RIO GRANDE — Incumbents Gerald Thornton and Ralph Bakley, Sr. point this electoral season to experience and their record on the county freeholder board in their bid for reelection Nov. 6.
“We are running an absolutely positive campaign,” said Thornton.
They both point to the county’s recent surplus and return of over $2 million to taxpayers this year in the form of grants for municipal projects, which he said was the first time a county returned a budget surplus to taxpayers in New Jersey.
“I hope we can continue the program,” said Thornton.
Thornton, elected county freeholder in 1995, and a freeholder from 1976 to 1987, has served as director of Health and Human Services, overseeing the Department of Aging, Board of Social Services, Crest Haven Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Health Department, Human Services, Retired and Senior Volunteer Program and the Veterans’ Bureau. He also serves as liaison to various county human services agencies in his capacity as director.
This was the first county in New Jersey to have a veterans services officer, Thornton said, beginning in 1946.
Thornton points to the Fare Free Transportation program and the awards it has received since it started with one bus in Villas 25 years ago.
Regarding the elderly, he points to several accomplishments which include building the county’s newest Senior Center in Lower Township, expansion of the Meals On Wheels Program and a new senior center planned for Ocean City.
“It’s so important to provide socialization (for the elderly),” he said. “All the studies show it helps seniors stay healthier.”
It’s not only better for the individual, it’s better for the community, he said, as it saves dollars spent on nursing facility care. It costs $50,000 to $60,000 per year for nursing care in a nursing facility, Thornton said, in contrast to the $12,000 per year it costs for home health care. The county offers a “continuum of care” which coordinates health and social needs of seniors when they are released from Crest Haven Nursing Home.
Thornton answered his opponents’ points on the county failing to approve the prosecutor’s office’s funding request this year. Democrats have been vocal in their criticism of the board over the issue.
“This is my 24th or 25th budget,” said Thornton. “I’ve never before questioned a law enforcement budget and the only reason I had to question it was because it was … $3 million for the first year and $10 million over three years.”
He said the office received funding for nine new positions this year and that the issue went to the courts over the funding controversy because the prosecutor was not forthcoming in providing the information the board needed to justify the additional positions and such a large increase.
Thornton attended Kellogg Community College and the University of Maryland Overseas Extension. An 11-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Thornton attended technical schools including Air Traffic Controller, Space Tracking and Telemetry, Automatic Radar, Management and Supervision and Non-Commissioned Officers Academy.
A former member of the Board of Elections for eight years, he was a member of the Presidential Electoral College in 1980. He holds membership in the South Jersey Freeholders’ Association, American Legion Post 193, county Union League, AARP, Villas Fishing Club, Local 18 AFL-CIO, state Association of Counties and is a former member of Rotary and Optimist. He lives in Court House.
Ralph Bakley, Sr. was elected to the freeholder board in 2003. He has been a member of the Lower Township Board of Education for 39 years and is a past-president, and is past-president of the county School Board Association.
He serves as the director of Education, Library and Consumer Affairs and oversees the Election Board, the County Library, County Museum, the Surrogate’s Office, the Tax Board, Consumer Affairs/Weights and Measures, and the county Superintendent of Schools. He is liaison to various educational and cultural agencies in the county.
He is proud of the county Technical School here.
“The curriculum there is second-to-none,” he said.
He said the school’s focus on both academics and the trades is geared to keeping young people in the working environment in the county. A course in law enforcement at the school qualifies students to be certified as Class II police officers.
Bakley has a law enforcement background. He is a retired K-9 handler with the Cape May Police Department and was an instructor at the State Police Academy.
When asked why the county this year challenged the prosecutor’s budget request, he said he couldn’t understand why the request was so large.
“As a retired law enforcement officer with 30 years of service I recognize the needs of law enforcement,” he said, and added that, regarding the prosecutor’s office funding issue, he couldn’t understand why the previous prosecutor for a year and a half never expressed that he needed any new positions and/or funding.
Bakley said the proposed Stone Harbor library will be state-of-the-art.
“These (current facililties) are small and not up-to-date,” he said.
Bakley said he also understands the needs of seniors in the county.
“I have common sense and I’m a taxpayer myself, retired and on a fixed income,” he said.
Bakley, 73, also served in the United States Air Force as a Staff Sergeant and a member of the Air Police Ceremonial Group. He is a member of the South Jersey Freeholders’ Association and the state Asociation of Counties. He was a Cape May City Lifeguard from 1950 to 1962. He has served as president of the state K-9 Association and was a former president and current member of the Police Benevolent Association Local 59 and the Cape May Kiwanis, as well as a 35-year member of the Cape Island Masonic Lodge.
Contact Avedissian at (609) 886-8600 Ext 27 or at: savedissian@cmcherald.com.
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