It’s Up to the People

Abraham Lincoln said, “With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it, nothing can succeed.” Let’s take a look at what he said in today’s context here in a Cape May County. What type of a future do we want? And let’s further ask, if you were an elected official here, how would we get answers to that question?  Ask people you know? Get input at public meetings? Read the papers? Follow social media? All of these things help, but…
…The fact is, to a great measure, our county is economically failing to thrive, and we are losing population, whereas healthy things grow. We cannot just sit on our hands and cry and moan. So what do we do? We do what we can think to do, and tomorrow, we do a little more.  To that end, there is a group which formed eight years ago by the late Fred Coldren, Tom Flud and me, which proactively digs into matters around the county. We call ourselves Cape Issues, and we gather monthly to research and bring clarity to some of the subjects which we have identified.
The team has grown since those first years, so let me introduce you to the people, along with the areas each is involved in. While we work on all the topics as a group, others of us focus in specific areas. So here we are:
Bob Grace, focusing on the Completion of Route 55
Jon Gibson, drilling down into Tax Assessment and Collection
Tom Henry and Rusty Miller deal with Education and Training
Peter Jespersen — Police and Fire Central Dispatching
Larry Kratzer  — Aquaculture
Skip Michael — Community Matters and the Coast Guard Community
Barbara Wilson – Homelessness and the Workforce Development Board
Kate Wyatt — Governmental Planning and Best Practices
Peter Jespersen and Jeff Vecere — Biking and Bike Paths
Peter Jespersen and Rusty Miller — UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems):
Economic Development:  An overarching theme embracing much of the above
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If Abraham Lincoln was right when he said, “With public sentiment, nothing can fail,” then all we have to do is do our best. 
We solicit your help. It’s fun; and the more of us contributing our thoughts and energy, the stronger our community becomes. Please email any one of us listed above; send to: capeissues@cmcherald.com. We are non-partisan; and while it is non-paid work, the non-monetary rewards are great!
Art Hall
From the Bible:  The plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.  From Psalm 33