CAPE MAY POINT — Sitting at the continent’s edge, Cape May Point may be vulnerable to the ocean and Mother Nature, but the new Borough Commission has a firm footing for the future term rooted in experience.
“We’re vulnerable; we get the good and the bad, and we have to be very conscious of that,” Mayor Anita VanHeeswyk said. “We get all the beauty that [this location] gives us, too.”
VanHeeswyk, Suzanne Yunghans and Elise Geiger were sworn in during the Jan. 15 reorganization meeting. Geiger will serve as deputy mayor.
“I think everything is great for Cape May Point,” VanHeeswyk said. “We’re on strong footing financially, the beaches are in great shape and there is something special about [the town].”
Despite the commission having its first all-female officials for the first time, the group believes that gender doesn’t matter.
“To me, it’s competent people and four competent people who just happen to be women ran for office,” Geiger said. “My hope is that even the next time around, we’re such inspirations that people, men or women, step up and want to give time and effort and give back to the community.”
Yunghans agreed with Geiger that it is up to whoever is willing to put in time and be present.
“At the same time, I’m grateful to serve with these two women and grateful that we have such a great time.”
VanHeeswyk told the Star and Wave that this was not the first time she had been asked about being a woman on the commission.
“In 2008, I was asked about being the first woman elected commissioner in Cape May Point,” VanHeeswyk said. “I think women are equally as capable for doing jobs as men and I didn’t want to be singled out for that.”
Commissioners’ backgrounds
VanHeeswyk has lived in the Point since the 1960s, and this year marks 17 years on the commission.
“There is nothing I can’t handle; that’s why I ran again,” she said. “Things are not new to me and things may pop up within each category, but I’ve dealt with it before. The town looks beautiful.”
Preserving the town for her grandchildren is essential to VanHeeswyk’s service.
Geiger moved to the borough from northern New Jersey, where she had “a pretty successful career in pharmaceutical management on the executive level. As deputy mayor, she will oversee the safety and public affairs departments and serve as a class III member of the Planning Board.
Yunghans will oversee the Public Works Department and VanHeeswyk will continue to oversee the revenue and finance departments.
“My background was the executive director of a large non-profit in Pennsylvania for 30-plus years,” Yunghans said. “That [position] gave me expertise I felt I could contribute [to the commission].”
While the women are newcomers to the commission, the borough is not new to them. Yunghans has lived in the Point full time since 2017 and Geiger has lived there for four years.
Geiger said giving back to the community made her want to run.
“I was running the Cape May Point Taxpayers’ Association (CMPTA) and it was all about community and getting people to volunteer and work together,” she said. “This step was the next logical one to take, to up my game for the community.”
Stepping into public service is not always easy. Serving as an elected official can take time away from family obligations.
“There were people who encouraged me, and [it was] very kind of them,” Yunghans said. “It was a [point] in my life where I felt like I could make the commitment, and at some [time] in your life you know you want to give back and this was the right moment for me.”
VanHeeswyk said it is essential that Cape May Point is secure, and she wants to continue to serve while she has the ability.
“We are very lucky to be here; our tax rate is low, and I’m optimistic and really looking forward to working [with the commission],” she said. “We’re so lucky to have the staff that we have here. We meet every deadline that we are supposed to meet.”
Looking forward
Geiger and Yunghans hope this year will allow them to gain a deeper understanding of their respective areas of responsibility.
“This year, we have a contract with Cape May on the police, and I’m also responsible for the lifeguards and the beach,” Geiger said. “My year one goals are to understand all those areas of responsibility, and then, watch out, I’ll come up with lots of other ideas.”
Yunghans echoed Geiger, hoping to understand her departments and take an in-depth look at state requirements.
“We recognize the vulnerabilities of the climate and public works has an important role in protecting the community around that,” she said.
One worry the commissioners will not have this year is beach replenishment.
“I think our beach restoration should be in the Public Works Department more, [but] I’m very happy to say [last year] we were due for beach replenishment, and we didn’t need it,” VanHeeswyk said. “We have more sand than the template shows we need.
She added that she would like to expand the understanding of what has been done for beach restoration for both Geiger and Yunghans.
“The Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Environmental Protection have done a great job keeping us replenished,” VanHeeswyk said. “We’re in a good position now, and I’d like a broader understanding of that outside my department.”
VanHeeswyk said continuity is essential in a town of this size, and Geiger and Yunghans agreed.
“The more we all learn and can understand, the more we can make the right decisions,” Geiger said.
Yunghans said former commissioner Catherine Busch provided the town continuity in her tenure.
“We do so much in-house. I know a lot of towns hire out for everything,” VanHeeswyk said. “I think we’re able to do a lot in our departments because we can, and we’re knowledgeable and often take the time to learn how to do everything.”
Coming from serving as president of the CMPTA, Geiger said she is big on community volunteers.
“One message I’d like to send out to the community is to please step up and get involved,” Geiger said. “For example, [volunteer] for the planning board, and we have an environmental commission we need people. We need people to be involved.”
Running a transparent commission requires the community to be involved and ask questions.
“I think we’re all committed to be running a very transparent government here, because it’s for the good of everyone,” Geiger said.
When Geiger moved to the Point, she said there was an opportunity to join the environmental commission, and once you start with one position, it keeps going.
“There are really smart, wonderful people here who have something to contribute,” Yunghans said. “If they would step up, we would welcome that. I think the other part of it is there might be some towns where it feels forbidding to be engaged, but I hope that we project a welcome attitude that we want people.”
By RACHEL SHUBIN/Special to the Star and Wave