Carney, Casper Win Stone Harbor Council Seats

Posted November 13th 2023

Tim Carney and incumbent Robin Casper, Republicans who ran unopposed in the Nov. 7 general election, have won the two available three-year terms on the Stone Harbor Borough Council.

Of the 570 votes cast, Carney received 268 (47.02%), Casper got 176 (30.88%), and 126 (22.11%) went to write-ins. There were 57 early voters, 363 people who voted in-person on election day, and 150 mail-in votes.

Carney, originally from King of Prussia, Pa., has lived in Stone Harbor for 15 years. He holds a degree in finance from Penn State and serves as vice president of a healthcare technology company.

He has been a member of the Stone Harbor Zoning Board for two years, and serves with the Stone Harbor Fire Company. Carney also is a member of the Yacht Club of Stone Harbor, is active in the Sons of the American Legion, and serves as lead vocalist and guitar player in a local band, The Seabillys.

“I love our town and I want to ensure that it is managed properly,” he said.

Carney wants to help restore fiscal discipline to Stone Harbor and mentions it has the highest debt payments of all 17 municipalities in Cape May County. He plans to help restore Stone Harbor’s flood rating, hold the line on tax increases, and collaborate with other council members on investments in the borough’s beaches and bays.

Casper has a long history with Stone Harbor, having attended Stone Harbor Elementary School before moving on to Middle Township High School. Originally from North Wildwood, her family’s introduction to Stone Harbor came when her parents purchased the Colonial Lodge in 1966. Her mother, Marlene Casper, who celebrated her 90th birthday in May, is the last original founding member of the Garden Club of Stone Harbor.

After graduating from Villanova with a degree in communications in 1984, Casper spent six years working for General Electric in Valley Forge as a systems definition analyst before starting a family and becoming a stay-at-home mom for her sons Mark and Luke. In 2016, after more than 30 years living in Pennsylvania, she returned to Stone Harbor.

“I take my job on Borough Council very seriously,” she says. “Stone Harbor is a small town with big issues. We must become much more fiscally responsible and determine the distinction between wants and needs.”

Her primary responsibilities throughout her first term on council include chairing the Natural Resources and Go Green committees, and serving as the Borough liaison to the Museum and Bird Sanctuary. She “enthusiastically support[s] more open space/less density; vibrant beaches, dunes and waterways; native landscapes; water conservation; natural lawn and garden care; kindness to all wildlife; and preserving irreplaceable history wherever possible.”

Casper’s interest in local government was sparked when she joined the Go Green Committee in 2019. “In that timeframe, I began feeling the desire to be a voice for my town,” she said.