future expense will hit local taxpayers hard.

Avalon pays cash or makes a significant down payment on most capital projects, which reduces short-term borrowing and eliminates long-term debt. This principle has been a staple here for many years.

“We were lucky to inherit a wonderful business model,” Coskey says. “It was gold. We are able to capitalize on the foresight of those who came before us and ensure the same level of thoughtfulness for the people we serve.”

Among recent innovations, Coskey touts the council’s role in making meetings more accessible to the public via livestreaming.

Besides her council role, Coskey sits on the Recreation Committee and has volunteered for years with local charity Friend In Need.

Coskey works as the coordinator for Special Education Services for the Avalon and Stone Harbor schools and as the district’s speech language pathologist.

Mari and her husband, Mike, are raising their two young children in Avalon and are invested and engaged in the community. Mike is a lifelong Avalon native. The couple have been Avalon homeowners since 2014.

Greg “Chet” Johnson

Johnson previously served as chairman of the Avalon Planning and Zoning Board. He and his wife, Sandy, have been married for 45 years and all six of their children graduated from Avalon Elementary School.

Johnson serves on the Recreation and the Public Works & Utilities committees.

He also has extensive expertise in digital marketing, public speaking, budget and finance, and motivational training.

Family roots run deep here for him, nearly 100 years. This fifth-generation tie centers around one home.

“Sandy’s great-grandfather lived on the exact piece of land we live on now, going back to 1929,” Johnson says. “We have lived here, my parents do now as we are taking care of them, and we have 18 grandkids swimming in the bay. Think of all those generations of family, right here. It’s wonderful.”

Some family characteristics carry over into effective government. Johnson believes borough leadership mirrors the financial practice employed by savvy homeowners.

“If you don’t have the money, don’t spend it,” he asserts. “That’s showing good responsibility with finances. Even with the inflation of the last three to four years, we have been able to keep this level of government up and keep the taxes where they are.

“This starts with the mayor and extends to the business administrator and the council. There is good diversity among council members. There are no personal agendas. In any meeting, we are asking, ‘Is this a good investment? Is this good for the town? Is this good for everybody?’”

Jamie McDermott

McDermott and his family have been summering in Avalon since 1964. In 1985, Jamie and his wife Susan purchased their Avalon home, deepening their connection to the area.

McDermott served as chair of the Avalon Planning and Zoning Board from 2019 through June 2021 and has been a member of Borough Council since July 2021, focusing on maintaining fiscal responsibility within the Borough.

He is a dedicated member of the Avalon Environmental Commission, the Historical Society, and the Public Safety Committee. Jamie and his family also enjoy their involvement with the Avalon Lions, the Avalon Fishing Club, and the Avalon Yacht Club.

Jamie and Susan have been married 43 years. They have two daughters, both Avalon homeowners, and four grandchildren. He’s retired after serving as the executive director of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority.

This allowed McDermott to deepen his service to Avalon.

“What’s magic about Avalon to me is that this is a wonderful family place,” he says. “I don’t think there’s anything like it anywhere. Everyone is safe, the kids can be out and the parents don’t have to worry about where they are.

“We have fine schools for raising children, and this is not just a summer place.”

To that end, McDermott stresses some unseen or little-noticed deeds accomplished via Borough leadership. One is the infrastructure improvements of installing larger sewer pipes – allowing water to drain off far more quickly – and both the raising and building of bulkheads.

“There are things that have to be done every year and it’s a cost,” he says. “Some of it will not be seen by the taxpayers, but they are important. I can’t say enough about the staff of the people in Avalon government. They are terrific, genuine people who care so much about the town.”

McDermott also hails the Thursday night summer concert series, which drew approximately 1,200 people to Surfside Park each week last summer. The 2025 campaign kicks off June 19 with Sensational Soul Cruisers and runs until Sept. 4.