Freeholders Establish County Budget; Homeless Task Force Speaks Up

CREST HAVEN – Cape May County Freeholders passed a resolution March 10 designating the first full week of May each year as Coast Guard Community Week. The resolution was in recognition of the county’s designation as the nation’s second Coast Guard Community. The Freeholders presented a proclamation to Captain G. Todd Prestidge, commanding officer of the Cape May Coast Guard facility.
“Cape May is the Coast Guard’s hometown,” Prestidge said. The resolution also established May 8 through May 10 as dates for the Coast Guard Community Festival.
Freeholder Will Morey introduced the resolution and talked about the many individuals who had participated in the long effort to gain the designation. He especially thanked Cape May Mayor Edward Mahaney who, as co-chair with Morey of the task force that steered the effort, provided leadership and energy throughout the process.
Freehold Director Gerald Thornton spoke to the many benefits that accrue to the county from its historical relationship with the Coast Guard.
Last May at Cape May Convention Hall, a ceremony put a public face on the county’s application to the Coast Guard. Soon to retire Coast Guard Commandant Robert J. Papp spoke of the long relationship between the service and Cape May and assured the audience that the designation was going to be approved. At that event, Mahaney focused on the importance of the Coast Guard to the local economy when he said, “Tourism is number one, but the Coast Guard base is number two.”
Following the freeholder’s meeting, Mahaney said plans were underway to “personalize” the resolution by having each municipality add to it through local resolutions. Prestige remarked, “Every service has a place that is known as home. For the Coast Guard that place is Cape May. We have all come through here.”
2015 Final Budget
With no public comment on the resolution, the Freeholders established a county budget of $142.1 million for 2015. A persistent loss of ratables over several years, low interest returns on county investments, and increasing needs in areas of public health and safety all played factors in driving the budget. The 2015 budget represents an increase of about $3 million in county spending over last year.
Thornton thanked Treasurer Francine Springer and county department heads for the hard work required to get a budget that addresses growing needs while minimizing the increase in the tax rate for county residents.
County’s Homeless
Denise Venturini of the Cape May County Homeless Task Force used the public comment period to raise concerns about meeting the needs of the county’s homeless. Choosing this night when the county approved its budget for 2015, Venturini said it was time to think about the next budget and the needs of the homeless.
Speaking on behalf of volunteers who regularly work with the homeless, Venturini specifically stressed the need for a van to provide transportation when homeless individuals need to be taken for medical treatment or appointments at county Social Services. She presented the Freeholders with a proposed budget for a van to be used by the task force. The estimate annual costs came to just under $13,000.
A number of homeless individuals then took their turn at the lectern asking, as one individual put it, “not for a hand out, but a hand up.”
Comments ranged over issues of red tape, exploitation by unscrupulous landlords who take advantage of those able to pay, limits on time in protected areas during code blue situations, and the difficulties of dealing with an overburdened social services department.
Freeholder Kristine Gabor, who oversees the county Health and Human Services, had social services staff present to meet with individuals following the meeting. She spoke of the county’s desire to help and of the need to have issues brought to the attention of county officials. “If we don’t know about specific problems, we cannot address them,” she said.
Thornton admitted “the system is challenged” but Gabor also stressed the need for individuals “to participate in saving themselves.” Thornton cited the fact that many times individuals call the county hot line to report themselves as homeless but then fail to show up for appointments to get help.
Venturini sees the advocates and volunteers who are part of the task force as the necessary link in that chain. “We make sure that the people we work with keep their appointments,” she said. She pointed to the connection between those efforts and the need for the van.
The fact that many of the individuals who brought their stories to the Freeholders came from Wildwood prompted Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano to speak of the high level of poverty in Wildwood. He tried to send a message to any homeless individuals who think of Wildwood as a place to get a job.
“Don’t come to Wildwood,” Troiano spoke passionately about the lack of employment in Wildwood outside of the summer season. “There are no jobs in Wildwood in the off season,” he said repeatedly.
The meeting ended but left in its wake a strong sense of the many difficulties the county and municipalities face in dealing with the extreme examples of poverty and dislocation in the context of a seasonal, tourism based economy.
Gabor made clear the county’s commitment to weeding out fraud and ensuring that assistance gets to those who truly need it.
For more information on the Homeless Task Force, or to find out how you can help, call Lisa Brocco-Collia at 410-1573.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.