COURT HOUSE– Republican Freeholder candidates Gerald M. Thornton and Susan Sheppard today announced their plan for government reform and job creation for Cape May County: CMC21 – A Positive Vision for Cape May County in the 21st Century.
“We are already a decade into the 21st century,” said Sue Sheppard “It is time we had a unified plan for government reform and job creation. Our CMC21 plan will allow all of our elected officials to come together and agree on ways to reduce property taxes and share government services. CMC21 also contains a visionary jobs creation component that will bring high-paying, year ’round jobs to Cape May County.”
Jerry Thornton said, “Having Sue Sheppard on the Freeholder Board with me will allow us to break out of our traditional mind set and really move forward with a new vision for Cape May County. Simple things like a convention of county, local and school officials and the creation of incentives for businesses to locate in Cape May County can and should be done now.”
CMC21 – A Positive Vision for Cape May County in the 21st Century
Jerry Thornton and Sue Sheppard believe that leadership requires a vision for the future. Our elected officials are expected not only to manage the current operations of government, but also to be proactive in forging plans for the future that will lead to government reform and job creation. With that in mind, Thornton and Sheppard have personally spoken to hundreds of Cape May County residents in the past several weeks to ask them about their vision for the future. Almost universally, Cape May County residents believe that there should be greater cooperation between the County and local governments and school boards in order to reduce costs and lower taxes. Voters also want to see a real plan for economic growth and job creation that leads to year ’round, high-wage jobs.
In order to acheive the goals of the people of Cape May County, Jerry Thornton and Sue Sheppard present an outline of CMC21 – A Positive Vision for Cape May County in the 21st Century.
Governmental Reform and Tax Reduction
When elected, Thornton and Sheppard will organize and convene a convention of all government officials of Cape May County, including county, local and school officials, to discuss ways to share services, consolidate where possible, eliminate duplicated services and work in a coordinated fashion to lower property taxes and reduce red tape. By bringing together all the taxing authorities under one roof to communicate directly and brainstorm solutions that will help cut property taxes, the convention will serve as the model for every other county in the state. It will be held at the Wildwoods Convention Center and would be the first of its kind. It will lay the foundation for broad government reform for decades to come.
Economic Growth and Job Creation
The Thornton-Sheppard CMC21 plan will focus on the Cape May County airport and its great potential as a business park. It has been a decade since the County of Cape May leased the airport to the Delaware River and Bay Authority with the promise of new businesses and new jobs for the people of Cape May County. It is time to deliver on those promises. Jerry Thronton and Sue Sheppard, as Freeholders, will work with local officials and state government to create incentives for businesses to locate at the airport. Our region is about to see incredible growth in the area of solar and wind energy infrastructure. Let us go out and attract the businesses that manufacture, sell, install and service those components. Let’s give them incentives to bring their high-paying, clean jobs to our county so that our people can find full time, year ’round employement here at home. There is also great potential to attract businesses that will enhance and support the Port of Cape May, one of the East Coast’s largest fishing ports. Only by having the vision and leadership to do what it takes to work with the DRBA to attract these businesses will we see the great potential of the Cape May County Airport for economic growth in Cape May County realized.
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