League of Municipalities Installs Officers, Hears Van Drew, Thornton Give Updates

WOODBINE – Stone Harbor Council member Joan Kramar added a new title Jan. 26 when she became president of the Cape May County League of Municipalities. She and other officers took their oaths from Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-1st) at Dionysus Restaurant.
Assisting Kramar this year will be Lower Township Councilman Erik Simonsen, vice president, Woodbine Councilman David Bennett, second vice president, Sea Isle City Council member William Kehner, treasurer and Middle Township Administrator Connie Mahon.
Van Drew delivered a brief overview of key legislation affecting the district. He introduced newly-sworn Assemblyman Bruce Land (D-1st).
Freeholder Director Gerald Thornton, who had only hours prior overseen the introduction of the county’s $151.1-million 2016 budget, briefed the officials on the spending plan and its overall impact, $218 per $100,000 of assessed value to property owners.
That budget, he said, was up about 6 percent over the previous year, due in great measure to the assumption of the Department of Social Services, formerly the Board of Social Services. That bump, however, will be offset by 66 percent with grants that fund the department’s operations.
Executive Director Joseph Rizzuto of the Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority explained the present state of electronics collection and recycling, which has stalled in large measure, due to a drop in funding. Regardless, he said, the MUA will continue to collect and stockpile those cast-off items until funds become available or the market revives.
As an internal matter, Kramar said one of her orders of business this year will be a review and possible revision of the league’s bylaws. One reason, she noted, was that they still refer only to males, and contain a long-outdated annual dues figure.