Four Wildwood City Council members have called a special meeting for tonight to consider whether a fellow council member legally qualifies to hold office.

The session begins at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 16860 Main Street. Council Members Ed Marshall, Robert Mabry, Cliff Albers, and Joe Farmer called the meeting themselves under Section 3.8(b) of the city charter, a rarely used provision that lets council members convene without the mayor's involvement.

The agenda has one item: whether a sitting member meets the eligibility requirements in Section 3.6 of the charter. Under Wildwood's municipal code, a council member must be a registered voter and a resident of the ward they represent. The council serves as its own judge of those qualifications.

The city has not publicly identified which member faces the challenge or what specific qualification is in dispute. The published agenda does not include the item's full text, though it references "appropriate action" the council could take.

The meeting comes just 30 days after the April 7 municipal election, which re-elected Mabry in Ward 2 and Farmer in Ward 4 and seated new members Phil Owen (Ward 1), Chris Means (Ward 5), and Tim Kummer (Ward 8).

Mabry and Farmer, two of the four members who called tonight's meeting, won their races last month.

Wildwood's 16-member council needs nine votes to pass an ordinance. If the council finds a member unqualified, Section 3.5 of the charter provides a process for declaring the seat vacant, which could shift the balance on contested votes.

Residents can attend in person, watch the livestream at cityofwildwood.com/1924/Livestream, or join via Zoom (Webinar ID: 452 669 612). The next regular council meeting is Monday, May 11.